The Signal | Ouachita Baptist University | 09.26.18

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09.26.18 | Vol. 127, Issue 4 | www.obusignal.com

Alex Blankenship z Photo lab editor

Renovated Berry-Peeples Bible Building sees 25 year dream fulfilled

By CAITY HATCHETT Staff writer Located in the heart of Ouachita’s campus, the newly completed Berry-Peeples Bible Building is a project over 25 years in the making.

In addition to the other Homecoming festivities, the dedication ceremony is tomorrow.

J.E. Berry Chapel and Berry Bible Building have been part of the campus since 1962, and these buildings are home to the Chesley and Elizabeth Pruet School of Christian Studies. J.E. Berry was formerly on the Board of Trustees, while the Pruets have been longtime benefactors of Ouachita.

This building is dedicated to equipping students to serve the Lord in a variety of careers. The renovation has provided for more opportunites to fulfill that mission.

Among the staff of the Pruet School of Christian Studies, the Horne Center for Biblical Preaching seems to be a particularly popular part of the new building. The preaching lab not only provides an opportunity for students seeking positions in pastoral ministry to give sermons, but it also allows students wanting to work on the technical staff at a church the opportunity to record and regulate the environment of the room. Dr. Danny Hays said that his favorite part of the building was the air conditioning, and many of the staff

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members also seem quite pleased with this improved feature.

There will be a number of speakers for the ceremony. The lineup includes Terry Peeples, Hays, Dr. Ben Sells the current president of OBU, former president Dr. Rex Horne, several students and Greg Kirksey. The concert choir will also perform at the dedication, and it is to be a time of celebration and dedication. It is way of recognizing and thanking the donors who have helped fund this renovation.

“I see it more as a celebration and a chance to say ‘thank you’ to the people who made it possible,” Hays said. “It’s been a lot of work the last three years, with everyone working together to get this done.”

He is especially looking forward to hearing Rex Horne and the students speak and also to hearing the choir sing.

The renovation has been so much more than a new building for the staff members and students who work and have classes in Berry Bible Building.

“We’ve been talking about this for 25 years,” Hays said. “We finally got it funded and built. It’s exciting to actually see it.”

The Pruet School of Christian Studies operates on training men and women to go into vocational ministry, and the building has only helped to give them more opportunities. This already thriving school is now even more equipped to train and prepare

Tyler Rosenthal z Courtesy BERRY-PEEPLES BIBLE BUILDING stands in the heart of Ouachita’s campus following months of construction. The newly renovated Christian studies building allows for further fulfillment of the department’s mission to equip students for vocational ministry.

students for ministry. “That’s the mission,” Hays said, “classrooms and faculty who do good work.”

The ceremony will focus on celebrating these new opportunities and recognizing those who helped make it possible. A history of the building will be given, the development of the project will be discussed and several personal stories will be shared.

This is also a bit of a time for reflection, especially on the

school’s mission and continuing to further that mission.

This ceremony comes at an exciting point in the week, with the opening performance of Tiger Tunes hours away and the Homecoming football game a few days away. This is truly a special time to remember the mission and the reason that Ouachita strives to achieve. The school does its best to equip students not only for their careers, but to help them

THIS WEEK AT OBUSIGNAL.COM

y Tiger Tunes Predictions y Emily and Jon Merryman Feature y Tiger Tunes Quiz

mature spiritually. The completion of this renovation signals a time of joy and excitement, and it will celebrate the hard work and generosity of all who worked on the project. Mirroring Hays’ sentiment, the entire Ouachita network is truly excited to see this twenty-five year old dream become a reality. The future of the Berry-Peeples Bible Building is bright, and the futures of its students even brighter. n

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[from our perspective]

What are you most looking forward to about fall break?

Julie Williams Editor-in-chief

Will Blase News editor

Will Johnson Sports/Opinion editor

Catherine Lyp Features/Arts editor

Alex Blankenship Photo lab editor

“Reading a book just for the fun of it.”

“Binge-watching ‘Gilmore Girls’.”

“Going home to friends and family.”

“Sleeping in.”

“New York with my family!”

TOP 5 4 3 2 1

5

Things to do as an alumni back on campus

Take your kids to Chick-fil-A Find your name on the Senior Walk Take a picture with the Tiger Homecoming football game TUNES!

News Briefs

A look at the biggest news of the week

Cosby Sentencing Bill Cosby was sentenced to three to 10 years of state prison for the sexual assualt crimes for which he was recently tried.

Cosby was formerly regarded as “America’s dad” based on his role of Heathcliff ‘Cliff’ Huxtable on the family sitcom “The Cosby Show.” The show was loved by many.

The judge presiding over Cosby’s trial denied the former actor bail and Cosby did not deliver a comment when asked by the judge.

The comedian had been arrested in 2015, but his retrial didn’t take place until June.

Cosby was found guilty of three sexual assault counts in April after a retrial was issued.

Cosby’s defense team has pushed toward a lesser sentence of house arrest, but Cosby will serve three years minimum in a state prison.

Source: BBC News

Dunkin’ Donuts changes name America’s most well-known donut chain, Dunkin’ Donuts, has changed its name to Dunkin’.

The company changed their slogan to, “America runs on Dunkin’” in 2008, which made no reference to donuts.

C o ff e e a n d o t h e r m e n u items make up over 60 percent of Dunkin’s sales, reinforcing their decision to make this major change. Dunkin’s major competition is the coffee chain Starbucks.

The company tested their name change on a location in Pasadena, California and has since made the change to a number of stores.

Plans to keep the company’s original font and color scheme have been put in place. This will hopefully continue the business of longtime fans of the chain.

An official name change will launch in January 2019.

Source: AP

Instagram co-founders depart The co-founders of Instagram, Kevin Systrom and Mike Kreiger, have announced that they plan to depart from Instagram later this week.

Both Systrom and Kreiger have left for seemingly no reason other than citing the rediscovery of their creativity and curiosity for other projects.

Instagram was founded by the creative duo in 2010 and purchased by Facebook in 2012 for $1 billion.

Losing both a CTO and CEO is a major step for a company, but it will affect Facebook the most.

Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg, regards Systrom and Kreiger as “extraordinary product leaders” and waits anxiously for what they’ll create next.

Source: AP

Homecoming Chapel hosts Tacos 4 Life owners Senior walk ribbon cutting stirs up

By JULIE WILLIAMS Editor-in-chief Students, faculty and staff gathered in Jones Performing Arts Center yesterday for this year’s Homecoming Chapel. A weekly service held at 10 a.m. on Tuesdays for students “to deepen [their] spiritual lives, to broaden their cultural appreciation and to realize their roles as part of the Ouachita community,” according to the official website, yesterday’s service was only slightly different.

Ashton and Austin Samuelson, both alumni of Ouachita, are cofounders and co-owners of Tacos 4 Life, a restaurant chain in the central Arkansas area with a ministry goal. According to Tacos 4 Life’s official website, “For every taco, quesadilla, salad or rice bowl sold, 0.22 is donated to FMSC.” Feed My Starving Children, or FMSC, is a non-profit Christian

organization that distributes food to combat childhood hunger in developing countries. Tacos 4 Life provides funding for one meal to be purchased overseas for every one meal purchased in their restaurants.

According to Ian Cosh, vice president for community and international engagement, Chapel schedules are set up before each semester begins, often being sensitive to the “rhythms of the University.”

“Dr. Sells has brought in this idea of having a theme, you know, across the whole university,” Cosh said. “So, this year, ‘Lives of Meaningful Work’ is kind of a thread that’s tying many of the programs together.”

