Favorite OBU Faculty/Staff

This week the topic for the Ouachita BlogAbout

is to write about our favorite faculty/staff. I was a

student at OBU from 1985 until 1990 and during those

years I met so many great people and had so many

really great teachers/instructors/professors.

Today, I'll pick a favorite faculty member

and a favorite staff member,

then I'll have some honorable mentions!

My favorite faculty member was Dr. Fran Coulter. Her wealth of

knowledge just floored me. She could stand and lecture for an

hour and a half (I seemed to always get her for Tue./Thurs. classes)

and never consult her notes. I loved her classes. And I loved her more

after the day I took her Contemporary World final. I zipped through

that thing and was the first one out of class, confident I had just bagged

an A. As I left the building and was crossing the street, I heard her call

my name. In my haste to get out of the final exam I had neglected

to complete one whole page of the test. Instead of leaving it, which

would have greatly decreased my grade, she chased me down and had

me return to class and finish it. I was embarrassed but so

relieved! Only a caring teacher would have done that!

Honorable mentions:

Dr. Randall Wight. I had him for General

Psychology and Human Development. He made me laugh and

think and examine every aspect of my life. I came away from

every class thinking, "Dang, that man is smart!"

Mr. Lavelle Cole.

I always enjoyed his classes and I learned things that have

stuck with me to this day. He amazed me with the sheer volume

of factsthat he stored in his brain and the ease with which

he communicated it to his students.

My favorite Ouachita staff member was Mac Sisson.

I worked for him my freshman year in the News Bureau. His

zest for life, his laugh and the way he remembered everyone he'd

ever met made him so fun to be around and to work for. I remember

how much he loved his family and how much he loved OBU.

Honorable mentions: Minnie in the cafeteria. I wish I had learned

her whole name. She made some dreary Walt's meals fun. And my

husband and I still try to sing like her. He had the pleasure (?) of

working in the cafeteria his freshman year, so he has more

Minnie memories than I do.

And of course, my wonderful dorm moms-

Mom Rogers, Mom Chu and Mom Barksdale.

These women were like moms to me and I loved them.

Mom Rogers comforted me when I was a very homesick

missionary- kid- freshman. Mom Chu fiercely loved me and

all the girls under her care. And Mom Barksdale was such

a great friend. I loved her stories about her family, the way

she let girls take baths in her bathtub and when she

gave my then fiance' (now husband) a haircut in the first floor

bathroom when he was too broke to go to the barber shop.