SIGNAL
TWIRP kicks off year with fellowship and fun
BY KAYLEE NIPPER Staff Writer
With the beginning of TWIRP events, the school year has officially started on a high note. TWIRP (The Woman is Required to Pay) is one of Ouachita’s most popular and beloved annual traditions. Each social club takes a turn to sponsor a themed dance night. All that is required at each dance is a small fee in exchange for a night of fun. The events take place in the Tiger Den.
Each event has a unique theme with plenty of opportunities to dance, take photos, eat and meet new people. Even for those who don’t like to dance, it’s a great opportunity to get a glimpse of campus life and enjoy some tasty treats.
This past Thursday night, the Women of Gamma Phi started strong with Angels in the Outfield, based on a throwback Disney film starring a young Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Matthew McConaughey.
Students came decked out in their best angel or baseball outfits, ready for a fun night. The event included great music and dancing, plenty of photo opportunities and classic ballpark snacks such as popcorn and hotdogs.
By the end of the event, everyone was joining in dancing to popular group dances such as Footloose.
“Our TWIRP is planned by our youngest pledge class,” Kassidy Gray, president of Gamma Phi said.
“They put a lot of work into making it exceptional [while] reflect-
ing our club well. I have been so proud of our girls and their hard work this year. The games, snacks and decorations they planned definitely exceeded my expectations.”
The next night of TWIRP was planned by the Women of EEE.
50’s night was in full swing Friday with poodle skirts and leather pants seen around every corner. The men had it simpler as they pulled up in their white t-shirts and jeans.
The Tiger Den took students back in time with classic 50’s rock blaring from the speakers, while
people enjoyed Coke floats and fellowship.
One of the highlights of the night, however, was the fun photo ops and painted banners available in every corner for attendees to take pictures at.
“It is such a beloved tradition to our club because it is special to continue the legacy of an event that we have had for many years, and for The Women of EEE it is a tradition to wear our red poodle skirts,” Caroline Jurkovich, president of EEE explained.
New Ouachita accounting society builds community
BY SAM BENNETT Staff Writer
Ouachita recently introduced a new student organization designed to support the academic and professional growth of its accounting majors. The Ouachita Accounting Society, led by senior Brandon Dyberg and advised by Dr. Andy Almand, aims to be a valuable resource for students pursuing careers in accounting.
The club’s mission is to foster academic excellence, build a sense of community and encourage collaboration with professionals in the field.
“We hope to bring awareness to the importance of the accounting profession to the Ouachita community, high school students and many others,” Dyberg said.
Meeting dates and times are yet to be decided and will vary depending on member availability, but it is confirmed that they will be most prevalent during the fall recruitment season when accounting firms are actively seeking interns and full-time employees.
“I anticipate we will meet as needed, but no less than monthly,” Almand explained.
Meetings will cover various topics related to accounting, such as the inner workings of the profession and what students should expect when they land their first positions at a firm, while also emphasizing why accounting is a viable career choice.
A key aspect of the Ouachita Accounting Society is its focus on peer-to-peer learning and mentorship.
“The society is a great way for underclassmen to hear from the upperclassmen and get a feeling for the next series of courses they will take, and just to create helpful relationships that encourage each individual to continue working his or her best,” Dyberg said.
Echoing Dyberg, Almand highlighted connections that students will build through the society.
“I believe it will further develop a healthy camaraderie among our students that will often last many years after graduation, likely their entire career,” Almand said. “This helps our students learn how to net-
work with each other and eventually with others in the profession.”
Besides building connections, the society will also keep students informed about the fast-changing world of accounting. The club plans to share updates on changes to the Certified Public Accountant exam. These changes are set to happen in January of 2025.
“We hope to have guest speakers who work in accounting come and engage with the students and give insight into what the accounting profession looks like for them,” Almand added.
Looking forward, the Ouachita Accounting Society hopes to host a “Meet the Firms” event, which would give students a chance to meet representatives from several accounting firms, helping them improve their network and building potential career opportunities.
As the Ouachita Accounting Society looks to begin its inaugural year, it is set to be both a dynamic and supportive community for accounting majors, making a student’s journey into the field of accounting not only successful but also deeply rewarding.
“It is also a tradition for the younger pledge class to create a dance that goes along with our theme to perform for everyone.”
The most recent night still fresh in our minds was the elegant masquerade dance, put on by the Women of Chi Mu.
This was by far the most sophisticated night with everyone showing up dressed to impress.
