OBU Signal – April 24

04.24.14 Issue 24

countdown to

COMMENCEMENT

2014 including weekends:

16 class & finals only:

11 class days:

6

IN THIS ISSUE:

Know Your Candidates Q&A with Student Senate nominees, p.2

Be Prepared The tools every college graduate will need, p.3

College Reality 10 things our high school teachers told us about college (that aren’t true), p.3

#1... Again Men’s tennis team named GAC champions for third straight year, p. 4

S News 1 n S Opinions 3 n S Sports 4 n

Nicole McPhate z The Signal Students compete in a tug-of-war match in the mud pit during Tiger Traks 2013. This year, 57 teams of eight students will compete in various phases of competition all around campus Thursday and Friday, April 25 and 26.

“Arkansas’ Most Exciting College Weekend”

By ANNA MCCULLOCH Staff Writer

The Ouachita Student Foundation will host the 39th annual Tiger Traks this Friday and Saturday, April 25 and 26.

OSF created Tiger Traks in the spring of 1975 as a way of bringing in money to fund student scholarships. Traks began as a bicycle race around a track and has evolved into a field day where students participate in various competitions over a two-day period. There will be several events this year, including raft races, trike races, a mega relay, basketball relays, egg toss, mud tug-of-war and mud volleyball.

Lindsey Fowler, OSF special events chair, said, “My favorite part of Tiger Traks is seeing hundreds of students from across campus come together for the sole purpose of having fun and while they are doing this, they are raising money for student scholarships.”

Traks is an important fundraiser for

the Ouachita Student Foundation. Each team pays a fee to register, which goes toward student scholarships. There are 57 teams signed up for Tiger Traks this year – which is 22 more than last year.

Fowler organized Traks this year with assistance from Anna-Cathryn Massey, OSF special events co-chair; Jonathan Curry, OSF secretary; Jon and Emily Merryman, OSF faculty sponsors; Kirstin Changose and Will Wooten, OSF fundraising and finance chairs; Kirby Von Edwins, OSF president; Dylan Haney and David Winkler, OSF communications chairs; OSF members; and Tim Harrell, director of Campus Activities.

This year there will be a birthday party for OSF after the Friday night competitions. It is a “Dive-in Movie” in the pool in SPEC. Everyone is invited to come and hangout with friends after Traks.

“It’s such a great weekend to take a break from the stresses that come with classes and the end of semester projects

and just enjoy “Arkansas’ Most Exciting College Weekend,” Fowler said.

“As a member of OSF I’ve spent the last two years of Traks on the other side of helping run it,” said Kate Cody. “It has been fun to see all the teams and their energy, but I’m really excited to get back out there this year and compete.

“My favorite part is the mega relay because it crams in the most activities we all get to do as a team, and some of them are pretty funny to accomplish.”

Students who are not participating in Tiger Traks are encouraged to come out and support their friends and classmates during the events of the weekend and also come out to the amphitheater after awards on Saturday night for Tiger Idol.

“I hope everyone is excited about all of the weekend’s events, making memories with friends and making a difference in the lives of many students through contributing to student scholarships,” said Fowler. n

Concert Choir to present spring concert tonight

By MOLLY BOWMAN News Bureau

Heather Ellis z The Signal Jay Heflin, Mac Stroud, Cindy Elrod Stroud, Betty Lou Elrod, Rex Horne Jr., Ben Elrod, Becky Horne, Ben Heflin, Billie Heflin, Sarah Heflin, Marc Heflin, Grace Heflin and Sharon Heflin pose for a photo after the Elrod Center’s University Community Service Awards banquet held last Thursday, April 17.

Elrod Center celebrates service of students at annual banquet

By JESSICA STEWART News Bureau

Ouachita’s Elrod Center for Family and Community honored Ouachita alumnus Sharon Heflin with the Community Service Excellence Award at its recent University Community Service Awards banquet. Dozens of students, faculty and staff were also recognized for their service during the past year.

The Elrod Center’s emphasis this year was based on a quote by author Annie Dillard: “How we spend our days is how we spend our lives.”

“One of the things that makes Ouachita unique is the value it places on service,” noted Judy Duvall, assistant director of the Elrod Center.

