November 18, 2010
Amongst all the changes that Oklahoma Baptist University has been going through, some students decided to meet to pray for strength and encouragement for the administration.
“There were a lot of us that just sat down and came up with a lot of things to [discuss] because there are a lot of students on campus who have frustrations,” Amanda Lancaster, a sophomore strategic communication major said. “And then we talked with some adults about what would be a wise decision that wouldn’t cause anymore problems. We wanted it to be something that was productive.”
“There have been all kinds of changes that have been going on like freshmen enrollment, tuition going up again, the forum that they had on Monday and a lot of students felt questions were left unanswered,” Lancaster said. “It wasn’t one thing in particular, it was just a whole lot of things that were building up.”
Eight students met at the steps of Raley Chapel during the 10 a.m. chapel hour. These students spent time praying that God give the administration wisdom and discernment in all the decisions that they make for this university.
“I think we all hope that there will be a peace on campus from all of the students and more of a collaboration between students, administration and faculty; that we come together and strengthen the school rather than there be any big thing made of it,” Lancaster said.
Mark Kearns, a freshman pre-allied health major, who attended the prayer secession, said he thinks this is something that could help not only the administration, but the entire university.
“Well, I’d say prayer in general is never a bad thing, and so praying for the administration and for our school, I just see that as [a good thing to do],” Kearns said.
At this time, the group does not plan on doing anything more than continuing to pray for administrative decisions and other dealings with OBU.
“As far as going beyond prayer, I don’t know,” Kearns said. “I would say, prayer [is] extremely effective, I don’t see why it would need to go beyond that.”
There is no definitive schedule, Lancaster said. The group will meet whenever it can and will work around the chapel schedule and “see what works.”
