
14 minute read
Staff Profile
James Richards
Financial Aid Counselor
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By Jon Merryman, director of alumni relations
As a first-generation college student himself, James Richards said that helping other firstgeneration students navigate paying for and getting settled into college was a perfect fit.
“I believe this job was sent from the Lord,” James shared. “I wasn’t looking for new opportunities when Karen and Brant Matros shared this opportunity with me. I love what I get to do every day now at Ouachita.”
If you were not a first-generation student, if your parents or other family members did attend college, you might not realize that the ins and outs of college life, even terminology, is not always obvious. Many students who are the first to attend college in their family – and their parents – are simply not aware of things like private scholarships, federal aid or work study. Some assume they have to find a way to pay for school all on their own, but Richards helps students and families navigate the sometimes overwhelming process.
“Many of the students and families I visit with don’t realize there are lots of things available to help pay for school,” Richards said. “I enjoy being able to help students understand how their dreams of attending college can become reality. Even things like federal aid paperwork can seem daunting at first, but just knowing there is someone to help make sure things are done right helps put students and families at ease.”
“James is a valuable member of the Student Financial Services team,” said Susan Hurst, associate vice president for student financial “I enjoy being able to help services. “He provides uncommon service to our families and is a man of faith who brings calm strength and assurance to those he encounters.” students understand how their In addition to Richards’ work with firstgeneration students, he also works with those dreams of attending college eligible for veterans benefits, both military dependents and active-service military men and women. Providing dedicated support to students can become reality.” with these unique circumstances helps Ouachita meet the needs of students and families better.
“Visiting with students, learning from them, getting to know their stories and their backgrounds and finding out how I can help are the best parts of my job,” Richards shared.
About 30% of Ouachita’s student body fall under Richards’ areas of focus, first-generation students and military families. His extra attention to their unique circumstances – and serving as a connector to other key areas of campus – provides value to those students both in the college search process and throughout their time in the Ouachita community.
“I love that everybody at Ouachita works as one unit,” Richards said. “I know I can go to anyone on campus for answers to questions – from admissions counseling to the registrar or the alumni relations office – I know I’ll find people happy to help. Our campus is not divided; everyone is here to help every student succeed.”
Richards and his wife, Michelle, live in Arkadelphia and have two sons, Javion (13) and Kaiden (11). They are members of Cornerstone Missionary Baptist Church, where James serves as a deacon. He also is a member of the Arkadelphia Badger Foundation and led his son’s baseball team as head coach to the 2019 Cal Ripken 12U Major/60 World Series in Visalia, Calif.

Alice (Evans ’45) Brooks
TEACHER LEAVES $1 MILLION GIFT
By Jon Merryman, director of alumni relations
Alice Brooks is not the kind of person you would expect to leave behind a million-dollar estate gift. A hardworking schoolteacher in rural Arkansas, the impression she left on her students was undeniable. Thanks to her generous gift, her dedication to education will live on at Ouachita, as well. “She was a great teacher, demanding and firm,” said C.A. Kuykendall, one of Brooks’ former students. “I was well-prepared for college because of her teaching.” Dr. Kuykendall is now a pharmacist and owns Village Pharmacy in Ozark, Ark., and Village Health Services in Fayetteville, Ark. Other of Brooks’ students went on to careers as electrical engineers, nuclear plant operators, dentists, attorneys, educators and even an artificial intelligence specialist at Amazon.com. Seeking to expand the knowledge and worldviews of her students, many of whom had never left the state, Brooks led senior trips to Canada, Detroit, New York, St. Louis and Washington. “Traveling and seeing places opened up the students’ horizons much more than reading about them in books,” Brooks said. From humble beginnings herself, she was born Alice Evans in 1924 in Alix, Ark., a small community eight miles from Ozark. Alice lost her mother when she was just 8 years old, and her aunt moved to Alix to help raise her. Her father worked long hours in the coal mines, and her brothers, 10 and 13 years older, were off to photo courtesy of Ozark High School the Army and to college. Always a dedicated student, Alice graduated from high school in 1942 and earned a degree in chemistry from Ouachita in 1945. At Ouachita, she was on the Ouachitonian, Ripples and Signal staffs and was a member of the Home Economics Club and Phi Beta Chi.
She began her teaching career close to home in Altus, Ark., before moving to Texas with her husband, Norman. In 1948, they moved back to Ozark, where she taught high school science, including her two favorite subjects, physics and chemistry, for 33 years. Brooks earned her master’s degree in natural science from the University of Arkansas in 1959.