“Many of our students volunteer their time to make a difference in the lives of oth-

ers. In 2013, more than 45,000 volunteer hours were logged

by OBU students serving in various capacities. This night is special because we get to thank and pay tribute to these individuals that give so much to our campus and community.”

As Dr. Ben M. Elrod, chancellor and former president of Ouachita, introduced Sharon Heflin, he noted, “A casual stroll through OBU’s campus is proof that the Heflin family has been faithful and generous supporters of Ouachita through the years.”

Sharon Heflin, a 1967 Ouachita graduate, and her family have been longtime supporters of Ouachita. Sharon married Johnny Heflin (OBU class of 1967) the summer after they graduated from Ouachita. She previously was honored at the 2010 Stepping

Up for Ouachita luncheon.

“I am so grateful to receive this honor tonight, but I also feel so underserving,” Heflin responded as she received her award. “I am so pleased that these students at such a young age have already learned that by helping others, you are doing exactly what God put you on this earth to do.

“It doesn’t have to be money,” Heflin explained as she described the many ways individuals can serve. “It can be time, talents, giving someone a ride to the doctor’s office, writing a card or even just a smile.”

Always willing to give back to the community, Helfin’s community service leadership roles include serving as president of the Baptist Health Foundation Board, president see AWARDS z 3

The 100-voice Concert Choir of Ouachita will present its spring concert on Thursday, April 24, at 7:30 p.m. in Mabee Fine Art Center’s McBeth Recital Hall. The concert is free and open to the public.

Dr. Charles Wright, former dean of Ouachita’s School of Fine Arts and professor emeritus of music, is conducting the Concert Choir by invitation of Dr. Gary Gerber, chair of OBU’s Division of Music, while Dr. Gerber is on sabbatical.

Dr. Wright, who spent 40 years on the Ouachita music faculty, has returned to campus after a decade of retirement and also serves in Ouachita’s Office of Development.

“Never would I have anticipated having the privilege of returning to Ouachita to conduct the Concert Choir,” said Wright. “It has been an exhilarating experience that I will never forget.”

Concert Choir is open to all students on campus, offering students from all majors and interests the opportunity to be involved in the university’s music program. see CONCERT z 2

Thursday, April 24, 2014

www.obusignal.com

this weekzCALENDAR REFUGE is tonight at Second Baptist at 9 p.m.

LJ BROOKS MEMORIAL BASKETBALL COURT ribbon cutting ceremony will be tomorrow at 4 p.m. next to the sand volleyball court. For more information, contact Student Senate at senate@obu.edu.

“FROZEN” presented by CAB will be Sunday, April 27, at 8:30 p.m. on the lawn. For more information, contact Hillary Hill at hillh@obu.edu.

CONCERT

z Continued from Page 1 Abby Root, a freshman speech communication and theatre education double major., said she enjoys the diversity of students in Concert Choir.

“It’s a huge collaboration of people where everyone has to pull their own weight,” Root said. “I think it just really teaches you how to appreciate music and the art that music is.

You learn to appreciate musicians and the work that they do.”

The evening’s performance will open with a series of pieces called “Te Deum,” composed by Anton Bruckner. This work is a setting of the early Christian hymn text and includes five movements that serve as a personal reflection of Bruckner’s profound yet simple faith.

Following this series will be “Rejoice in the Lamb” by Benjamin Britten, “Psalm 150”

by Thomas Briccettii, “Song of Hope” by John Ness Beck and “O Magnum Mysterium”

by James McCray. The concert will conclude with “Canticle of Praise,” also by Beck and “My Eternal King” by Jane H. Marshall.

David Glaze, minister of music and worship arts at Trinity United Methodist Church in Little Rock and a Ouachita graduate, will accompany the performance as guest organist.

Also assisting the choir for a portion of the concert will be Glenda Aldridge, staff accompanist at Ouachita. Drew Ervin, a senior music and computer science major., will also assist in the performance on timpani.

Soloists for the performance are David Stanley, instructor of music at Ouachita, and the following students: Kassie Coleman, a senior music composition major; Meredith Martin, a senior choral music education major; Caitlin Secrest, a senior vocal performance major; and Jillian Turner, a junior vocal performance and music double major.