The formal atmosphere, which was a welcomed change of pace, brought the masquerade ball theme to life.
The Women of Chi Mu finished off the week strong, but that’s not the end, as next week there will be more TWIRPing.
Students should mark their calendars for more excitement. The Women of Tri Chi will host an 80’s night on Friday, Sept. 6 from 8 to 10 p.m. The Women of Chi Delta will present a neon night on Saturday, Sept. 14 from 7 to 9 p.m. Even though the ladies’ wallets are getting thinner, the student body looks forward to continuing the great variety of themed nights.
Student-led political clubs prepare for election year, first meetings commence
BY PHIL BYRD Staff Writer
With election season quickly approaching, it can be easy to feel lonely in a specific political ideology. OBU offers a solution to this conundrum in the form of two clubs: the Young Democrats and the College Republicans.
While many sit in the middle of the aisle, both clubs insist that they are not purely for their parties, but rather safe spaces for political discourse.
Young Democrats President Sophie Uselton emphasized the need for conversation. “We let anyone in, even if you’re not a Democrat,” Uselton said. “We’ve had a couple of people come to meetings just to see what we were about. We love having conversations like that.”
Mason Boswell, president of OBU College Republicans, agrees with this sentiment.
“Talking with people you don’t necessarily agree with is a really good thing,” Boswell explained. “I believe that’s how America got to be such a good place. Because we
were willing to listen and willing to hear what people had to say, even if we didn’t agree with them.”
As election season approaches, both clubs are ramping up their events. “We’re going to help to do some voter sign-ups in town, and we’re doing some events with Zach Bledsoe, the Justice of the Peace in Clark County, and some with the Clark County Democratic Women,” Uselton said.
The College Republicans’ events are focused on community building. “We’re going to do an event for the debate night on September 10, just to hang out and get some pizza,” Boswell said. “We’re not going to push a message, but just create a place where people can come together.”
Both clubs recognize the importance of voting in this election.
“The most important thing is to be informed and not necessarily believing everything you hear, but doing some research behind things,” Boswell explained. “You need to vote and you need to put your beliefs out there, but you also need to be willing to listen and willing to hear.”
Students attend the EEE Fifties Night, Gamma Phi Angels in the Outfield and Chi Mu Masquerade TWIRP events in their themed attire. All three events took place in the Tiger Den and required a small fee to enter the dance, where snacks, drinks and dancing awaited. (photos by Madeline Circle, Jaylen Britt and Taylor Sinele)
NEWS/FEATURES
Collins revives role as wildlife guide for second summer in Alaska Peninsula
BY JANET CARDEN Staff Writer
Senior Biology major Carter Collins spent his second Alaskan summer as a guide for photographers and fishermen in training from around the world. This was his second summer in Alaska working with his girlfriend, Micah Martin, a recent OBU graduate and the lodge host where Collins spent his summer.
“I’ve been a big fly fisherman my whole life,” Collins said. “I worked as a fly fishing and wildlife photography guide at a lodge that’s out on the Alaskan Peninsula. The Alaska Peninsula, to be more specific, is close to the Aleutian island chain, where all the volcanoes are.”
Collins describes how he stayed busy during his naturefilled days, as well as the many things he saw and learned while being in Alaska.
“The guiding I did this year was for red salmon and for king salmon,” Collins said. “So my day-to-day looked like taking clients by boat to destinations that were accessible by the river that runs right behind the lodge.”
Throughout the first few weeks, he was mostly teaching clients and visitors how to fly fish.
“I had a client that was from France,” Collins recalled. “He fished really hard all day and was getting frustrated and down on himself, but he just kept casting and kept trying, and eventually, right when we were about to have to leave, he caught a huge King Sam. It was the biggest one he’d ever caught. It was [really special] getting to share in his jubilation and excitement because of his catch.”
Throughout the last few weeks, Collins spent more time guiding wildlife photographers. Collins
Collins poses with a big catch. Much of his summer was spent guiding fishing groups and assisting guests in their outdoor adventures. (photo provided by Carter Collins) shares a moment that stuck with him from this summer of when his group was too close to a wild bear outside camp.
“Once we saw that bear, we pretty quickly got our stuff and avoided getting too close to him.” Collins said, clarifying that the bear had not seen him or his group before they decided to move farther away. “We got to watch the bear catch a bunch of fish and eat them right in front of us.”