Discussing the Tacos 4 Life mission and the ultimate goal of Chapel, Cosh said, “It is a way of trying to integrate a business model with a philanthropic slash ministry intent, and I think that’s

honorable. And they’ve been highly successful, amazingly so, so to their credit, they’ve done a really nice job.”

Cosh further elaborated upon past themes like “Loving God and Loving Learning.” With James Taylor of campus ministries reading passages of Scripture each week that fit the theme, Cosh said that “Lives of Meaningful Work” was more about the “integration of faith and learning in a career.”

“I think what we sometimes forget is that the Chapel experience at Ouachita is one of those common experiences that everyone has no matter your major, no matter where you’re from,” Cosh said. “ I really do think that there’s something about the community that we experience on Tuesday that we would miss if it was not there…Not everybody is on an athletic team, not everybody is in Tiger Tunes, but we all participate in Chapel together.”n

The Signal wins Columbia Scholastic gold medal The Signal, Ouachita’s official campus newspaper and its accompanying website, won a Gold Medalist rating from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association in the category of College Hybrid News. The highest rating given by CSPA, the Gold Medalist was announced last week and included a critique of both the print editions and website during the 2017-18 academic year.

Katie Kemp, a 2018 graduate in mass communications and the editor of the print edition last year, said the award resulted from the talent, dedication and hard work of everyone on the staff.

“We are proud of the work we put in every week, but receiving high praise from such a prestigious press association is so exciting,” Kemp said. “The Signal is the publication it is because of the team behind it, and I’m so grateful to anyone

who has written a story or picked up a coy in the past year.”

Ethan Dial, a junior communications and media/ multimedia journalism major, won the Online Editor of the Year award from the Arkansas College Media Association last year. He continues his role this year.

“It is such an honor to hear that the publication I have dedicated so much time and energy to throughout my college career has received this award. This was only made possible due to the countless hours of hard work put in by each and every staff member.

Good journalism is much more than a series of words. It’s when those words are written with passion and jump off the page that great journalism is acquired. The heartbeat of The Signal is in each of its writers, photographers and videographers as they creatively tell stories that make a lasting impact,” Dial said.

Julie Williams, a senior mass

communications and political science major, is the 2018-19 editor of The Signal and was news editor of the paper last year.

“I think it is a true testament to the skill, hard work and dedication of The Signal staff.

While Ouachita is a ‘bubble,’ that bubble and the surrounding Arkadelphia community have created a home that all of us feel and have a passion for serving, even in our journalistic pursuits. It is a joy to know that even outside networks, like the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, can sense that feeling of home,” Williams said.

The Columbia Scholastic Press Association, based at Columbia University in New York, is the nation’s largest news organization for college students. Advisers of The Signal are Drs. Jeff and Deborah Root.

Dr. Tiffany Eurich advises the online Signal. n

years of memories for recent grads

By EMILY MCMASTER Staff writer The annual Senior Walk Ribbon Cutting for the 2017 graduating class will be held on Friday from 5:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. The Ouachita Family Reunion Dinner will be held directly after the event. Attendees will have the opportunity to hear from special guests and the class officers.

Everyone is invited to attend to honor the Class of 2017.

Jon Merryman, director of alumni relations and the Ouachita Student Foundation, gives insight into the history and purpose of this event.

“The Senior Walk was started in 2004 as a way to honor those who graduate from Ouachita,” Merryman said. “Alumni love to come back and see their names in the walk, to show their children, take pictures, etc, because it takes quite a bit of effort to complete a Ouachita degree. It takes hard work and determination to graduate so their name in the walk signifies quite an accomplishment.”

The names of each graduating class have been etched onto the sidewalk since the class of 2000.

However, the ribbon cutting has not always been performed. This recent addition is an opportunity for alumni to reminisce on their Ouachita memories.

“This will be our third senior walk ribbon cutting event,” Merryman said. “Alumni have really enjoyed reconnecting just a year after graduation, since their ten-year reunion at Ouachita is quite a ways away.”

In order to help pay for the upcoming alumni events, graduating seniors are asked to sign over their housing deposit they paid when they applied to Ouachita as their first gift to Ouachita. Alumni Relations pays for the etching and remaining funds are given to the Cornerstone

Fund.

Erin Jackson, a 2017 Ouachita graduate, shared her excitement on returning to Ouachita for the alumni event.

“I am most looking forward to attending the Senior Walk Ribbon Cutting, because I get to see my classmates and have have such a special moment to remember my time at Ouachita. I had so many memories made, relationships built with both professors and students and personal growth that took place,”Jackson said. “Having my name etched in the sidewalk will constantly be my reminder that I will always have ‘home’ in Ouachita. Even in 20 years, I know I will still be a Tiger for Life and have those special memories of growth from my time at this wonderful place.”

Ouachita also hosts several other alumni events throughout the year such as the Clark County Alumni Dinner and Alumni DropIns. Alumni are also welcome to stop by the Alumni office in ConeBottoms Hall for snack goodies.

Alumni events such as the Senior Walk Ribbon Cutting are great ways for current Ouachita students to meet or reconnect with graduates. Ouachita has a special place in many people’s hearts from all over the world who love to share stories of their experience here.

Kaylee Bond, a 2017 graduate, had this advice to give to current Ouachita students.

“My best advice to current OBU students is to appreciate all of Arkadelphia. My time at Ouachita was fantastic; I loved being connected in various campus organizations such as OSF,” Bond said. “However, I miss the adults in Arkadelphia that poured into me and the ministry opportunities within the community. I was able to grow and learn how Jesus works through others in a way that would not have happened if everything I was involved in was on campus.” n

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Tiger Tunes wins national award for Outstanding Student Advancement Program News Bureau z Courtesy

By RACHEL BRUTON News bureau

Ouachita Baptist University’s annual Tiger Tunes was named the 2018 Outstanding Student Advancement Program by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education Affiliated Student Advancement Programs at the recent national Conference for Student Advancement in Louisville, Ky. The Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) is an international association that serves educational institutions and professionals who work on their behalf in communications, marketing, alumni relations and development. ASAP, the Affiliated Student Advancement Program, is an organization within CASE that helps organizations like the Ouachita Student Foundation to elevate their program and learn best practices from other programs in the nation.

Over 700 universities were represented at CASE ASAP this year with 200 universities present at the convention. Eight other colleges were nominated for this award, including notable universities like University of California in Los Angeles and Smith College. This national recognition comes after the Ouachita Student Foundation (OSF), the student-led organization that is responsible for hosting Tiger Tunes, joined CASE ASAP in the fall of 2017.

“When we joined CASE ASAP last fall, I knew I wanted to nominate Tunes with the anniversary coming up – not knowing if we would even be considered since we just joined the organization

this year,” said Jon Merryman, Ouachita’s director of Alumni Relations and the Ouachita Student Foundation.

Tiger Tunes is a fundraising event held during Ouachita’s Homecoming weekend every fall.

The student-produced songand-dance competition features student performers from campus organizations and social clubs, and proceeds are awarded to junior and senior Ouachita students as scholarships. This year will be the 40th anniversary of Tiger Tunes, which has raised more than $1.5 million since its founding. This award is following a record-breaking year where the program raised

$100,000 in the fall of 2017.

“The award is significant because it shines a light on the amazing work of OSF members past and present – and especially the creative structure of the event yielding so much money for student scholarships,” Merryman said.

“Other universities have reached out asking about how they can create something similar, which is fun since Baylor University’s Sing event is what we modeled Tiger Tunes after, just with a philanthropic goal for scholarships. I think our students can be proud that the work they do with Tiger Tunes was recognized in such a big way at CASE.”