Brooks’ husband, Norman, who sold cars, once said, “I go to work to earn a living. Alice goes to school to play!”
The Brookses never had children, but Alice said she considered all of her students her children. In 33 years, she never sent a student to the principal’s office, preferring to solve the problem herself. Her favorite quote, which hung on the wall of her classroom, said, “Teach not from the book, but from the heart.” In an Ozark High School yearbook dedicated to Mrs. Brooks, it said, “This teacher is indeed a friend.”
After Norman passed away in 1992, Alice continued to live in Ozark until her death on June 25, 2019. Her funeral was attended by many whose lives she touched, including several generations of former students. The service was officiated by two former students, Kuykendall and Lonnie Turner.
While Brooks let Ouachita know in the early 1990s that she had included Ouachita in her estate plans, the amount was unknown. This faithful alumna, teacher, mentor and friend who lived humbly left Ouachita $1 million for student scholarships.
“When I visited with Alice in her home, she talked about the influence of Ouachita faculty in shaping her life – something that happened 70 plus years ago,” said Dr. Ben Sells, Ouachita president. “I was also struck by her modest lifestyle and commitment to Biblical stewardship – one that will provide scholarships to generations of Ouachita students.”

Flight 1420 Crash
REUNION BRINGS SINGERS HOME
By Jon Merryman, director of alumni relations
It’s been 20 years since the Ouachita Singers, returning from a mission trip to Europe, crashed on the final leg of their trip in Little Rock on American Airlines Flight 1420. Survivors returned to Arkadelphia in June 2019 to mark the 20th anniversary of that night, June 1, 1999.
“The term ‘alma mater’ literally means nourishing mother,” said Ouachita President Ben Sells at the dinner opening the weekend’s events. “I hope this weekend will be nourishing and healing for each of you.”
Since the plane crashed, Ouachita faculty and staff have been caring for the group. From a retreat just one month after the crash to help students process and begin to heal to gatherings in the president’s home during the years that followed, the group continued to strengthen their bond. The university continued their care, even 20 years later, by hosting the June 2019 reunion, including a dinner on campus, photos in the Rachel Fuller and Ouachita Singers Memorial Amphitheater on campus and spending the anniversary day together at DeGray Lodge. The gathering was a time to share with each other through laughter and tears.
“Today I’m reminded that God’s strength is made perfect through weakness,” said survivor Tad Hardin (’99). “I didn’t always know what that meant. I didn’t always believe that people of faith were allowed to be broken. Twenty years after the crash, there’s still much more that I still don’t know. But I do know that I am blessed beyond measure to be alive … to be a husband, father, photo by Lori Motl teacher, mentor … and to belong to a family of fellow survivors who are lifelong friends. Reconnecting with them this weekend fed my soul and reminded me that while our scars represent pain and sorrow, they also tell our story, and stories need to be shared.”
Attending survivors shared testimonies of how God had worked in their lives since the crash, the joy of marriages and children and thankfulness for the support of other survivors helping them make it through the crash and the years after.
“If the only reason I’m still here is to be a dad, then that is more than enough for me and the greatest privilege of my life,” shared Luke Hollingsworth (’02). “It’s amazing to look at the picture of our group and then a picture with our families. That is truly a picture of the blessing of these past 20 years and a reminder of the influence and impact each of us has had on the world around us.”
While the weekend was filled with fun memories of the mission trip the group was on before crashing on their return, there were also deep discussions of living with post-traumatic stress, struggling to get back on a plane and wrestling with their faith. They also honored the memories of friends who didn’t survive, fellow classmate James Harrison and Rachel Fuller, daughter of Singers director and accompanist Drs. Charles and Cindy Fuller.
“I have wrestled with the hard questions of faith,” shared Misha (Perkins ’01) Parker. “Even then, God kept His promise, ‘I will neither leave you nor forsake you.’ And after wading through disappointments and struggles, there have been many seasons when I finally experienced the peace that passes understanding.”
“This weekend has given me the wonderful opportunity to ponder all the many blessings God brought my way,” said Natalie (Putnam ’02) Jaggers. “It has given me pause to praise Him for teaching me through the storms I’ve been blessed to walk, crawl and trudge through these past 20 years. I am thankful for the lives of each person who survived and those who died on flight 1420. I pray that their lives will continue to bring light and hope to this world.”