For more information, contact OBU’s School of Fine Arts at (870) 245-5129. n

AWARDS

z Continued from Page 1 of the Little Rock Central High School Alumni Board, vice president of the Alzheimer Arkansas Board and 2010 co-chair of Art and Soul for Easter Seals of Arkansas. She also is president emeritus of the Arkansas Hospice Foundation Board and has served on a number of other local and statewide boards.

“You can rest assured that I have a smile and will keep it ever present,” Heflin noted, “not only because you have blessed me tonight with this honor, but also because I am a witness firsthand of how wonderful this program is and what promising and encouraging young people you are.” n

VERITAS is Monday, April 28, at 9 p.m. in Berry Chapel.

For more information, contact Kendall Calvert at calvertk@ obu.edu.

Ashley Bullington & Ashley Randels

TONIGHT SHOW AT OBU is Tuesday, April 29, at 10 p.m. in Dr. Jack’s.

CAB KARAOKE will be Wednesday, April 30, from 8-10 p.m. at Dr. Jack’s. For more information, contact Hillary Hill at hillh@obu.edu.

[located in McBeth Recital Hall] 11 a.m. – Sarah Talley (voice) Brent Nessler (saxophone) 2 p.m. – Megan Evans (voice)

8 p.m. – Jacob Sturgeon (musical theatre) Lauren Linton (musical theatre)

STUDENT SENATE

2014-2015

Meet the candidates...

External VP: President: Internal VP: Jackson Carter

Josh Rubin sophomore, biology

David Willhite sophomore, Christian studies

“I want to make Senate more available and approachable to students and help represent this great university in a positive way.“

“I would like to help publicize how Senate serves OBU’s campus and community and show students ways they can directly get involved in bringing issues to Senate.“

junior, mass comm & history “If elected, I hope to continue to be able to serve the campus and better this already amazing institution.“

Jeremy Dixon junior, Christian studies & mass comm “I want to help bridge the gap between the student body and Student Senate.“

Dylan Haney Jamie Barker junior, political science junior, political science “My platform is simple: passion, people and place. Helping to define, address and meet as many needs on campus as we can.“

“We are looking to be the voice for Ouachita’s student body in order to give them the ability to decide how thier campus is run.“

Abby Lindsey junior, business admin./management “I would love to be in a position with the ability to continue improving Ouachita & serving our student body.“

Treasurer:

Josh Reaper

sophomore, accounting & finance

Griffin Peeples

Secretary:

Brad Hunter Heird junior, dietetics/nutrition

sophomore, accounting & finance

At Large Position 1:

Matthew Collier freshman, business admin/marketing

Chris Chang freshman, business admin/finance

Devin Austin

freshman, speech communications

At Large Position2: Richard Burke sophomore, history

At Large At Large Position 3: Position 4: Zach Parker

sophomore, political science

Paige Onyuru junior, biology & chemistry

Curt Tucker

Will Combs

junior, accounting & finance

freshman, physics

Lauren Scarbrough

John Grove

sophomore, mass comm & graphic design

senior, political science

Log in to your info portal Monday, April 28 between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. to vote.

opinions

www.obusignal.com

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Essential tools for the big bad world

By NOAH HUTCHINSON Opinions Editor

@Hutch15 “Honey,” called newlywed Bobby’s doily-handed young wife. “I want one of those coffee tables made out of old pallets. Go make me one.”

“Dude…” Chet’s housemate sheepishly mumbled as he rounded the corner, soaked up to his chest with some kind of putrid mystery liquid. “There might be something wrong with the toilet. Do you know how to fix it?”

“Bro,” John’s obnoxious co-worker barked, slapping him on the shoulder as he walked past. “Your desk chair, like, broke. Don’t know how it happened.

Might want to get on that.”

Regardless of what your plans are, when you get out in the big bad world where there’s no maintenance workers to change your light bulbs every time they burn out, you’re going to need to be able to make some household repairs. I’m not going to actually teach you how to do any of that, though. That’s what Google is for. I am, however, going to suggest which industrial grade toys I think are absolutely necessary for any young adults who are freshly out on their own.

Even though all of my examples above were directed at guys, this advice goes for girls as well. In that case, I’d also recommend an extremely intimidating pair of pants and one of those spritzer bottles you use to discipline dogs in the event that you ever have to

assist some clueless guy in matters of home repair.