Student representatives from OSF were given the opportunity to network with students from other universities and learn about their student advancement programs.

These representatives of OSF also received the CASE ASAP annual ROLL Call Spirit Award on the first night of the conference.

“For me personally, it was so rewarding to see the hard work of my peers and friends pay off.

It takes so much to prepare for Tiger Tunes each fall, from directors planning the shows, students spending hours in practice every night and all the behind-the-scenes work to get the show up and running,” said Alec Edmonds, OSF

president. “To come back after receiving this award and see how much pride it brings to students in OSF, Tiger Tunes directors and my friends in class to put this event on for student scholarships is just incredible.” Edmonds is a senior mass communications major from North Little Rock, Ark. In addition to receiving the two awards, the Ouachita Student Foundation was invited to present at next year’s national conference in Baltimore.

The 40th anniversary performances of Tiger Tunes will take place Sept. 27-29, and tickets are available at obu.edu/boxoffice. n

2018 Homecoming to present numerous Saturday activities

By ASHLY STRACENER Staff writer

Online Signal to host 2018 Tunescast

By WILL JOHNSON Sports editor

Ouachita will stream the 40th Annual Tiger Tunes Production live as an alternate option for viewers. The final show on Saturday night, Sept. 29, will go live starting at 8:25 p.m.

The Tiger Tunes livestream, also known as Tunescast, has been available in previous years and has drawn a large audience.

Though the first three official shows as well as the Tuesday night and Wednesday night dress rehearsals will not be livestreamed, the final, decisive production featuring the closing awards will go live. There is a significant amount of preparation that goes into the livestream so that viewers can enjoy the performances and the stream runs smoothly. Ethan Dial, online editor for The Signal, has played a vital role in the organization of Tunescast.

“Tunescast is an amazing experience, and the best part of it is how real-world it is,” Dial said. “From coordinating with the new JPAC Director, Cynthia Booker, and the Ouachita Student Foundation via Jon Merryman, to writing the script and planning out an intermission video, the livestream edition of Tiger Tunes is a multi-faceted job that only gets

better with experience.”

Dial has been preparing for the livestream since before the school year even started by working on concepts and organizing other components for the production.

He has also written the script for Tunescast with advice from Julie Williams, editor-in-chief of The Signal, and Dr. Tiffany Eurich.

Many others are involved in the stream’s production. Though it can, at times, be a challenge to coordinate between the Tunescast and live show in JPAC, the crew has done it before and expects the process to run smoothly because of the substantial preparation prior to Saturday night.

“They say it takes a village; I would say to produce Tunescast takes a small Ouachita army,” Dial said. “From Dr. David Ozmun’s video crew, to the people working lights in JPAC, to those in IT running the livestream, to needing a sound mixer and more, creating the best Tunescast experience takes all hands on deck.”

Dial has also created a graphic for advertising the Tiger Tunes livestream with plans to reach a wider audience. It will be sent out through the alumni page and The Signal’s social media near the start of the show.

The Signal online staff has also played a role in covering different

exclusive aspects of Tiger Tunes.

Some of the articles include the creation of Tunes and features on the hosts and hostesses. Other features include articles about OSF sponsors Jon and Emily Merryman as well as JPAC director Cynthia Booker.

A few entertaining pieces are also available online, such as a quiz on which host or hostess matches your personality the best and how to throw the best birthday party for Tiger Tunes, to get viewers excited and ready for the performances.

The 2017 Tiger Tunes livestream received over 10,000 views, and the behind-the-scenes crew hopes to top that number this year.

Tunescast is free, which plays to an advantage over having to buy tickets. The free and easy access as well as the availability are reasons the crew hopes to gain a large viewership number once again. Those who stream the show will be updated with live reports throughout the night, informing viewers on upcoming performances and other awards up until the show’s conclusion.

A video will also play during the show’s intermission.

Tunescast will begin Sept. 29, at approximately 8:25 p.m. The link can be found on obusignal. com/2018-coverage/. n

This Saturday’s Homecoming celebration will be packed full of events for current Ouachita students, faculty and returning alumni.

With about ten different events happening on Saturday, Ouachita’s calendar and campus will be quite crowded.

Tiger Fest will start the day, for most, at 9:30 a.m. going until 11 a.m. on the campus lawn and Grant Plaza. Tiger Fest will be a time for reunion and socializing as family, friends, alumni, faculty and current students are all encouraged to gather as campus groups will host drop-ins.

“Ouachita is a close-knit community and the bonds formed here are deep,” Jon Merryman, the director of Alumni Relations and the Ouachita Student Foundation, said. “The friendships you make as students will truly last a lifetime. Alumni want to come back to campus to see their friends, say hi to professors, cheer on the Tigers or their club/organization in Tunes and sometimes just to be back on this beautiful campus.

There is always a great atmosphere at Tiger Fest Saturday morning.

It’s something no one should miss for sure.”

Campus groups usually include academic departments, social clubs and many of Ouachita’s professional organizations. If there is rain, then the Walker Conference Center will host these activities. A game day brunch of chicken and waffles, biscuits, breakfast burritos and much more will be served.

Tickets will be available on site for $10 per person and if there is rain, brunch will be provided in the Ouachita Commons.

During Tiger Fest, a cross country alumni reunion will be held in Hickingbotham, room 205 from 8 a.m. until noon. An alumni swim meet will also take place from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. at Waggoner Pool with a participation fee of $20.

Pre-game activities will begin at

11:30 a.m. at Cliff Harris Stadium as the 2018 Homecoming Court will be presented and the Homecoming Queen will be crowned by last year ’s Homecoming Queen, Hannah Bunch. As soon as the pre-game activities finish, the highly anticipated football game versus Arkansas Tech University will kick off.

The football game will be followed by an after-party in the Evans Student Center where all food services will be open and the class of 1973 will gather on the ESC bridge from 3 p.m. until 6 p.m., during which the Tiger enclosure will also be open for photo opportunities. Ouachita Student Foundation members will also be offering campus tours at 3 and 3:30 p.m. and will be begin each tour from the Tiger.

After a day full of activities, those who might be hungry can head over to Tiger Alley for the Homecoming Street Festival, located alongside JPAC, where grilled fajitas and more will be served from 4 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. for $10 per person and tickets will be available on site. In the event of rain, the festival will be moved to the Ouachita Commons.

During the street festival, Tiger Tunes will be performed twice in the Jones Performing Arts Center.

The first show will be at 5 p.m. and the next at 8:30 p.m. After the final performance, the men of Eta Alpha Omega will host Muggin’ at 10 p.m. in the Grant Plaza. This event is a way for students to gather at the close of the final Tunes show.

Eta Alpha Omega will provide free root beer, music and fellowship to draw Homecoming weekend to a close.

“To plan Homecoming for a year and to see everyone having fun is worth it all to me,” Merryman said.

“If I can look out over campus and see the pennant flags waving, people enjoying the menus I’ve been so excited about, see alumni and kids having fun and loving being ‘home,’ it’s all worth it to me. Jump into Homecoming events and make some memories.

Just enjoy the fun, festive week of activities.” n

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Erica Wilmath z Photo lab OUACHITA BAPTIST UNIVERSITY STUDENTS bring in the new tables from Neighbor’s Table into Grant Plaza. Neighbor’s Table is a company that started in the backyard of 1999 Ouachita alumna, Sarah Harmeyer.

Ouachita receives a new opportunity for community

By WILL BLASE News editor

Students returning to Ouachita may have noticed some big changes around Grant Plaza. I’m not talking about the carefully tended flower beds or the homecoming banners that now line the walk to the Evans Student Center, which both look fantastic thanks to the Ouachita grounds department; no, I’m talking about the massive tables that now occupy the plaza.

