O UAC H I TA
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FEATURES | 3
SIGNAL
02.16.18
48 HOURS’ NOTICE Mary Beth Jones’ whirlwind mission trip to Honduras
Vol. 126, Issue 15
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Honors program hosts Black and White reception By JULIA WILLIAMS News editor
The Carl Goodson Honors program sponsors an annual semi-formal event called “The Black and White.” Themed with these colors, Honors leadership hosts new inductees into Alpha Tau, the social component of the Honors Program, while celebrating the research of their peers. This year’s Black and White was held on Thursday, February 8 at 6:30 p.m. in the Walker Conference Center. According to Cole Jester, social co-chair of the Honors Program, planning this event really went into high gear following the Christmas break. “Our hope with the reception is that we can make people see that the Honors Program is something important and meaningful, so we want it to be a nice affair, a more formal affair,” Jester said. “We had catering brought in by Sodexo. Efforts were made to make the Walker room look nice. We wanted our honored guests to feel like they were a part of something that was well-thought through and collected.” Those honored guests were Dr. Ben Sells, the university’s president, and his wife, Mrs. Lisa Sells. Also in attendance was Dr. Stan Poole, the vice president of academic affairs, and Dr. Tim Goodson, an honored donor, supporter and the son of Dr.
Andy Henderson z Photo Lab JACOB LIVELY, a 2015 Ouachita alumnus, speaks at last week’s Honors Black and White reception. Lively spoke to the students in attendance about how his involvement with the Carl Goodson Honors Program during his time as a Ouachita student has affected him in his professional career.
Carl Goodson, the man from whom the Program derives its name. Mr. Jacob Lively, a 2012 Ouachita alumnus, was the keynote speaker for the evening. Attending with his wife, Gracie, a 2015 alumna, Lively spoke to the gathering of over 140 Honors students, dedicated faculty and administration about his role in Honors as a student at Ouachita and how it developed the rest of his academic and professional career. One of the primary functions of this annual event is to induct new members into the Carl Goodson Honors Program. This includes
mostly freshmen, but also those who have reached the prerequisite requirements of a 3.5 grade point average. Divided by school of study, 133 new students were inducted. Each school’s ambassador, an Honors officer in that school, presented each new student with a certificate and lit a candle. According to Mary Grace Hill, the ambassador coordinator and secretary of the Honors Program, “During the Black and White, the ambassadors connected with the students by handing out certificates and lighting candles. Throughout the year, their role is to create a cohort
within their school of study and a community across the schools.” After each inductee received his or her certificate, they all stood to recite the following pledge: “As a member of the Carl Goodson Honors Program, I pledge to honor Christ as I pursue academic excellence in my field of study and research and to support my peers in our scholarly community of Alpha Tau.” The Honors leadership also gives an embroidered badge to each individual who enters the final stage of their Honors education by propos-
ing a senior thesis. This black and gold Ouachita Baptist University Honors badge features the letters Alpha Tau and the three tenants of the program: academic excellence, research and scholarly community. On this evening, 47 badges were awarded, with only 10 students being away either in sports teams or studying abroad. In addition to the induction ceremony, Dr. Barbara Pemberton, director of the Carl Goodson Honors Program, presented grants to this year’s winners. Given for excellence in research see Honors z 2
Ouachita professor to speak at Festival in Grand Rapids By ANNI WILLIAMS Staff writer
Dr. Margarita Pintado, assistant professor of Spanish, will be speaking at the Festival of Faith and Writing at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich., April 12-14. “They want me to talk, mostly, about how fluency in Spanish and English have defined or helped or shaped my poetry,” said Pintado, who received the invitation to speak at the festival about two months ago. “I was really surprised,” Pintado said about receiving the invitation to speak, “especially because I haven’t published anything in English.” So far Pintado has published two books of poetry in her first language, Spanish, one of which was awarded first prize by the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture two years ago. At the conference, Pintado will be reading in both Spanish and English. She says she feels confident about speaking to a large group after her teaching experience. “Teaching really helps you to address a big audience and talk about your creative work,” Pintado said. “Professors do that all the time. I’ve done it here in faculty colloquium, I talk about my poetry and the creative process,
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so I’m really confident.” “I’ve been thinking about how my poetic language changed after speaking more English,” said Pintado. “Even though I’m a native speaker of Spanish, the truth is I speak English way more now because I’m married to someone who doesn’t speak Spanish and my colleagues speak English, so that’s the language I speak. It has affected the way I write in Spanish. I don’t write in English, I write in Spanish, but you can tell by my writing how my writing has changed as I became bilingual. I think my poetry has become more minimalist, more pure, more spiritual. Which has to do with my surroundings here, being in Arkansas.” Pintado will be talking about how her “poetic universe” has changed from her first book (published in 2012) and her second book (published in 2016). She says her life was more immersed in Spanish when she wrote her first book, which is why its language is more elaborate and complicated. Her second book attempts to relate to universal language, even though it’s written in Spanish. “You sort of get the picture of what I’m writing about and it’s way easier to translate,” Pintado said. “I
Caden Flint z Photo Lab
Maddie Brodell z Photo Lab
ATHLETES PARTICIPATE in last year’s Special Olympics competition. Ouachita has hosted the event in Sturgis Physical Education Center for 15 years, with several students from across campus getting involved each year.
OBU hosts Special Olympics Area 10 Skills Competition By VICTORIA ANDERSON
Staff writer Ouachita hosted the Special Olympics Area 10 Skills Competition and Tournament Thursday morning in the Sturgis Physical Education Center. The Special Olympics Unified Tournament will be held in the same location on February 20 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Area 10 competition consisted of two events. Some of the athletes competed in individual skills, where shooting, dribbling and passing were assessed. The other event was a team basketball tournament for athletes who had a developmental disability. “The Unified Basketball Tournament allows Special
Olympics athletes to participate in a sport alongside their peers,” said Dr. Amber Chelette, a professor of kinesiology and leisure studies. “This allows for peer mentoring and support. There will be at least three Special Olympics athletes and up to two peers playing on the court at one time.” Ouachita has hosted the Special Olympics for 15 years and a total of 278 athletes participated last year. It all began when Dr. Mike Reynolds wanted to host an event for the Adapted Kinesiology and Leisure Studies course. This class taught students how to guide people with disabilities through sports and other recreational activities. “However, it has come to involve all of our kinesiology and leisure studies majors
see Pintado z 2
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and many more from across campus,” said Chelette, “The event provides a service to a very special group in our community, as well as allows our students a volunteer opportunity like none other that better prepares them to interact with individuals with disabilities in their future careers. We are trying to end the divide between ‘us’ and ‘them’ and build togetherness instead. Because as they say, ‘we are more alike than different.’” Some students on campus first became involved in the Special Olympics through a requirement for a class. But, even when the class was over, many students returned to the event because of the joy they found there. “It brings my heart so see Olympics z 2
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