[Perspective] Faithful to our mission
The following is adapted from President Ben Sells’ annual report to the Arkansas Baptist State Convention at the 2025 annual meeting. It’s an honor for
November 13, 2025
The following is adapted from President Ben Sells’ annual report to the Arkansas Baptist State Convention at the 2025 annual meeting. It’s an honor for
Note: This article is drawn from President Ben Sells’ Convocation Chapel address to students on September 2. With Convocation, we bring together new and returning
As president of Ouachita Baptist University, I’m supposed to talk about being academically excellent and unapologetically Christian, which we are – and you’ve likely heard
The following is President Ben Sells’ address during Ouachita’s May 2025 Commencement ceremony. Ouachita’s vision and mission statements do more than articulate our university’s purpose
“Premium value and surprisingly affordable” – that’s an increasingly used phrase to describe Ouachita Baptist University, illustrated by the following: Ouachita is academically excellent. We
As Ouachita Baptist University has posted its highest spring headcount in more than 30 years, the continued enrollment growth reflects Ouachita’s commitment to being academically
When Lisa and I were raising children, we lived far from family. We returned home in the summer, but usually not for holidays. Christmas Day
With Convocation, we bring together new and returning students with faculty and staff to formally begin the academic year.
I’m grateful for the generations who came before us who faithfully and effectively stewarded this Christian university.
This year’s university theme has been “lives of meaningful work,” a phrase in our mission statement focused on one purpose of an Ouachita education. There are many dimensions to a life of meaningful work.
During the past four years, the number of worship studies majors has grown from fewer than 10 to more than 30.
It’s their stories that give me joy in this work and ministry known as Ouachita Baptist University and that illustrate the stewardship of Arkansas Baptists’ investment.
Arkansas Baptist churches, Baptist Collegiate Ministries, Williams Baptist University and Ouachita Baptist University are better together in helping the next generation contend for the faith which was once for all delivered unto the saints.
The following is the text of Dr. Ben Sells’ address to students, faculty and staff during Ouachita’s August 2023 Convocation ceremony.
At Ouachita Baptist, we’re committed to preparing our students for lives of meaningful work.
The most effective people are “learners” rather than “knowers.”
In four years, Ouachita’s nursing program has grown from zero to 100 students.
Listen to what a 1999 Ouachita alumna named Lizann recently shared with me about a life-changing class – and notice the level of detail she
In all that we do, we seek to sustain our distinct Christian identity and ensure a transformative educational experience for our students by fostering a love of God and a love of learning.
In preparing for Convocation – our first Chapel service of the new school year – I reviewed a devotion from Oswald Chambers’ “My Utmost for His Highest.”
At Ouachita, we collect and assess data on student outcomes that provide evidence of progress—of growth—toward fulfilling our Christ-centered higher education mission.
We invest in our students, encourage them and celebrate their many successes.
Despite the daunting challenges our nation and world face, by God’s grace Ouachita Baptist University is experiencing momentum.
Arkansas Baptists, through your generous support, you are investing in first-generation students.
The class of 2021 marks a turnaround for Ouachita, a rising tide in our enrollment – highest in 20 years – that’s running counter to trends.
A story about how February’s “snow-mageddon” illustrated the character of students at Ouachita Baptist University, and perhaps a spiritual insight as well. By my estimation,
I still remember what an older, wiser Christian said to me back then – a sentence his mentor had said to him 50 years earlier: “If you can’t see very far ahead, go ahead as far as you can see.”
Disappointments – we’ve each had our share of them this year.
Three years ago, I began using the university’s vision and mission statements to emphasize an annual theme to help us focus on key Ouachita outcomes.
By Dr. Ben Sells President, Ouachita Baptist University Let me tell you a couple of stories that capture what made the 2019-20 academic year, defined