Ouachita alumna Sarah Harmeyer graduated in 1999, but her presence has made its way back to campus with the inclusion of two tables from her company Neighbor’s Table.

Neighbor’s Table was founded with the intention to create connective and innovative ways to provide community.

The ability to gather around something has been appreciated for centuries, whether it be sports, family or religion, just to name a few. Harmeyer’s mission is to bring these areas into one community and provide both love and growth through the use of her tables. Within a year of the creation of the first Neighbor’s Table, Harmeyer set a goal to include 500 individuals in her backyard community.

That number has now grown to 2500 people that have gathered in Harmeyer’s backyard, at the table that started it all.

Since its launch, Neighbor’s Table has thrived and set a goal

and each table is crafted in the Harmeyer barn with care and appreciation. The Harmeyers are dedicated to their cause and through her father’s support and work, Neighbor’s Table is able to provide quality goods that serve both individuals and community.

A closer look at the table’s on OBU’s campus present you with a placard describing the table’s origins and mission.

placed this table for intentional conversations, meals together and more right in the center of campus. Once I shared my vision with Dr. Sells he immediately gave his approval,” said Jon Merryman, director of Alumni Relations and the Ouachita Student Foundation.

Merryman and the Ouachita Student Foundation reached out to Harmeyer, “as soon as I got

According to the statistics provided on the Neighbor’s Table website, two tables sideby-side should comfortably fit 18 individuals. The tables in Grant Plaza also have an umbrella that students and organizations can set up to provide shade or protection from the elements.

“We want to take down communication barriers that we face every day,” said senior

mass communication major and OSF president Alec Edmonds.

“The Neighbor’s Table is a great example of a new location for students to gather, and it doesn’t hurt that it provides an aesthetically appealing place to gather and be a part of both small and large communities.”

Neighbor’s Table also cultivates community through their website. The website contains beautiful photography, that usually features a Neighbor’s Table within the image, and an entire section is dedicated to blog-style posts from Harmeyer.

These reflective posts are wellwritten and capture the essence of Harmeyer’s mission. Whether walking to the Evans Student Center or making your way to the cafeteria, Grant Plaza truly is a centralized area. Students have full access to the tables and are encouraged to utilize them.

“If you want to sit and eat Chick-fil-A with friends, by all means, go ahead,” Edmonds said. “The tables are a great place to study and feel like you’re part of the campus—part of the community.”

The Neighbor’s Tables reservations aren’t limited to oncampus organizations. OSF has deemed that any organization or any individual can reserve the Neighbor’s Tables for events, meals and anything that demands space for a large group.

To reserve a table, head to obu.edu/osf and navigate to the Neighbor’s Table tab for detailed information. n

calls a “servant leader.”

Ouachita Student Foundation’s primary motto is “Students helping students.” According to their website, they accomplish this with four basic areas of focus: student recruitment, special events, fundraising and finance and philanthropy.

Tiger Tunes focuses primarily on fundraising and finance, channeling efforts in raising money for student scholarships at Ouachita. These scholarships are awarded to current and returning students with a classification of junior or higher based on academic achievement, financial need and campus leadership.

Often, these scholarships can ensure that a student who was facing the possibility of leaving Ouachita can actually stay to complete their education.

This will be the fifth year the award is being given, the past four recipients of the Spirit of Tunes Award are Aaryn Elliot Whitney, Abby Root Curry, Mary Bednar and Tiger Blast.

According to Jaret Webb, director of Tiger Tunes and Tiger Traks for OSF, the award given to Tiger Blast during last year’s performance was the first time it had been given to an organization rather than to just an individual.

According to Alec Edmonds, president of Ouachita Student

Foundation, the Spirit of Tunes Award is given to a particular person who “embodies who Shelby was as a member of OSF and a participant in Tiger Tunes.”

“She absolutely adored Tunes,” said Addy Goodman, assistant director of Tiger Tunes and Tiger Traks. “The Spirit of Tunes Award started that next year.”

“I feel like the reason we have that, as well,” Edmonds said, “is definitely because Shelby obviously left an impact not only on the EEE’s, but on Tiger Tunes in general. Definitely leaving an impact for directors, for participants just to be positive, just to learn that life is too short, so just have fun.”

Edmonds continued by explaining that the ultimate goal of Tiger Tunes is the fundraising agenda and the connection of students. While awards are given throughout the week to those clubs and organizations who perform well in theme and lyric, musicality, costuming, entertainment and choreography, Edmonds stressed that fun was the purpose of the show each year. “We want to encourage that in Tiger Tunes and keep Shelby’s legacy going,” he said.

“It’s very humbling,” Goodman said. “We have this award. Let’s remember Shelby,

let’s remember that Tiger Tunes isn’t about winning. Tiger Tunes is about making an impact and making the Spirit of Tiger Tunes the focus.”

“I consider it like the spirit of Christmas. You don’t give to receive,” Webb said. “I thought that was like Shelby to put on those Tunes shows, because she knew it would bring money in to help fellow students. That was her, I guess, driving force, and we always try to seek out someone who embodies that spirit of ‘if we don’t place at all, at least we made money for fellow students.’ The true spirit isn’t, ‘I wanna put on the show, so I can win.’ It’s ‘I wanna put on the show, so I can contribute to something much bigger than me,’ and that’s helping students stay here.”

Edmonds was first in the Campus Activities (now Student Life) show, “Cats,” in the fall of 2015 under the direction of Abby Root Curry. While serving with OSF, Edmonds also grew close to Mary Bednar. “I think the impact it had on me personally was knowing what true service looks like,” he said. “Being really close with both Abby and Mary, both recipients, both had attitudes of service, and both of them had attitudes of selfless service.”

According to Goodman, she

was with another Ouachita student, Abigail Wise, when she heard of Shelby’s passing in 2014. “Abigail was an EEE with her, so I got to hear that whole week we were on Spring Break with her. I got to hear Abigail talk about Shelby’s service and her leadership and just truly what it meant to be a servant leader, rather than just a leader,” Goodman said. “That next year when the award came out, I kept seeing these people who served selflessly, and then when I came to school, I realized who they were. I think the award is kind of what instilled in me the desire to be a servant leader. Just seeing these people and hearing Shelby’s legacy from the people who loved her.”

While many students at Ouachita now may not have directly known Seabaugh’s work, all will still feel the lasting effects of the testimony and ministry with which she served on Ouachita’s campus. Not just through the Spirit of Tiger Tunes Award, but also through the commitment of service and leadership of the students who knew her, we are able to see the legacy of Shelby Seabaugh, the passion with which she served and the grace of Jesus that she perpetuated throughout her life. n

to have a table in every state by the year 2020. Harmeyer’s love mission is an admirable one, one that’s made its way to Ouachita’s campus, the first college campus to feature one of her tables.

Each table is handcrafted by Harmeyer’s father, Lee, using Western Red Cedar wood. The tables feature a nine-foot-long bench that provides ample seating for large groups of people

“One day, I was walking through campus, and it hit me that Grant Plaza would be the perfect place for our Neighbor’s Table! The location is shaped in such a way that it looks great, but it is also in the center of campus which I thought would be a great talking point for students and prospective students. Community is so central to Ouachita that we have

the green light from Dr. Sells and she was so excited. She loved the idea of tables on campus – and we are the first college campus to have a Neighbor’s Table. She asked for a group picture of OSF members, so she could begin to pray for the students who would gather there,” Merryman said.

Two tables were purchased for the Grant Plaza by OSF and placed earlier this semester.