This particular bear was well known amongst the lodge staff because it walked with a limp due to a suspected broken leg. Collins was enthused to see the bear—though his priority at the time was making sure his group was safe. He enjoyed being a part of the bear’s life even for a few brief moments. He talked about the circle of life and how everyone plays a part in the ecosystem.
But one might wonder what this experience has to do with Collins’ future career. Why spend, not one, but two summers in Alaska guiding clients in various settings when it doesn’t have much to do with private practice optometry? The answer is simple: experience.
“I definitely had more responsibility and more expectations put on me this season,” Collins said.
Collins’ time in Alaska helped him grow not only as person, but
it also provided a way for him to gain transferable skills, essential for succeeding in further schooling and the workplace. Both the easy and tense moments out in the wild strengthened his communication skills, and he even overcame the difficulty of a language barrier.
“Getting to share the love of a common thing with someone when there was a language barrier was such a special thing,” Collins said, thinking back to the Frenchman. “He didn’t speak very great English, so it was just really cool to get to share the love of fishing and appreciation for the fish with somebody who I would [normally] have trouble speaking and connecting with otherwise.”
Collins shares how this ability to communicate under various circumstances will help during his next step, which is the application process for optometry school.
“I rely on experiences like working in Alaska to carry me and make me jump off the page as an applicant,” He spoke of an interviewee who told him that his experience in Alaska is what made him stand out compared to the other candidates.
The best experience is not just what’s related to your choice of career—it’s all the experiences, big and small, that combine to give you soft skills that you will carry throughout your life.
Campus Ministries connects with students at annual retreat
BY CAMRYN STROUPE Opinions Editor
Ouachita Campus Ministries held its annual Fall Retreat on Aug. 23-24 at Camp Paron, where students were invited to dive into the theme of “Identity” at the start of the school year. Led by new Campus Ministries director Dustin Wagley and the CM leadership team, the retreat featured worship, breakout sessions, recreation and connection.
“We really drilled down into our identity this year,” Dustin Wagley said. “All of our five different breakout sessions and main sessions were somehow connected with the theme of our identity in Christ.”
Breakout sessions were led by Roxanne Easter, Bryan McKinney, Sandra Schultz and Sue Poole from the Counseling Center, Cody Cagle from Second Baptist Church of Arkadelphia and Amy Taylor. Main sessions were led by Jimmy Darby, pastor of First Baptist Church of Arkadelphia. “We wanted students to launch into the semester with a renewed sense of their identity in Christ,” Dustin Wagley said.
The fall retreat is always a time of fellowship and connection between students, especially freshmen.
“There were some pretty long rounds of the game ‘signs’ going on and lots of board games,” Dustin Wagley said. “We hoped that through the course of the fall retreat, there was great spiritual content, but also connection and time to hang out, so we tried to schedule that in. When the retreat happens every year, freshmen have been on campus for about a week and a half and so they’ve met tons of people, but we hope the fall retreat provides an avenue to begin to go deeper with some folks in relationship and find some deeper connection other than just the
American politicians give voters lots to think about Paralympics continue in Paris, France
Althought the Olympics are long over, the Paralympics have continued in Paris. China, Great Britain, and the United States remain in close competition for the top three spots in terms of medal count, while China maintains a considerable lead in gold medals. The Americans dominated the paratriathlon with eight total medals: 3 gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze. Morgan Stickney, who had her leg amputated in 2018, set the paralympic record and earned herself a gold in the women’s 400m freestyle. Several water sports have been delayed due to continual quality problems with the Seine River.
surface level introductions that happen a lot at first.”
Braden Wagley, son of CM director Dustin Wagley and a student on the CM leadership team, got to experience this connection firsthand.
“My favorite memory from the fall retreat was when a group of us went out after the last breakout session of the night with a glow-in-the-dark frisbee and played a sketchy game of ultimate frisbee,” Braden Wagley said. “This year, I really learned how to be not just a loving leader, but also a loving peer by really trying to meet all of the new people at the retreat while also getting to spend time with others on the leadership team.”
As the new director of Campus Ministries, Dustin Wagley looks forward to getting to know the student body better throughout this school year. “I know a fair amount of students on campus through my kids, but I’m really excited to know the students on a broader level,” Dustin Wagley said.
Senior Malea Borland is part of the leadership team and expressed much of the same sentiment. “I look forward to many more deep conversations and joyful memories,” Borland said. “I like getting to meet people and step outside my comfort zone to love others who I may not get to interact with on a daily basis.”