First of all, you need a power drill, and not a cordless one, either. As far as why you need a drill at all, the possibilities are endless. Are you assembling that Ikea furniture right? Doesn’t matter. You’re always right when you’re screwing stuff together with 10 times as much power as your puny hands could ever generate. That’s how normal carpentry works.

Ex-girlfriend stole your dog when she packed up her stuff and left? Those pesky locks are no match for a hole-saw bit. As long as you’ve got the right drill bits, you can assemble, cut, destroy and create all with one tool. Plus, taking out screws is way easier than pulling nails if you ever have to undo any of your projects.

As far as why the drill should be grounded, you’re probably never going to be far enough away from an outlet for a drill that plugs straight into the wall to not be an option. On top of the fact that the good old power drill with a cord never runs out of battery or becomes unavailable if you forget to plug your batteries in between uses, they’re also traditionally more powerful. Just look at the size difference between a cordless drill and a drill that plugs into an outlet. The motors on the cordless drills are visibly smaller. If you ever buy a farm, a cordless drill would be a good option, but as far as a first power drill for around the house use goes, the grounded drill is definitely the way to go.

Next, you’re also going to need an extension cord, and a thick one at that. A thick cord lets electricity pass through it more easily, meaning you won’t lose power if you ever have to hook more than one cord together end to end. I’m kind of contradicting myself here, being that I said you probably won’t ever be too far away from an outlet, but this’ll just make life easier while still giving you the power and convenience of

the powered drill, as well as anything else you might want to use without the restrictions of a short power cord. Lazy weekend and you don’t want to get off the couch to make food? Grab a box of toaster strudels, your countertop cooking implement of choice and your handy dandy extension cord and you’re all set to push the boundaries of your own sloth.

On top of that, I’d also recommend a hacksaw. It’s the king of caveman-level tools. The blade isn’t all that sharp in the first place, so you hardly ever have to replace it. It doesn’t need electricity and you can pretty much cut anything with it if you’re determined enough. I’ve cut through everything from a tree as big around as my thigh (although I wound up just pushing it over once I got about halfway through) to oneinch steel pipe with a hack saw. No handsaw can beat it.

Finally, you’re going to need a rubber mallet and some kind of hitting/prying tool, whether it be a crowbar or a hammer. Sometimes, things just need a good smack. If it’s something delicate, go with the rubber mallet, if it’s something that needs some serious hurt dropped on it, though, go with the hammer or crowbar. If the starter on your car starts to go out, a good tap with a hammer will probably get it working long enough for you to drive it to the shop. No lie. I know that “hit it with a hammer” probably isn’t exactly an eloquent solution, but understand that this is a basic list. You aren’t going to refinish antique furniture with this stuff, it’s basically just there to give you a little more independence than the average noob.

The time will come when something breaks that absolutely has to be fixed within the day. Don’t be that person who has to go through his or her entire contacts list on your phone just so you can flush your toilet. n

College not as bad as we thought

By ANNA KUMPURIS Copy Editor

@AnnieBananie14 If your high school experience was anything like mine, then you probably often heard teachers say things like, “In college they would never allow this,” or, “We’re doing it this way to prepare you for college,” or, “I’m actually being really nice; if this were college you wouldn’t be so lucky.” For whatever reason, high school teachers always seemed to feel the need to justify everything they did by pointing out that it would be worse in college or that everything we were doing was preparing us for college.

Well, as someone who has been in college for two years now, I feel like I can pretty confidently say that about 90 percent of those sayings are false. It’s a wonder that highschoolers are even so eager to come to college after everything they hear from parents and teachers growing up. What follows is my list of the top 10 lies people tell you about college.

1.) Tardies are a mortal sin. I heard from more than one teacher in high school that in college, professors will lock you out of class if you’re late. Well, that has yet to happen to me or anyone I know. Yes, tardies are frowned upon, but they’re hardly the end of the world. Will obscene amounts of tardies affect your grade? Probably, depending on the professor. But will you get locked out and deal with your professor hating you for the rest of the semester? No. 2.) You will actually use cursive. Raise your hand if you were forced to do those awful cursive hand-

writing workbooks and write all of your assignments in cursive throughout middle school. And when you complained did your teachers tell you that in college everyone writes in cursive and you’ll use it for the rest of your life? Yep, me too. Now, raise your hand if you can no longer even remember how to write in cursive.