Erica Wilmath z Photo lab OSF MEMBERS sit with Ouachita alumna and Neighbor’s Table founder, Sarah Harmeyer, at Ouachita’s new tables in Grant Plaza.

Harmeyer established Neighbor’s Table as an effort to provide unique ways to form community in different locations.

Spirit of Tunes Award celebrates a beloved Ouachitonian

By JULIE WILLIAMS Editor-in-Chief

This year, Ouachita gets to say, “Happy birthday,” to one of its all-time favorite traditions: Tiger Tunes. While the biggest fundraiser for student scholarships turns 40 years old during this Homecoming week, Ouachita will also commemorate the fifth year of a relatively newer tradition, the giving of Ouachita Student Foundation’s Spirit of Tunes Award and the incredible, selfless girl that inspired it all.

According to leadership of OSF, the Spirit of Tunes Award is named for Shelby Seabaugh, a member of OSF, the Women of EEE and director of the winning 2013 Tunes Show, “ShEEEp.” Seabaugh, set to graduate in May 2015 from Ouachita, was a Christian studies and philosophy double major from Magnolia, a Dean’s list scholar and a member of the Honors program. Her brilliant and joyful career as a student was cut short when she died suddenly in March 2014, during Spring Break of her junior year.

The Ouachita, Arkadelphia and Magnolia communities mourned the loss of one of their most joyful faces, but celebrated the life of what OSF leadership

FEATURES

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Tiger Tunes: what you don’t know about Ouachita’s tradition

By CODY POE Staff Writer

Tiger Tunes is finally back after a year off. Clubs and organizations have been practicing and singing for hours week after week in order to put on a great show for the audience.

This year there are different performances that will be put on display for the public. These include The Men of Kappa Chi: Castaways, The Women of EEE: E-E-E What’s Your Emergency, The Men of Rho Sigma: Secret Agents, The Women of Tri Chi: Boxers, The Men of Beta Beta: Gold Rush, The Women of Chi Delta: Boot Camp, The Women of Chi Mu: Muses, The Men and Women of Student Life: Hunting Season, The Men and Women of Campus Ministries: Swiss Alps and The Men of Eta Alpha Omega: Magicians.

Each show requires planning well in advance. After that, each group must get all the people in the show together and practice the music and the dances that go along with each song three to four hours a day after they finish

their classes.

To write their shows, directors must find inspiration somewhere that helps motivate them make a show that people want to see.

Past Tunes shows are some of the biggest influencers when it comes to making a brand-new show.

“Past winning Kappa shows, we originally had a theme for something else that kind of morphed into Castaways, because the original theme had been done within the last 10 years. We took that idea and morphed it into something new that Kappa at least hasn’t done before. A lot of the show has past winning shows involved in it, other Kappa shows inspired this show,” said Beaux Schmidt 2017 Tiger Tunes host and 2018 Kappa Chi Tiger Tunes director.

Ouachita has very active alumni both academically and within each of the different clubs on campus. One of the biggest events that draw in alumni is Tiger Tunes. With this being the 40th anniversary of Tiger Tunes, alumni from all over the world will come watch the show or live stream it. Alumni being so active

in the Tunes community puts extra pressure on the performers, and especially the directors.

“Being part of a club that has a strong history with Tunes absolutely puts pressure on writing a good Tunes show.

Mainly because alumni are so involved. They may not be involved with anything else, but they will come and be involved with Tunes,” Schmidt said.

One of the most difficult parts about directing a Tiger Tunes show is finding songs that match your theme. Many people think that you can just pick a song that talks about your theme, but Tiger Tunes directors say that is completely wrong.

“People make the mistake of choosing a song that directly correlates with your theme. We’re Castaways, so it would have been easy to choose ‘Cast Away’ by the Zac Brown Band, but then it would have been harder to write lyrics for it because we can’t say every word that’s in that song,” Schmidt said.

One thing that many people fail to understand about Tiger Tunes is when it actually starts, especially this year with it being

so soon in the semester. To make a good show takes time, you can not just throw a bunch of random moving parts together in August and have Tunes ready by September. Most clubs have their Tunes theme picked by the time they get a new director. Once a theme is locked in and approved, it comes the time for the dances and songs to be created. This could take as little as a week to do or it could take all summer.

That all depends on the director.

“It probably took us about a month to figure out what songs we were going to do. We started writing lyrics in July and it took us about a week or two to come up with a rough draft for them” Shmidt said.

Many people tend to focus and the clubs and organizations performing and how well they do, but there is another group of people that put just as much if not more than the competitors: the hosts and hostesses. This year, there are eight Host and hostesses, Emma Pitts, Clay Mobley, Philip Robinson, Zachary Myers, Felicia Valdez, Cameron Conner, Paige Price and Hannah Hill. Throughout the

course of the competition, they will announce each performance, as well as do a number of performances themselves.

Tiger Tunes hosts were selected back in February and have been rehearsing longer than all the others in Tunes: how they do it, the mood they are trying to set with it and things like that.

But with hosts, their music is picked for them. Clubs have the ability to choose different aspects of their show, but hosts do not.

They have to learn the music and the dances, but they are not really trying to tell a story with their performance.

The hosts and hostesses start their practices much earlier than other clubs. While clubs have to put on one show every performance, the hosts and hostesses perform multiple shows with many costume changes in between.

“These past two weeks leading up to Tunes has just been review review review, basically run through every song, every show every night just making sure we’re as prepared as possible,” said Clay Mobley, Tiger Tunes host. n

Alex Blankenship z Photo Lab editor

Alex Blankenship z Photo Lab editor

Alex Blankenship z Photo Lab editor

Alex Blankenship z Photo Lab editor

Alex Blankenship z Photo Lab editor

Alex Blankenship z Photo Lab editor

TOP LEFT: Hostess Emma Pitts and host Zach Myers lead OSF leadership and all show directiors in Mega Mix. TOP RIGHT: The Men and Women of Campus Ministries perform in this years show with a theme of the Swiss Alps.

TOP RIGHT, SECOND DOWN: The Women of Chi Mu dance in their show which is set with the theme of the Greek Muses.

RIGHT, THIRD DOWN: The Women of Tri Chi dance and sing as boxers in their Tiger Tunes show.

BOTTOM LEFT: The Men of Eta Alpha Omega dance with their sweethears in a show that they themed as the Magicians.

BOTTOM RIGHT: The Men of Kappa Chi perform in their show as a group of castaways.

OPINIONS

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“Mary and the Witch’s Flower” captures magic of animation

By CATHERINE LYP Arts / Features editor

Of all the movies that have come out so far this year, one of the more interesting and less talked-about films is Studio Ponoc’s “Mary and the Witch’s Flower.” Founded by a former producer of Studio Ghibli, Yoshiaki Nishimura in 2015, Studio Ponoc was established in 2015 and released “Mary and the Witch’s Flower” last January.

The film begins with a flashback that is revealed later to have led to the distinct events that take place throughout the remainder of the movie’s plot. The flashback begins by showing a red-haired little girl running through a background of greenery that is set ablaze. As she runs away from those who try to capture her and the artifact which she has stolen, the little girl loses her magical powers allowing her to fly and falls into the forest below.

The following scene begins by showing the main character of the movie, a little girl named Mary Smith who, similar to the girl that was shown in the beginning, has red hair. Without revealing spoilers, the movie continues by having Mary accidentally acquire magical powers, and by doing so, become involved in an ongoing search and conflict of the other characters. On an outing into the woods near her Great Aunt Charlotte’s home, Mary comes across a peculiar cat that leads her to a large tree cloaked with intertwining vines that hide secrets of the past.

Near the tree, the cat, Tibs, finds a small spherical blue flower.