Students interested in connecting with Campus Ministries can do so in many ways. “We have several hundred students every semester that are involved in our life groups, and they start after Tiger Tunes,” Dustin Wagley said. “As far as tangible ways to serve, there’s Backyard Bible Clubs on Tuesdays and Thursdays in apartment complexes in the community and Monticello Children’s Home once a month on Sunday afternoons. We are always looking for people to plug in and help out with things.”
Taliban law silences Afghan women Robert Francis Kennedy Jr. has officially dropped out of the 2024 presidential race. In doing so, he has endorsed Republican party nominee Donald Trump and will join with Trump to further his agenda of Making America Healthy Again. However, some swing states have ruled to keep Kennedy on the ballot, which in turn has gifted them a lawsuit from RFK himself. On the other side, Democratic nominee Kamala Harris rolled out her first set of economic policies, which includes a $25,000 downpayment for first time homeowners and price controls on groceries and other products.
On August 25, the Taliban announced new law that all but reduced Afghan women to shadows. Article 13 of the 114 page document addresses women. Per the new law, approved by supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzad, women must completely veil themselves, face included, in public. Women cannot travel without a male counterpartner, speak, sing or read aloud in public or look at a man that they are not married or blood related to. The Taliban took control of Afghanistan again in 2021, when they banned women from accessing secondary and higher education.
Dr. Jackson Carter Online Adviser
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Source(s): AP News, The Washington Post, PBS
Source(s): Triathlete, Team USA
Source(s): AP News
Mabee juried art show displays skillful work
BY KADE LOOMIS Staff Writer
For the past few weeks, the Mabee Fine Arts Center has hosted the annual Student Juried Art Show, which is composed solely of pieces made by fellow Ouachita students. There is a variety of art represented in the exhibit, from digital art, paint, ink and pencil, to clay and photography; this display has it all.
Sarah Wagner, president of the Art Club, explained the process of submitting pieces to the art show and how jurors select which ones are displayed.
“Any student across campus can enter an art piece,” Wagner said. “However, that does not mean that they are guaranteed to be exhibited. This year we had over 80 submissions, and only 25 to 30 were exhibited. Being exhibited in a juried show is also a good thing to put on your resume because it shows you were chosen by a juror.”
The first piece from the entrance
to Mabee is a striking black and white photograph by Sarah Dean, a spring 2024 graduate, titled, “The Misty Shoreline.” The picture reveals a calm, gloomy and almost mysterious shoreline, with a large piece of driftwood just right of center. After a moment of observation, you might notice a man seated towards the left of the picture, gazing out past the shoreline towards the horizon, blurred by the fog to the point where you can’t tell where the ocean ends and the sky starts. Venturing deeper into the exhibit, you’ll view pieces that showcase the personal connections within the artist, like “A Piece of My Privacy” by junior Cade Knoernschild, which displays a picture of a black and white room with sleepless eyes peering in from beyond the borders of the page. You will also see the piece titled “Bite the hand that feeds,” by senior Victoria Blum, a picture of a wolf viciously biting down on a hand drawn in black. If you know what you’re looking at, you might notice that the image
Advice for freshmen from the bottom of an upperclassman’s heart
BY JACIE SELLARS News Editor
Dear college freshman,
If you are anything like me when I was a freshman, everything feels surreal right now. You are facing independence and new possibilities, but there are also scary moments where you realize you are alone. It’s a season of life unlike any other.
If I could go back in time, here are three pieces of advice I would give to freshman me.
First, go to events and try new things!
Between WOW Weekend, TWIRP and Tiger Tunes, the beginning of the year can feel overwhelmingly busy. It might be tempting to sit in your dorm room and avoid campus events. After all, each new event comes with uncertainty and the possibility of loneliness.
media posts of people who seem to be having the time of their lives, and it’s easy to feel completely lost.
I encourage you to take the chance to be adventurous and try something new.
However, the uncertainty you are feeling will not improve in an isolated environment. I encourage you to take the chance to be adventurous and try something new. Go to social events and football games, sit with a new friend at dinner and look for different ways to plug into your academic department.
You might not love everything you try, but you will most likely find something you love. Simply going to things helps you build college memories and friendships you will look back on in the future.
Second, don’t compare your college experiences—everyone is different. As you observe others on campus, it’s easy to believe that everyone else already has college figured out. You will see people who are already involved in activities and people who seem confident in their major. Pair that with social
looks like a photo negative, and you’d be correct. Some of the details hidden in the negative become clear when viewed through a color negative camera.
