Ouachita Student Foundation hosts Fund Run, raises money for students

BY RACHEL DUNNAM Opinions Editor

Since 1974, the Ouachita Student Foundation, also known as OSF, has been raising money for student scholarships. The second annual Fund Run hosted by OSF took place Tuesday on Ouachita’s campus. Fund Run is one of the main events during Tiger for Life week, which focuses on showing gratitude for Ouachita’s donors who help make many students’ experiences at Ouachita possible. All of the money raised from the race goes to help raise funds for student scholarships.

In light of OSF’S motto, “students helping students,” many Ouachita peers were participants in Fund Run. Other members of the Arkadelphia and Ouachita community ran toward the finish line alongside students. Both runners and volunteers were eager to help out with this event and make many students’ futures at Ouachita possible with less financial stress. Senior Caroline Derby and OSF president described the purpose and impact of the event, as well as the impact of OSF as a whole.

“Something that we’ve focused on in OSF this year is our ‘why,’” Derby said. “Why am I blowing these balloons up? Why am I testing out a race course? The ‘why’ is different for everyone, but as a whole, our ‘why’ is to complete a mission of students helping students and helping peers complete their Ouachita education with less financial stress.”

The planning of Fund Run was led by junior Addy Cassell, junior Alex Savage, junior Joey Whisenhunt and sophomore Jillian Covington. Cassell and Savage serve as the philanthropy chairs, while Whisenhunt and Covington are the special event chairs. Both of these committees, alongside other members of OSF, put in a lot of work to make this event possible and fun for everyone involved.

“There is a lot of planning that goes into executing events like Fund Run,” Whisenhunt said. “To put on Fund Run, students connected with Sodexo for food, campus safety to ensure the safety of participants on the course, Student Life for event scheduling and helping with the band and more.”

Fund Run was a fun experience for people of all ages and various levels of experience with running. Some people walked at their own stride while others sprinted through the 3.1-mile-long race. The atmosphere of the event was encouraging and inviting as volunteers and other members of the community greeted the runners at the “Finish Line Party.” Accompanied by live music and snacks, everyone had a great time celebrating the accomplishment of completing a 5K while supporting the Ouachita community in the process.

One of the most agreed upon reasons why Ouachita is such a beloved place is the warm and welcoming community that it encompasses. OSF’s Fund Run is a wonderful representation of this community and the heart for service it cultivates within the lives and hearts of students and faculty.