After unintentionally coming in contact with the liquid from inside the mysterious flower, Mary is imbued with magical abilities that bring her into the middle of a magnificent and terrifying adventure.

The movie, being produced by a Japanese animation studio, is in a genre of film known as Anime.

The animation within “Mary and the Witch’s Flower” is absolutely beautiful. Not only is Anime an interesting and vibrant form of animation in general, but the way in which Studio Ponoc portrays the film’s characters and their surroundings is fantastic.

By utilizing a beginning setting that is beautiful and timeless, filled with greenery, old buildings and deep forests, the animation conveys a sense of whimsy.

Then, with the introduction of the magical realm, the animation is used to its fullest potential to create an immersive world full of magic and unimaginable possibilities. Complete with strange machines, imaginative creatures and intricate magical locations, the animation brings the story to life.

Along with animation, the

film’s music does a fantastic job of completing the whole and working well in conjunction with the animation and the story. The music, while it is similar throughout the movie, does well at emphasizing the parts of the film that are meant to have a certain tone. If a specific scene is supposed to be suspenseful, the music is louder and deeper than the music leading up to it, where as if the scene is supposed to be sad or thoughtful, the music is quiet and has a slightly more whimsical sound.

The story itself is also interesting. Complete with flashbacks, mystery twists and suspense the story is immensely entertaining.

Beginning with what seems to be an average story about a little girl, the plot quickly shows that there is something more to the

Ask The Signal

By Sara Patterson Staff writer

“What should I expect from my first Tiger Tunes experience?”

Ouachita is widely known for its annual Tiger Tunes show, put on by the Ouachita Student Foundation (OSF), to raise money for student scholarships.

The iconic production attracts thousands of audience members every year, many of whom are prospective students of Ouachita. These prospective students, along with current students who have not participated in a Tunes show before, do not get to witness all that goes on behind the scenes of these exciting performances.

In the making of every Tiger Tunes show, there is a lot of community, friendship, hard work and time commitment involved in the process.

Any Ouachita student who has participated in Tiger Tunes before will likely agree that community is a huge part of the Tunes experience. Every Tunes group has their own unique traditions that create a bond to bind student participants closer to one another and often foster new friendships among students.

“When I did Tunes my freshman year, I made all of the friends that I’m closest to now,” junior Mattie Dodson said.

In many of the Tunes groups, members are randomly assigned a secret person to give gifts to throughout the weeks of rehearsal leading up to the performances.

Some Tunes groups also have devotional and family group times at the start of each practice to foster a God-honoring community while maintaining a focused and productive environment.

The common experience of participating in Tiger Tunes brings students together to form lasting friendships, and the community environment that fosters participants helps students overcome feelings of stress and exhaustion with encouragement from their peers.

Another more obvious aspect of Tunes is all the hard work that it requires from participants.

This year in particular, Tunes groups have had roughly three weeks to learn, rehearse, and master their intricate shows. Due to this short time frame, practices are packed with activity and can be overwhelming at times.

Being a participant in a Tunes show requires both mental and physical endurance to execute the moves and sing the lyrics successfully. Tunes participants develop a passion and dedication for their show and their team members that motivates them to perform their best throughout the Tunes season, even in the difficult and draining moments.

Tiger Tunes activities also take a lot of time out of students’

busy schedules. Tunes groups practice for up to 15 hours a week and perform their shows for multiple nights in the last week. This time commitment is something to consider, especially for freshmen who are just beginning to get used to all the responsibilities and commitments that come with being a college student.

Alaina Hiryak, a senior, said Tiger Tunes is a big time commitment that students’ should acknowledge when planning their daily schedules.

“It can take up a lot of your time, but don’t let it take up all of your time. Leave time for yourself and your schoolwork,” Hiryak said.

Time management is a necessity for surviving tunes season while still being able to take care of the many responsibilities that every college student has.

“I would say make time for lots of naps,” Dodson said.

In all, Tiger Tunes is a fulfilling experience that is unique to campus life at Ouachita.

However, Tunes requires much sacrifice and dedication from participants.

Experiencing Tiger Tunes as a performer, especially for the first time, is a valuable experience that teaches participants how to manage and maximize their time while still having fun in community and engaging in new, meaningful relationships at their practices and performances. n

Submit your “Ask The Signal” questions at signal@obu.edu.

story. Along with the story progression, the main characters also exhibit development in their personalities and how they view the world.

“Mary and the Witch’s Flower” has a strong moral compass, similar to movies made by Studio Ghibli in the past. Over the course of the story, Mary, as well as Peter, a young boy who lives in the same town as Mary’s Great Aunt Charlotte, learn various lessons. From learning to appreciate the mundane to not judging a book by its cover, at its core, “Mary and the Witch’s Flower” is a story about appreciating what you have, yet not being afraid of the new.

As a whole, “Mary and the Witch’s Flower” is an enjoyable movie that will warm your heart. While the film begins as

a seemingly normal movie with a normal story about a little girl who is unhappy with her situation, the story changes into a film that is full of meaning and magic. The story takes the audience on a wonderful adventure while the animation transports us there with the characters.

Each scene is so vivid with the combination of music, animation and plot converging to create a finished product that is not only pleasing to the eyes and ears, but also has a story that touches the hearts of audience members. In comparison with the legacy that Studio Ghibli left behind with its multitude of successful and meaningful anime films, Studio Ponoc’s first film, “Mary and the Witch’s Flower,” does not disappoint. n

Impractical social media criticism

By WILL BLASE News editor

Social media is an everchanging and adaptive field.

Users have the ability to interact with close-friends, peers and well-known celebrities at the touch of a button. This connective web has strengthened communication and outreach, making users feel connected at all times. Too often social media is portrayed in a positive light, especially by younger users who are able to adapt to new features and platforms within days while being criticized by those who don’t frequent the popular platforms.

We post nearly everything on our social media feeds: who we’re dating, the new outfit you just bought, what hip and trendy coffee shop you’re posted up at—everything. Individuals will create a colorful palette of pictures that express who they are or what they’re trying to convey through their activities.

Think back to your first social media account. For me, it was Facebook.

The majority of the content being posted was meaningless and catered toward individuals I went to school with. I slowly eased off of the gas as bigger and better platforms came out and my audience on Facebook thinned. I wanted them to see me for me… the revamped social media side of me.

To some degree, we’re cautious and slightly selfish in the content of our posts. We create the content and direct who it involves and who it’s targeted toward. I, myself, am guilty of this. I prefer to post pictures that don’t include me. On the flip side of things, many individuals post pictures that highlight the plethora of activities they attend,

usually featuring themselves front-and-center. This doubleedged sword drives a dividing line between those who feel overwhelmed and overloaded by social media and those who feel that the outlet is expressive.

At its core, social media was designed to be expressive. The hatred and confusion directed toward individuals that post too often just doesn’t make sense.

They utilize a platform and explore the possibilities and outlets provided. It often parallels the concept of high-school popularity. How many followers do I have? How many likes did this post get? We shouldn’t tear ourselves down based on a follower count amount of likes.

As our time spent on media swells in proportion, many individuals find themselves attending events “for the gram’.” For those unfamiliar with the phrase, “gram’” is a shortened name for the social media platform Instagram. The phrase has found its way into mainstream media and proves both trendy and catchy.

Sometimes, these images are positive. Influencers, such as your fellow students, can shift a company or team’s image and bring in a larger audience. But sometimes, this “for the gram’” approach conveys a sense of absentminded attendance. The manipulation of an event solely for personal gain abuses the efforts provided by the company, team or individuals that poured hours of effort into it. We should be neighborly, no matter the organization and provide full attention and support. Social media can lift us up, but we’re torn down just as easily.