Senior Chau Tran decided to create her own rendition on the cover for “Wuthering Heights.” For those picking up the book, it gives the potential reader a good idea of the overall feel of the book—cold and tragic. For those that have read the book, it has some noticeable and immediately identifiable symbols, such as a grave and the silhouette of a woman. As a cover, it does an excellent job at being both a piece of art and relating the feelings of the novel.
One look at the exhibit clearly illustrates how much experience students have gained through participating in the art show. Every single piece in the show started as a single idea and was carried through to fruition by a Ouachita student. Many of these students are also involved in the art club.
“I love being in Art Club because
we don’t care what your major is or what you’re good at,” Wagner said. “We are a mix of all different sorts of people. We even have students from Henderson coming over to join the club, and we have a shared passion for art and creativity. What drives me to create and be creative is that it’s almost like a crux, like you have to get it out. I need to create. It’s how I express myself.”
However, there is one piece that seemed to fly away with the show. “Birds” by junior Natalia Zamora, is an oil painting depicting birds of different colors and species. Three, to be exact. The painting possesses a beautiful balance of symmetry and asymmetry, the three birds situated in an inverted triangle centered on the middle of the canvas, yet possessing unique characteristics the others don’t have. The shape of their tails, for example, is different for each bird. And although it might seem to be a simplistic painting at first, it only takes a moment of looking at the piece before you start noticing the details
that make the whole thing pop.
If you haven’t already checked out the art in the lobby of the Mabee Fine Arts Building, I would highly recommend you set aside time to stop and enjoy the fruit of talent displayed there. Who knows, maybe you’ll find something that really strikes you.
Not only does the Student Juried Art Show offer an opportunity for Ouachita students to complete an arts engagement credit for the year, but it also emphasizes the importance of supporting fellow Ouachitonians in their academic and extracurricular endeavors. When students participate in and attend events outside their major, they are growing as a person and educating themselves in other fields of study, which is the main goal of a liberal arts education.
“People should come out to the juried show because it has a vast amount of mediums and themes,” Wagner said. “I think it could be beneficial to look at what different students in campus are doing.”
In the midst of this, it’s important to remember that you are only seeing a highlight reel of others’ experiences. Behind every carefully curated social media feed, we are all human. We are all on a thrilling yet terrifying journey to find out who we will become. You can be sure of this—every freshman (and upperclassman) has moments where they are nervous, uncertain and homesick. Comparison can be a paralyzing force that makes the college experience difficult to enjoy. Instead of comparing, focus on the progress you are making. You are becoming an adult and tackling new responsibilities, and that is worth celebrating. Take your time and enjoy your journey while at Ouachita.
Finally, know that you are loved. It’s often said that “to be known is to be loved,” and I feel like this saying explains insecurity at the beginning of college. How can you be loved on a campus where people don’t know you? However, there is one promise I can make - you are loved. You are loved by God as His wonderful creation. You are loved by hometown friends and family, and it is definitely worth it to give them a call. You are loved by students and staff on this campus who have prayed for you and have eagerly awaited your arrival. Eventually, you will get to know others and develop confidence on campus. Relationships might come and go, but this truth will remain the same. You are loved, you are welcome and you have a place at this university. I can’t wait to see how you leave your mark in the years to come.
BY MADISON BASCO Copy Editor
My phone is a huge priority in my life. My average screen time right now is eight hours a day. That means I spend half the time I am awake on my phone. Is that sad? Yes. But I am admitting it. It’s this reason that when I walked into the newsroom this past week and saw that there was an opportunity to spend a day without my phone and write about it, I knew I had to do it. I would love to say that I started off my day enthusiastic as ever, but I am not here to lie, and within the first five minutes I felt an extreme wave of boredom. In fact I also felt an emotion that, in my opinion, is one of the most unpleasant ones you could feel: awkwardness.
While waiting for my roommates to get ready, I stared at the wall in silence instead of staring at a screen in silence, and it was extremely awkward. All I could think about was this: What if someone comes in here and sees me just staring at a wall? I don’t know how you can feel embarrassed in a room alone, but I did.
Walking to class became an obstacle that I did not prepare for. When I’m alone, I usually resort to burying my head in my phone in hopes of looking busy. I don’t know why I do this, but I do. It’s almost like I’d prefer to not make eye contact or talk to people if I can help it. I think it stems from the introvertedness in me and the overarching need to avoid awkward situations at all costs, even if that means avoiding people.
