OBU Impacts Lives Near and Far in Summer 2025

July 24, 2025

While the temperature and humidity rise in the summer, OBU’s push to “live worthy of the high calling of God in Christ” never weakens, on and off Bison Hill.

Through camps, conferences and trips, the OBU family continues to invest in the lives of students, alumni and communities near and far.

OBU’s summer schedule includes more than 35 athletic camps.

“Our coaches offer a wide variety of top-quality camps over the summer months,” said Robert Davenport, OBU’s director of athletics. “They use their sport and life knowledge to pour into the young people who attend. I can’t imagine any better place for young people to attend a camp. Each of our coaches in all of our sports understands the core values of OBU and does their very best to share those values at the camps.”

Among the most popular summer offerings are those from OBU’s nationally recognized Spirit program.

In 2025, OBU’s Spirit program added another banner year to an already decorated run. All three cheer teams representing OBU competed in separate divisions at the NCA Division II College Nationals. Team Green, all girl advanced, won the DII All Girl Advanced title and the Overall Grand Championship. Team White, spirit rally, won the DII Spirit Rally National Championship. This was the first year for this team’s existence at OBU and they claimed the title over 20 other teams. In this division, the team is focused on crowd leading. Team Gold, all girl intermediate, claimed the DII Intermediate All Girl Runner Up title. Also in 2025, STUNT finished third nationally and the dance team took second in NDA Division II pom.

The accomplishments marked a continuation of national success for OBU Spirit, reinforcing a culture of excellence.

The results extend a streak that has positioned OBU among the nation’s elite. STUNT won the 2024 DII national title after three straight runner-up finishes from 2021–2023. Cheer owns previous NCA DII crowns in Advanced (2019, 2021) and Intermediate (2019) and the dance team captured the 2024 DII pom championship.

“Our Spirit programs are some of the best in the nation,” said Robert Davenport, OBU director of athletics. “They repeatedly win National Championships and accept nothing less than preparing to win championships every year. We have a terrific staff led by Head Spirit Coach Jessica Wolverton. The OBU Spirit programs have enhanced the awareness of the university simply by their social media presence. They have the largest social media presence on campus. We have over 100 student-athletes involved in our Spirit program. When I tell people the size of our Spirit program, many cannot believe it is that large.”

Beyond athletic accomplishments, OBU’s summer presence extended into key denominational and alumni spaces.

While camps for OBU teams, Spirit and band are held annually, this summer marked the first year for OBU’s nursing camp. The three-day camp offered the 30 participants an up-close look at the nursing profession through a series of practical and interactive sessions. Campers learned basic CPR and first aid, practiced wound care and dressings and worked with high-fidelity nursing simulation mannequins. The experience also included opportunities to develop nursing care skills under the guidance of OBU nursing faculty, alumni and students.

Another event held on campus is Super Summer. The three-week leadership camp for students in grades seven through 12 drew approximately 2,300 students and 600 adult leaders to OBU this summer. The camp, which began in 1986, focused on core values found in 2 Peter 1: 3 -11 and emphasized spiritual growth and leadership.

 “Our relationship with OBU is such a blessing because this school is pointing people in the same direction as us,” said Jake Anson, student pastor at First Baptist Church Ardmore and executive director of Super Summer. “My personal story is that as a student at Super Summer, I surrendered to ministry one night in Raley Chapel. OBU is where I recognized God wanted to use me for this work and it’s been a rewarding experience each summer to bring students to the same place and see some of them respond in the same way.”

OBU students can also participate in outstanding learning opportunities away from Bison Hill. Dr. Dale Utt, associate professor of biology, leads a course, “Digging Dinosaurs in the Hell Creek Formation.” The class begins with online instruction in mid-June and concludes with a week-long field experience from July 6-11 in Baker, Montana. In the field, they dig for dinosaur fossils with professional paleontologists on an established fossil site in the Hell Creek Formation of eastern Montana.