Our accounts are displayed for the world to see. Are you being the “real” you? Or playing a pawn to the popularity game? n

SPORTS

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Arkadelphia twins take next step in football journey

By BRODY BROWN Online staff writer

Many of us began our Ouachita careers with a roommate who was determined by a combination of survey results and random selection. It’s rare that two people come here with someone they know, much less with family.

However, that’s not the case with twin Arkadelphia-natives Jack and Josh Burnham, who are not only roommates, but teammates on the football team.

Growing up here in Arkadelphia, both brothers enjoyed their small town. They were able to go from one recreational activity to another, satisfied with the variety of activities here in a footballlovin’ small-town U.S.A. and were grateful that the town was more comforting than a large city.

“I just like the hometown feel and it wasn’t too big, but it was big enough to where you had enough things to do and it’s just a big football town and that’s what we like,” Jack said.

It also doesn’t hurt that much of their family has planted their roots here and are able to cheer on the pair at their games. “[I] have a lot of family here, so [I’m] around them all the time,” Josh said.

Although they did have their fun doing various things as kids, the thing that they got involved in early on was football. The pair attempted to recall a precise year for when they started their sports’ careers, but found that it had been going on for so long that they couldn’t say for sure. The earliest and latest estimates they gave were seven-years-old and nineyears-old, meaning that they have between nine years and 11 years of total experience out on the field.

But while pee-wee football played into their careers, what helped them get on the football team was getting their hands dirty in high school. According to Ouachita’s athletic website, Jack Burnham at Arkadelphia High

Alex Blankenship z Photo lab editor FRESHMAN TWINS Josh Burnham (left) and Jack Burnham (right) are first-year members of the Ouachita football team. The twins also played alongside each other for Arkadelphia High School.

School had “15 receptions for 267 yards and carried the ball 18 times for 206 yards. The Arkadelphia native was named all conference in both his junior and senior season.”

On the flip-side, Josh Burnham, who attended Arkadelphia High School with his brother, was “named to the All-Conference team his junior and senior year,” and in his junior year, “made 89 tackles, forced two fumbles, made an interception and scored a touchdown. In his final season, [he] made 65 tackles, had four sacks, forced a fumble, had two interceptions and scored five touchdowns.”

So with their successes in high school accumulated and the rest of their years in football under their belts, it’s natural the both of them

would want to push forward to more competition. Though it may have been tempting to go to another school, especially Henderson State University considering the fact that their parents are Henderson alumni, the desire to continue to further their sports career and the fact they grew up in Arkadelphia near this very school, made them choose Ouachita.

“Well, our parents went to Henderson and one of the big reasons why we came here is football,” Jack said.

Although coaches, their fellow teammates and the simple thrill of competition have been sources of inspiration for improvement in their skill throughout their years of competition, the one that has always endured off and on the

field is their rivalry with each other.

“Honestly that’s probably the only reason why we’re so good, because we compete at everything so we always get better,” Jack said.

Each time they step on the field, from their pee-wee years to their first year here, they knew that any mistake they made, whether a fumble or being tackled or any task they succeeded in on the field, such as a touchdown or tackling an opponent, would be one more thing that one of them could playfully hold over the other. Also, although Jack is a fullback and Josh is a linebacker, the competition still remains to this day. This pushes them to not just beat out each other, but to crush the opponents that come to Ouachita.

Of course, because they’re brothers, they are still sharing a living space after all these years and remain teammates, they can tend to butt heads both on and off the field. However, the two have become more able to get along over time, as brothers tend to do.

“We just do everything together, so we had to grow up a bit,” Jack said.

This season, however, it appears their cultivated skill is being used off the field instead of on the field.

The two of them are redshirts, meaning that they’re both out of the competition for the year to improve their skills, but one can imagine, based solely upon their rivalry and high school stats, that their first day upon the field will result in a victory for Ouachita. n

Sports shape relationships through heartbreak, motivation

By WILL JOHNSON

Sports / Opinions editor

Person z Photo Credit Kori Goudeau z Photo Lab JUNIOR ADRIANNA NOLLY focuses on Henderson State’s serve while signaling to her teammates during Ouachita’s second match of the day. Nolly compiled a season high 24 kills against the Reddies.

Volleyball falls in successive five-set thrillers

By CODY POE Staff writer

The Ouachita Lady Tiger Volleyball team (11-6) lost both of their matchups last week to Henderson State University (152) and Harding University (9-6).

The Lady Tigers fell first to the Harding Bison three sets to two despite impressive numbers for multiple OBU players. They came up short in the final set, losing it 22-13. The first set was dominated by Harding, winning 12 of the first 14 points. The Lady Tigers could do little to close this gap and lost the first set 20-5.

The second set was a much more balanced than the first.

The Lady Tigers led by as many as four in the set, but Harding would tie it up on the 14th point.

To win the set, the Lady Tigers blocked three consecutive points from Harding. They would use this gap to win the set 25-23.

The third set was another high intensity back and forth battle.

The Lady Tigers put up a three-

point lead after back-to-back kills by junior Tabatha Huckabee. This lead would soon disappear after Harding would answer back with five uninterrupted points.

The Lady Tigers never lost their will to fight in this set and would go on to win it, 25-19.

The fourth set was another back-and-forth battle between the two teams. Harding came out just like they did in the first, taking an early lead. The Bison scored six out of the first nine points. Their three-point lead would not last long, thanks to three consecutive kills from junior Adrianna Nolly, and the Lady Tigers tied the set 9-9.

Harding responded to the kills by going on a 14-3 run. Despite never giving up, the Lady Tigers would lose the fourth set, and then the fifth.

As many Arkadelphia natives know, the Battle of the Ravine is a big deal. Many people focus on the football aspect of BOTR, but the intensity of it carries over to all sports including volleyball.

Coming into this game, OBU

was on a two-match losing streak while the Henderson State Reddies were in a 13-match winning streak. From the first whistle, it was clear that neither team was going to yield to the other. It took the combined efforts of Adrianna Nolly and Tabatha Huckabee to get a threepoint lead and win the first set 26-24. The second set was much like the first. A tie of 21 at the end of the set forced the teams to give all they had. Henderson won the last four points and the set.

The third set was as close to perfect as Ouachita could get.

They would hit .474 as a team and had zero hitting errors in the set the would win this set easily with a score of 25-15.

The fourth set was the highest scoring of the game, with a score of 27-25. Even with the momentum of a near perfect previous set for Ouachita, the Reddies still managed to still hang on and eventually won this set pushing it to a fifth set.

Henderson would win the final set 15-11. n

The anguish didn’t strike until my head coach subbed me out of the game with less than five minutes to play, down by three goals.

The reality made itself known: eight years of competitive soccer had finally come to an end.

I knew that someday I would play my last soccer game, but I didn’t expect it to happen so soon. As the final minutes rolled off the clock, I scanned the perimeter of the field, glancing first at the fans, then at the coaches and, lastly, the players. Though I was overwhelmed with emotion, I was surrounded by people who pushed me to become the best version of myself, both on and off the soccer field. The final whistle was muffled by my own thoughts and memories of teammates I truly respected. It wasn’t the loss that hurt. It was the simple fact that I would never again play a soccer game with my closest friends.

I find that the most valuable advantage of playing a sport is the friendship built along the way. Sure, sports are a great way to stay active and healthy.

They also cater to those with a competitive nature, but the relationships created and further strengthened through the ups and downs of every practice, game and season, along with team activities outside of the sport, are transformative. Even individual sports, such as golf and gymnastics, provide numerous opportunities for friendships through the events and training sessions in which athletes participate. Without question, my experience in sports was highlighted by the company

of my teammates.