That’s what I thought.

3.) You will never, ever sleep. On multiple occasions I heard college described to me with the phrase “Sleep, homework, social life—choose two.” Well, as someone managing 19 hours, an off-campus job, and multiple extra curriculars, I still manage to get at least 6-7 hours every night. All it takes is a little time management. If you don’t think you have time for sleep, you’re doing something wrong.

4.) You will never have money for anything. This is a lie that we even tell ourselves sometimes. “Oh, I’m just a poor, broke college kid.” Well, if you’ve been to a movie, eaten out, gone shopping or bought multiple Ouachita event t-shirts in the past month, then you’re doing better than most of the world’s population. The fact that you’re in college says you’re doing better than most of the world’s population.

5.) Food in class will not be tolerated. Ha. Tell that to the blueberry muffin from Dr. Jack’s that I eat in class every day. Every now and then, maybe you’ll run into a professor who doesn’t like it, but it hasn’t happened to me yet.

6.) You’ll look gross for four years. From everything I saw about college on TV it seemed like the options were a.) Gain the freshmen 15, never get sleep, and walk around everyday in sweat pants, ratty hair and no makeup because you never have time to get ready or do laundry; or b.) Be a hot sorority girl who looks awesome every day, but rarely eats and doesn’t do homework. From my experience, you have to really

try to gain that freshmen 15, and even on sweat pant days it’s possible to look decent.

7.) Your professors are jerks. They will rarely remember your name, and they won’t help you when you struggle with a class, or so my high school teachers told me. I often heard teachers lecture classes with words like, “You all really need to learn to be independent, because you won’t get this kind of help in college.” Maybe this rings true at other universities, but I think we all know that at Ouachita this is not the case.

8.) You will have hours of homework every night.

I once had an AP English teacher who told our class that for every AP class, you are expected to have at least 2-3 hours of homework every night. After all, AP is supposed to be college level. Well if you have five college classes, that means 10-15 hours of homework.

Every day. No. Sure, there’s the occasional big test or paper that will keep you up, but it’s not every night.

9.) Cell phones in class will get you kicked out. I hope my professors don’t hate me for this, but I text in class a lot more now than I did in high school. Mostly because at my high school I had the ever-present threat of big, metal detector toting security guards who would confiscate my phone for a week if I got caught. Yes, cell phone use in class is frowned upon, but if it goes off in class will you get kicked out? Nope.

10.) TV will be a thing of the past. False. Maybe I don’t watch as much live TV as I used to, but who wants to deal with commercials anyways? With Netflix and Hulu, I think we all manage to keep up with our shows just fine.

So next time you’re home and visiting your old school, be sure to thank your teachers for being such awesome truth tellers and preparing you so for college so well. n

Sorry I’m late!!

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The Signal is the student newspaper of Ouachita Baptist University, and is published every Thursday during the fall and spring semesters when school is in session. The newspaper is distributed free of charge; 1,200 copies are placed in more than 20 locations across campus.

Opinions expressed are those of the writer and not necessarily those of the newspaper staff or university. The Signal is a member of the Columbia Scholastic Press Association and the Associated Collegiate Press and is printed by the Hope Star.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Letters to the editor are encouraged and accepted, unless libelous, irresponsible or obscene. Letters should be typed and include a signature and contact phone number, and must be less than 500 words. The Signal reserves the right to edit letters for space and style. Letters should be sent via campus mail to Box 3761 or via e-mail to signal@obu.edu.

4

sports

Thursday, April 24, 2014

www.obusignal.com

A thank you to those who helped

By DIXON LAND

Assistant Sports Editor @DixonCLand

Dr. Wesley Kluck y Courtesy

Members of the men’s tennis team pose for a team picture after winning their third straight GAC Championship – the first time that has happened in the GAC. The team took the trophy last Saturday in Bentonville, Ark.

Men’s tennis team wins third straight GAC Championship

BY KYLE PARRIS Sports Information The Ouachita Baptist men’s tennis team became the first program in Great American Conference history to win three straight tournament titles - in any of the league’s 13 sports - as the Tigers defeated East Central, 5-2, on Saturday at the Memorial Park Tennis Complex.