Also, off-campus, in partnership with Oklahoma Baptists and WatersEdge, OBU hosted a special evening event during the 2025 Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) Annual Meeting in Dallas, Texas. The OBU event was held at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Seven hundred attendees—including SBC messengers, OBU alumni and friends, WatersEdge guests and prospective students and families from the DFW area—gathered to experience the spirit of Bison Hill.

“The evening featured remarks from OBU President Dr. Heath A. Thomas and Oklahoma Baptists Executive Director-Treasurer Dr. Todd Fisher, along with interactive academic booths, faculty conversations and student stories that brought the mission and momentum of OBU to life,” said Lee Ann Quirk, director of the OBU Alumni Association. “Special thanks to Dr. Todd Fisher and Robert Kellogg for their partnership with OBU and sponsorship of this event.”

A team of employees traveled from Bison Hill to represent OBU at its booth during the SBC Pastors’ Conference and Annual Meeting in Dallas. Throughout the conference, they visited with OBU alumni and friends, prospective students, parents, church staff members and Southern Baptists from across the nation.

Also, this summer, OBU was represented at youth camps in Oklahoma and Texas.

Sam Anquoe, OBU senior admissions counselor, said that the admissions team is active at two camps during the summer.

“With the Oklahoma Baptists, we are heavily involved at Falls Creek and also through the SBTC we are involved at M3 Camps,” he said. “At Falls Creek, we have summer workers who spend the entire summer on the grounds serving churches through eating meals with students, providing devotionals and worship for those who need and also recruiting prospective students.”

Throughout the week, they are around camp engaging with students as well as hosting a table in the Missions Center to give out pins and information.

“On Tuesday Nights, we host ‘OBU on the Plaza’ where we create brand awareness by allowing students to put their name on the ‘Future Shaper’ Banner as well as hand out free T-shirts, offer half-priced ICEEs and have games with the RAWC intramural staff,” Anquoe said. “This year, we even gave opportunities for students to be selected for a scholarship to OBU as part of the festivities. At M3, we do similar things with T-Shirts, engaging students and some of our OBU faculty teach breakouts for the camp itself.”

While events unfolded across the United States, OBU students and staff were also leaving a global impact.

Also, while OBU’s campus buzzed with summer activity, 89 students and 19 employees were serving worldwide through OBU’s Global Outreach (GO) Trips. Coordinated by the Avery T. Willis Center for Global Mobilization, these short-term trips took teams to locations such as Argentina, North Africa, Greece, Nigeria, Romania, South Africa and more. With the Thailand group returning near the end of July and the final group having left in mid-July for Germany and Switzerland. OBU’s global footprint this summer is wide and impactful.

Whether through physical service or spiritual conversations, OBU teams remained focused on living out the gospel.

Throughout the summer, teams engaged with refugees, orphans, Muslims, youth, Buddhists, foster children, adults, pastors and individuals with special needs. They served at six VBS programs, five medical clinics, six camps, 11 refugee programs, three youth events, two conferences and three chapels.

They also served in practical ways: distributing coats, preparing and serving meals, cleaning buildings and toilets, assembling wheelchairs, sorting donations and facilitating trainings. Teams spoke on radio programs, led prayer meetings and fellowshipped with believers around the world.

These efforts led to hundreds of gospel conversations and 29 professions of faith.

Rachel Stewart, Global Outreach Logistics Coordinator, said the experience left a lasting mark on both the students and those they served.

“As students and staff, we went prepared to serve but were also blessed ourselves by the hospitality and warmth of those who received us,” Stewart said. “We learned cultural awareness and saw the plight of the widows, orphans and refugees firsthand.”

She added, “We heard stories of God’s faithfulness to His people from the lips of those who’ve had to flee from oppressive governments, war and famine. These stories touched our hearts.”

The impact of these trips extended beyond the service projects, building relationships that left lasting impressions.

“We played soccer with kids who remembered our names and were sorry to see us leave – and we were sorry to go,” Stewart said. “We saw ancient landmarks, hiked mountains, saw God’s creativity reflected in exotic animals and ate great food. But most importantly, we truly experienced unity and fellowship as we met and served side-by-side with our brothers and sisters around the globe.”