The first time I ever kicked a soccer ball was during third grade recess. The only reason I stepped foot on the playground soccer field was because a few other kids invited me to join. At first, games were chaotic. As the school year went on, I formed a close friend group with others on the playground, and games became more organized. We began to learn the basic rules of soccer, while improving our own foot-skills. The next few years of school recess were spent playing soccer and socializing with newfound friends who loved the sport as much as I did. Those same friends were the ones with whom I spent my final moments on the soccer field.

I joined a club team with some school friends and played my first competitive soccer game in fifth grade. We weren’t great. In fact, we weren’t good at all, but I enjoyed every minute of it because of the teammates I was surrounded by. Although I knew a few of them from school, I met so many more by playing on the team. There’s a certain value in trusting teammates, no matter the sport. Without trust, it’s hard to be successful, and that trust is formed by the relationships made within the team. I never would have matured into the person I am today without the leadership and respect of those I trusted through the eight years of highs and lows.

I gazed to my right and left at each teammate, one-by-one. As the final whistle sounded, all I could think of was how honored I was to be a part of such a lifechanging group. Without sports, I never would have encountered the friends that helped shape my journey. n

SPORTS

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Kori Goudeau z Photo Lab SENIOR TYLER GAHR gets ready to take the field with his teammates prior to Ouachita’s home game against East Central. Gahr and the rest of the offensive line, which helped the Tigers pile on over 300 yards on the ground against East Central, hopes to continue to pace the strong running game into Homecoming.

Football to defend home turf after highest ranking since ‘14

By JOSH SALIM Guest writer

It’s about that time of year again for football teams across the nation.

Homecoming weekend has finally arrived and traditions will take place on college campuses, filled with pep rallies, football games, Homecoming queens and more.

For Ouachita, a huge tradition is the Homecoming football game.

This year’s Homecoming match is against Arkansas Tech University, which finds itself right at .500 on the season at 2-2.

Despite the split on the season, the Wonderboys are riding a two game win streak after a 24-10 win against Southern Nazarene University.

The Ouachita football team

is off to an impressive start this season. The Tigers are currently undefeated at 4-0 with a 42-0 win against East Central University at home this past Saturday. This was the first shutout win for the Tigers since the second week of 2012. Going into the match, Ouachita was ranked ninth in the nation, but with the shutout win against the ECU Tigers, they have climbed two spots in the polls to No. 7. Ouachita is led on the field by redshirtfreshman quarterback Brayden Brazeal, who has thrown for just under 500 yards passing, run for 176 yards and recorded three touchdowns through four games of play.

Another star player for the Tigers is junior running back Brockton Brown, who also had a big game this past weekend

against East Central. Brown ran for three touchdowns, totaling 64 yards.

Not only is Brown enjoying the season so far, but he is living out his dreams as a collegiate athlete for Ouachita.

“So far this year, it has been awesome being a running back for OBU,” said Brown. “It’s been a lot of work but there has been a lot of reward. As far as my goal on the team, I just want to do what is necessary week in and week out to help our team. It’s been such a blessing from God to have this experience especially since it’s something I have wanted since I was a kid.”

Brown is also very excited for his third Homecoming game of his career, saying, “I’m looking forward to the Homecoming game because of our fans. I’m

excited for the big turn out at the game and I’m sure that will pump the other guys up, too.

As far as the game and playing Tech goes, I’m pumped. Tech is a good team and it will add to our experience on the season to play them. We are working hard to prepare for that game.”

Ouachita’s football team is running on all cylinders as a single unit, which has led them to be the undefeated team that they are four games into the season. “Our team ticks on close chemistry among all the players,” Brown said. “We are a tight knit group and have been working hard together to get to the point we are at. We rally around one another and enjoy each other’s company as we work throughout the week in preparation for game day. It’s really what makes

us play hard, because we are playing for one another.”

Statistically at home, Ouachita is averaging 41.5 points per game, 336 rushing yards per game and 442 yards of total offense in its two games at Cliff Harris Stadium. Defensively, the Tigers have only seen eight points enter the visitor section of the scoreboard this season as well. The Tigers have intercepted the ball eight times this season and Brayden Brazeal has yet to throw an interception thus far.

With the Homecoming game in sight, the Tigers will look to rally offensively and hold the fort down defensively, to defend their house against Arkansas Tech University and remain undefeated. The game will start on Sept. 29 at noon inside Cliff Harris Stadium. n

and spending millions to cater to the donors with a new stadium addition. What sparks this loyalty?

Even as the football program is currently in shambles, why are Razorback fans across the Natural State still supporting the program?

Last Saturday, many Arkansasnative, Ouachitonians were faced with a difficult dilemma. They could either brave a cold and rainy night to watch their Tigers play at Cliff Harris Stadium or they could stay in the comfort of their rooms to watch the Razorbacks play against Auburn. Despite being only a two-minute drive from watching their nationallyranked university football team crush an inferior opponent, many students chose to watch one of the worst college football teams in the country get embarrassed by a conference rival. I found that to be extremely surprising.

I understand that the University of Arkansas can provide a higher level of talent on the football field than can Ouachita, but that does not mean that it is more interesting to watch an Arkansas game on television than it is to watch a Ouachita game in person. While the quality on the field may be bet-

ter at Arkansas, it is far more fun to watch your team win, something which Ouachita has been doing a lot more of lately than Arkansas. I have never been to a football game in Fayetteville which had the same atmosphere as the Battle of the Ravine, for example. Ouachita games are a lot of fun, especially when we have a team which is as good as we have this year.

This year’s Ouachita team is something special. We are ranked seventh in the nation this week, with an exciting offense that likes to put up points and a defense which thrives on turnovers and big hits. While our school may be one of the smallest in all of Division-II, we have some of the best student-athletes in the nation and our school has great spirit.

Having the experience of winning a conference title and facing one of the best teams in the nation in the playoffs last season, the Tigers have a shot at making it even further this season and making a run at a national title.

It’s our job as a student body to put aside other loyalties, whether it be to Arkansas, Texas or A&M and come together to support our own football team. n

This Week at Ouachita Why fans should support Tigers over Hogs

By CALEB BYRD

Thursday, Sept. 27

Guest writer

Women’s Soccer vs SW Oklahoma State @ 3 p.m.

Friday, Sept. 28

Volleyball vs Southern Nazarene @ 6 p.m.

Swimming - Purple & White Meet (TBA)

Saturday, Sept. 29

Football vs Arkansas Tech @ noon

Volleyball vs Oklahoma Baptist @ 4 p.m.

Swimming - Alumni Meet & Tailgate (TBA)

Tuesday, Oct. 2

Men’s Soccer vs Harding @ 3 p.m.

Signal

The

Like most kids in Arkansas, I grew up a Razorback fan. On Saturdays, I’d wake up fairly early, read the Democrat-Gazette’s game preview with my breakfast, watch College Gameday as the experts foolishly picked against the Razorbacks and then watched the Hogs play in the afternoon where they almost inevitably proved the experts right and failed to live up to the lofty expectations fans held for them. It was a vicious cycle of fandom. There were some good years where the Razorbacks would string fans along for a while before finally letting them down at season’s end -- I’m thinking of the capitulation to end the Darren McFadden era and the Bobby Petrino motorcycle accident in particular.

While the last decade of Razorback football has been full of ups and downs, the fan have remained loyal to the program -- even as the program has failed in its loyalty to many fans by scheduling poor teams in Little Rock, failing to recruit many top Arkansas prospects

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