The three-peat comes at the end of a challenging season for the Tigers. It was the first time in the three-year run that the Tigers had not finished the rgular season undefeated in conference play. The Tigers had only one confernce vicotry this season. Head Coach Craig Ward was quick to point out the significance of this year’s championship.

“In my twenty five years this is one of the finest groups of guys I have ever coached,” Coach Ward said. “The year began with many challenges but ended great.”

He added, “It would have

been easy at any time to quit but these guys committed themselves to give 100% physically, mentally, and emotionally.”

Ouachita Baptist beat East Central for the title for the third consecutive year. OBU opened the title showdown by claiming two victories in the doubles matches. The Central Region’s top-ranked doubles teams of Marko Boskovic and Vitor Oliveira won 8-4 at the No. 1 position. After dropping the point at No. 3 doubles, the team of Maciej Braciszewicz and Teodor Anghel Valentin won a marathon match at No. 2, winning 9-8 and 7-2 in the tiebreaker.

ECU’s Stefan Schodlbauer leveled the match at 2-2 with a 6-0, 6-0 win from the No. 5 position. The lethal tandem of Boskovic, the league’s Player of the Year, and Oliveira, a First-Team All-GAC choice, scored singles victories at the No. 1 and and No. 2 positions to pull the Tigers to within one point the title.

One day after clinching the

semifinal victory against topseeded Southeastern Oklahoma State, Braciszewicz had the opportunity to lock up the title for the Tigers on his racket. Despite not featuring the same drama as on the Friday, the matched ended in similar fashion as Braciszewicz’s teammates leapt over the fence to embrace their comrade as he scored a straight-set victory, 6-3, 7-5.

Coach Ward was pleased with how the Tigers grew as a team this season. He pointed out that as a group, the players were honest with each other about weaknesses and that they weren’t pointing fingers after losses, instead commiting to not throwing in the towel and giving up the season..

“In the end we won a conference championship beating two teams we had lost to in the regular season,” he said. “All the commitment and effort paid off. This was a life lesson they will never forget.”

Coach Ward added, “It was a privilege to be a part of this team.” n

Serving as the Assistant Sports Editor this year has been truly an honor. I have truly been blessed by amazing people that surround me daily including my wonderful boss, Chelsea Byers. Chelsea, without your support, knowledge and guidance, I wouldn’t even be half the sports writer I am. Thank you for everything that you have done and I realize what a big task lies ahead filling your shoes.

I’d like to take a second and thank a group of students that have done much of the groundwork for stories this semester.

Dr. Root’s Sports Journalism class has continuously worked their hearts out and dedicated time and energy to compile game stories, features and columns that we could publish in various issues of the Signal this semester.

Without your dedication, diligence, patience and passion, Chelsea and I would not have been able to do half of the job in covering stories that you did collectively. I speak from personal experience in saying that trying to fill a page or two (or even sometimes three) by you or with one other person can be quite a challenge. So for that, Chelsea and I are extremely grateful.

For those of you that are reading this that are not in the class, realize that these students not only went to games, but were required to stay after and interview players and coaches, even when they lost (which by the way, makes the interview process much tougher). They were asked to finish stories on an extremely tight deadline and they greatly succeeded in their tasks.

For those in the class, I can’t express fully in words how grateful I am of your hard work. Whether it was cranking out a column as fast as you could or crafting each individual word in a feature, each story that came across the sports desk was well written, diligently crafted and possessed a touch of personality, which made our section of the paper so appealing this semester. For that, I am thankful.

I’d like to publically and personally thank Mat Brockway, Cole Chambles, Tyler Davis, Hanna Dean, Josh Galante, Evian Hill, Ian Monteiro, Kristen Morris, Macy Nutt, Zach Parker, Taylor Rand, Matt Sinclair, Brandon Smith, Caleb Terry, Dalaney Thomas, Jaalen Watkins and Josh Wilson. Your talent in sports writing is something that each of you should deeply treasure.