Cliff Harris (’70)
MAKING FOOTBALL HISTORY
By Rex Nelson
When former Ouachita football star Cliff Harris is inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame later this year, you can bet that he will be thinking about his late father, O.J. “Buddy” Harris. Buddy Harris starred in football at Ouachita in the 1940s. To understand what has driven Cliff Harris all of these years, one must first understand the story of his father. It was announced on Jan. 15 that Cliff Harris, who played in five Super Bowls as a free safety for the Dallas Cowboys from 1970-79, will go into the Hall of Fame, pro football’s most prestigious honor. Buddy Harris was a linebacker and center at Ouachita and went on to be a war hero during World War II, earning the P-38 Flying Cross after being shot down over the Pacific. By age 50, the elder Harris had lost most of his sight due to diabetes. By the time Cliff began playing for the Cowboys in 1970, his father was having a hard time finding him on the field. At home, he would turn down the sound on the television and listen to the radio broadcasts of Dallas games instead. “Cliff didn’t think much about it back then,” Kevin Sherrington wrote in the Dallas Morning News. "He was too caught up making and keeping his position with the Cowboys. ... Cliff says he is who he is because of his father. He figures he still owes him.” artwork by Luke Roberson (’21) “My dad never flew again after the war,” Cliff said. “I played in five Super Bowls, and he never got to live his dream. I feel kind of guilty because I was so focused on myself all those years. I feel like I didn’t do him justice.”
Cliff’s mother, Margaret, graduated from Henderson but became Ouachita’s biggest fan once her son was a Tiger.
Cliff was born in Fayetteville, Ark., spent most of his formative years in Hot Springs and graduated from high school at Des Arc. He played multiple sports growing up but drew little interest from college recruiters after graduating from high school in the spring of 1966. Buddy Benson, who had become Ouachita’s head football coach in 1965, was urged by some of Buddy Harris’ former teammates to offer Cliff a scholarship. It was his only scholarship offer.
Cliff made a name for himself in Arkansas while playing for Ouachita in the Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference from 1966-69, but he was overlooked in the 1970 NFL draft. Gil Brandt, who headed the famous scouting operation for the Cowboys, was aware of the hard-hitting player from the small school in Arkadelphia. He signed Cliff as a free agent. A decade and five Super Bowls later, Cliff retired from football.
The previously unknown player from Ouachita earned a starting position as a rookie even though his first NFL season was interrupted by a tour of duty in the U.S. Army. Cliff wasted no time regaining his starting position following his military commitment. During the decade of the 1970s, Cliff changed the way the position of free safety was played in the NFL. He rarely left the field, often leading the team not only in interceptions but also in yardage on kickoff and punt returns.
In addition to playing in those five Super Bowls (the Cowboys won two of them), Cliff was named to the Pro Bowl six times and was named a first team All-NFL player for four consecutive seasons by both The Associated Press and the Pro Football Writers Association. He was named to the Dallas Cowboys’ Silver Season All-Time Team, was selected by Sports Illustrated as the free safety on the magazine’s All-Time Dream Team, was given the NFL Alumni Legends Award and was the free safety of the All-Decade Team for the 1970s.
In 2004, Cliff was inducted into the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor. A large contingent of Ouachita graduates were on hand at Texas Stadium that day for the induction ceremony. In 2013, the Little Rock Touchdown Club created the Cliff Harris Award, which is given annually to the best defensive player in small college football. And in 2014, Ouachita named its newly renovated football stadium Cliff Harris Stadium. Since the stadium opened, Ouachita has won four conference championships and has had three undefeated regular seasons with Cliff regularly in attendance at home games.
“Super Bowls and Pro Bowls say a great deal about his contributions to the game, but what many don’t know is the way he did it,” said Ouachita head coach Todd Knight, who also played for Benson in college. “Hard work and the values he learned in the Ouachita football program made him unique. Cliff is a great representative of the game of football.”
Through tenacity and a willingness to do whatever it took to succeed, Cliff overcame numerous obstacles in his football career to become one of the best defensive players in the history of the game. Now his name will be enshrined in Canton, Ohio.
“As a small college player myself at Ouachita, I always understood that recognition and respect for outstanding play was more difficult to attain,” Cliff said. “Because of this, I relied on perseverance and mental toughness.”
O.J. “Buddy” Harris – Ouachita graduate, college football star, war hero and an inspiration for all who knew him – wouldn’t have had it any other way.
Rex Nelson (’81) is senior editor of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and has served 37 seasons as the radio voice of Ouachita football.