Eventually, I became accustomed to not having my phone. I focused on the scenery and our beautiful campus and observed the people walking by. I wasn’t distracted, and there was a sense of relief in it, the same feeling you get when you’ve finally understood a difficult math problem or grasped the meaning of a confusing poem. It felt like I was doing the correct thing, what I was supposed to do.
I have to admit that the feeling was short-lived, and as I turned
the corner and found myself surrounded by several students, I felt that awkward feeling again. I couldn’t pretend to get a phone call or pretend to be busy checking the weather app. I had to bear it. I did not have my crutch, and I could feel the excruciating weight of that.
Before writing this, I thought my incessant need to be on my phone came from some notion that I had to be constantly preoccupied. I still think that holds true, but I noticed that an overwhelming part of my wanting to have my phone was that it allowed me to escape moments that I feared would be awkward.
It’s the parts of the day you probably don’t think about, like walking to class or the minutes before class, where you can either choose to talk to people or scroll on your phone. Those are the moments that stood out to me the most, and it made me realize that I often choose my phone over people. My phone often feels more safe. My phone feels less awkward.
As I reflected on my experience, I began to wonder how different my life would be if this experiment wasn’t just one day long. How many more people would I interact with? How many more opportunities would I have?
I think about the stories I’ve heard of people meeting by chance. Life-long best friends met randomly because they happened to be seated next to each other in a class.
A couple married for 40 years met at a dance when one of them gathered the courage to introduce them-
selves. Have phones caused these interactions to become nearly obsolete? Am I inadvertently changing the course of my life by burying my head in my phone instead of simply looking up? Maybe I am. It wasn’t until this experiment, taking the time to observe the people and campus surrounding me, that I realized how wrong it felt to be on my phone during those moments. There was even some guilt, the kind you have when you know you haven’t given an assignment your best or when you’ve cheated your way to an A. In a way, you could say that I cheat every time I pick up my phone in a room full of people. I’ve cheated my way out of a new experience or friendship. Even when I think I am protecting myself, I am not. And the fear of feeling awkward or embarrassed is something that I have given way too much power to, and my phone has helped me give in to that fear. If anyone who is reading this can relate, I would advise you to try this experiment yourself. See how you feel without the guidance and protection you think your phone gives you. Truthfully, I feel that I have missed many opportunities and conversations that could have changed my life. I chose to look down. I missed my chance. So, tomorrow I will choose to look up and bare through the awkwardness I may feel. Eventually that scary feeling will go away, and I will gain something from it, instead of risking losing something that may never return.
Camryn Stroupe Opinions Editor
Dallimore
Givens and Flannigan set the standard for 2024 star-studded Ouachita football squad
BY ISAAC BOURNE Sports Editor
The Ouachita Baptist Tiger offense is must-see TV in the GAC this season with the incredible depth and speed in the running back and receiving rooms. Backing the success and discipline of these corps stands two leaders that have seen it all on the purpleand-white side of the ravine in Kendel Givens and Connor Flannigan.
“We talk about it all the time,” said head coach Todd Knight. “The best teams are player-led teams.”
Behind Knight’s success over the years has been players willing to step up, and with the emergence of Givens and Flannigan as prominent stars in the OBU offense since their early years on the squad, the duo now shifts into an almost explicit role as the prominent figureheads of the unit. “We want to leave this program in a better
place than what we found it, and we both approach every day like that,” said Flannigan. “We want to show those young guys what the standard is, what it means to work and what it takes to win, because we’ve seen from older guys when we were freshmen what it takes to win.”
Flannigan returns to the Tigers this season following a junior campaign that saw the 5’10 wideout from Fayetteville, Ark. put up career numbers in receiving yards (943) and catches (78), while Givens comes off a season that saw the 5’9 graduate student take the all-time record for career touchdowns while also picking up a monstrous 1227 yards on the ground.
Aside from their eye-popping numbers and strong leadership, the two have made their football team into a mission field that supports and encourages the spreading of the gospel, using their positions as opportunities to mold their brotherhood into a group of men in pursuit of the one true
God. “Right now I’m walking through 1 Peter, and Peter writes his letter to a group of Christians who are going out into the mission field, and they spread across Asia Minor and places like that where the gospel is not spread, and Peter is telling them how to live holy and set the example and be the example,” said Givens. It’s so on time for me to be reading that right now, because that is what God is asking of me right now; to be an example, set the example, and be there for the football team, so approaching those gospel conversations, those are awesome. I think when a guy is walking into his faith, the newness, they’re just in awe because of the things that the Lord can do, and so I’m looking at that as a mission field right now.”