Every single one of you posses a great amount of talent in sports reporting and writing. I’m so excited to see what great things this class of sports writers does, not only on this campus in the next couple of years, but after that in the journalism world. You are all incredible people and terrific reporters. n

BY HANNA DEAN Staff Writer Let’s take a quick look back at September 21, 2013. Our very own Ouachita Tigers were taking on the East Central Tigers in Ada, Oklahoma.

“We were in a tight game in the fourth with about two minutes left,” senior defensive lineman Antwion Patterson said.

“The quarterback dropped back and threw the ball. I tipped it to myself for my first lifetime interception, and we won the game off of that play.”

The Ouachita Tigers recorded a 24-17 victory for the second conference game of the season, and Patterson created a memory that would last a lifetime.

While attending Mount Zion High School, Patterson was actively involved in track and football. During a track meet one day, he received a call from an unknown number in Arkansas.

“Coach Thompson was the defensive line coach at the time, and he found him,” said head football coach Todd Knight.

Patterson remembers Thompson requesting more film for the coaches to look over.

“I was really excited. I didn’t even want to run that day in the track meet,” Patterson said.

“I guess it was just destined to happen, because how is that even possible? I only had like 30 views on the highlight tape and one of them was a college coach that wanted me to play.”

Since the arrival of Patterson at Ouachita, he has only continued to impress and excite the Ouachita faculty and student body.

Individually, Patterson has recorded 37 games with the Tigers in the past four years. He had 173 tackles, 39 tackles for loss, and 19.5 sacks in his career.

“There are so many examples of his outstanding play, but the one that sticks in my mind is a sack of Henderson State QB Kevin Rodgers during Battle of the Ravine last year,” associate professor Dr. Casey Motl said.

“Antwion gets around the end of the offensive line, as he so often did, picks Rodgers up so that he’s parallel to the ground, and just slams him to the turf.

In the photo, you can see Rodgers’ teeth gritted in anticipation of the pain – it’s indicative of the sheer power that Antwion brings to his game.”

Off the field, Patterson is actively involved in campus life and has made his studies a number one priority as well.

“Antwion has chosen to commit himself to working hard both on the playing field and in his classes,” said Rebecca Jones, assistant professor of communications. “It requires a great deal of time, effort, and motivation to be able to do what Antwion is doing. He’s accomplishing so much at Ouachita, and it’s exciting to see him teaching his goals athletically and academically.”

Patterson has set an example for current and future student athletes centered around academic achievement and physical accomplishments accompanied by a humble presence.

“What sets Antwion apart from any other football player I have played with or been friends with is his work ethic on and off the football field,” said teammate Jacob Clark.

Aside from Tiger football

and his studies, Patterson has served the campus and community through the Big Brother program, Tiger Serve Day, the Upward Bound program, and OBU’s Special Olympics.

“As much as Antwion has accomplished on the football field, I submit that his biggest accomplishment has been the way in which he has become a respected and beloved leader for this entire campus,” Motl said. “It’s easy for student-athletes to get cloistered in their own sports, and remain disengaged from the rest of the campus community. Antwion doesn’t do that.

He is a part of life at Ouachita in countless ways beyond athletics. He has a broad array of friends, excels in his studies, and serves his community. We couldn’t ask for a better ambassador for Ouachita.”

For the past year, Antwion has worked outside of Ouachita at the Arkadelphia Boys and Girls Club. Patterson looks after middle-school children, planning fun activities and monitoring their homework completion.

“I love it, because there is never a dull day when you are dealing with kids,” he said.

“They have the funniest stories and won’t ever let me stay down. It’s probably the easiest job in the world.”

As a Tiger, student, and friend to many, Patterson’s legacy will continue at Ouachita long after graduation. His future is bright, and all that have grown to know him think so.

“I think he’s going to make somebody a great husband, a great dad, and I think he’ll be a great worker with whatever he decides to do,” Knight said.

“We couldn’t ask for a better ambassador for Ouachita.”

—Dr. Casey Motl Friend and teammate Chris Rycraw believes that Patterson has “shown me how to care about others and do for others without looking for anything in return. He gives his last to people all the time, and most people don’t even understand.

He helped me out with literally everything, papers, homework, talking to girls, and putting myself second. I love the guy with my whole heart.”n

Photos courtesy of Dr. Wesley Kluck

Patterson succeeds on and off field