On the field and off the field, the duo of Flannigan and Givens provides a spectacular beacon of spiritual leadership and elder brotherhood that many teams wish they had.
THIS WEEK AT OUACHITA
Pickleball intramurals involve students in beloved sport
BY KATE ELLIS Editor-in-Chief
It doesn’t take much for college students to have a good time. It is interesting, however, that a mere paddle, wiffle-type ball and net has become all the rage for students— along with all other age groups, young and old—across the nation.
Though trends come and go, the flames for pickleball have yet to be cooled. It remains a favorite pastime of students at Ouachita, clearly displayed by the difficulty of finding an open court on campus as students monopolize them, custom pickleball paddles in hand for a night of fun or serious competition with friends or a double date. Ouachita Recreational Life continues to ride the phenomenonal wave of pickleball by starting the school year off yet again with this popular sport.
The intramural season will run throughout the month of September
and feature men’s, women’s and coed doubles. Andrew Grisham, senior Christian Studies major and key component in running RecLife intramurals, commented on why pickleball intramural registration numbers are high, year after year.
“Pickleball is easily one of our most popular sports,” Grisham said.
“Participation has grown each year we’ve offered pickleball, with a current total this year of around 95 teams between our three divisions. Students tend to enjoy pickleball because while it is competitive, it is very laidback compared to other sports. Everyone out playing pickleball is genuinely there just to have a good time.
With certain other intramural sports, some people aim to prove their athletic prowess and dominance, but with pickleball, people are there to meet others and to be active without having added pressure of having to prove something. Pickleball allows for a wide range of competition from those who have never picked up a
paddle to those who play nearly every day. This makes for an extremely fun intramural season.”
It is no surprise that Ouachita students, active and zealous in nature, have adopted this sport and turned it into a means of community. What is more interesting is that this fad is anything but exclusive to OBU students, as it has quickly become America’s fastest-growing sport and has united citizens of what statistically seems to be a growingly stagnant and lazy country, to gather outside for a hobby that gets the heart pumping and muscles moving. One cannot help but wonder why, in light of the hundreds of sports played across the world, pickleball has taken off with such fierce popularity. Grisham shares why he believes this sport has taken over the country, whether it be in a schoolyard, country club or retirement community.
“Pickleball is one of the fastest growing US sports, and I believe it will continue to be this way [in]
the foreseeable future because of its accessibility,” Grisham explained.
“You can grab a paddle and a pack of pickleballs from Walmart for $20-$30 and go out to pretty much any tennis court (not to mention the growing number of public pickleball courts) and play. Pickleball doesn’t require top athletes in order to have a good time. With the smaller court and the slower ball speed, pickleball enables people who haven’t been the ’athletes’ in their own personal lives to play a sport that is active and enjoyable.”
In a few short weeks the pickleball season will draw to a close, leaving three teams as champions of their division, but students should not fret.
Ouachita RecLife has much more in store for those wanting to get involved and stay active during the 2024-2025 school year. Grisham shares how students can get plugged in with RecLife.
“Students are able to get involved with RecLife in a number of ways,”
Grisham explained. “The first is that they can come play intramural sports. The beauty with intramural sports is that you can be as involved or uninvolved as you like. Some students play nearly every sport and some play maybe one or two a year. Another way to be involved is through participating in RecLife trips. RecLife offers several day trips such as hiking or canoeing throughout the year. They also offer a few weekend overnight trips that include camping and being outdoors.
One more way is to be involved in the events RecLife offers on campus. There are a wide range of Reclife events and activities on campus and near campus that include but are not limited to CRAG climbing nights, yoga in the evenings and disc golf afternoons.”
To find information on everything about Reclife, students can download the “Ouachita Reclife” app in either the Google Play or the App Store and log in using their student email.
Pickleball has become the latest craze to sweep the campus. The courts are located in the lower SPEC parking lots and equipment can be rented through Ouachita RecLife. (photos by Taylor Sinele)
Givens and Flannigan have left their mark on the football program at Ouachita, and they hope
to go out with a bang in their final seasons in the purple-and-white. (photos by Sarah Dean)