Soaring with Eagles

By Carlson Wakefield
June 6, 2022

Soaring with Eagles

In the early 1920s, John E. Brown Sr., founder of John Brown University, placed a ban on intercollegiate sports due to injuries that occurred during a football game between the then John E. Brown College and Siloam Springs High School players. For almost 40 years, JBU students were only able to participate in club and intramural sports on campus. In April 1958, the restrictions were removed by his son and then president John E. Brown Jr.; and in November, the first intercollegiate athletics event, a basketball game, was held on campus. Brown Jr. went on to establish athletics teams across campus, founding varsity men’s basketball, track teams and cheerleading.

In the 1960s, Brown Jr. added varsity programs for tennis, swimming and diving, golf, track and baseball. When the intercollegiate department of athletics was established, it helped boost school spirit and attract a more diverse student body. The first women’s intercollegiate program — volleyball — was established in the 1970s and was soon followed by women’s swimming and women’s basketball in early 1972.

For over 60 years now, JBU athletics have played a vital role on campus. The rich history is full of all-Americans, championships and traditions that have become popular on campus and in the surrounding community. The storied history of JBU athletics continues to this day, with 11 intercollegiate teams competing at high levels in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and the Sooner Athletic Conference (SAC) including women’s volleyball, men’s and women’s soccer, basketball, tennis, cross country, and track and field. JBU athletics has seen recent success with SAC tournament runs for men’s and women’s soccer and men’s basketball. But JBU’s mark for athletic program success is not just team win-loss records, it is the holistic development of student-athletes.

Athletic Philosophy

The “Head, Heart, Hand” educational philosophy of JBU stems from Brown Sr.’s belief in developing the whole student, not simply one aspect of them.

“Emphasis should be placed equally on the head, heart and hands,” Brown Sr. said. “If we neglect any of these in our teaching, the result will be an unbalanced person.”

Since the early days of JBU athletics, the mission has remained consistent — to develop students as athletes and to win games, but more importantly to develop them holistically and grow their faith. Student-athletes are expected to succeed in their respective sports, perform well academically, serve local communities and honor Christ in all they do. This is the foundation upon which coaches build their programs.

Academic Commitment

JBU’s athletic programs always have a goal of winning, and there are trophy cases filled with symbols of team and individual successes in multiple sports. But student development and success outside of sports are equally as important, especially to JBU Director of Athletics Robyn Daugherty ’85. A former JBU volleyball head coach, Daugherty has been the athletics director for 15 years and has made academics a core part of JBU athletics identity.

Besides performing at the highest levels athletically, student-athletes have an expectation of academic excellence. To Daugherty and the coaches, it is important for recruits to understand the academic expectations.

“We know that a student isn’t going to be successful here, and we won’t be able to keep them eligible, if they’re not here for a degree,” Daugherty said. “Our athletes understand that they’re here for a degree, and we’re going to keep them on track to graduate.”

Students at JBU are required to pass a certain number of classes in order to be eligible to compete. Their GPAs are monitored by coaches, Daugherty and the faculty athletic representative, Tim Wakefield, Ph.D.

“I feel really blessed to get to work with our athletes, even only in a small capacity,” Wakefield said. “I get to see how well all of our students do academically, and getting to approve them to play is always satisfying.”

The department of athletics is committed to athletes’ academic success and pairing them with campus academic resources to provide any help that is needed.

“We’re intentional about graduation rates and want to see them developing as people over the four years they spend here,” said Daugherty.

Community Service

JBU student-athletes also find ways to serve the surrounding community. Some teams run community clinics in their respective sports, and others serve with local organizations such as the Special Olympics and Ability Tree, a local organization that offers recreational and educational support for families impacted by disability. During its offseason, the women’s basketball team runs a weekly MVP clinic with Ability Tree students over four weeks.

“[The Ability Tree students] bring our team so much joy and they’ve been a pleasure to work with,” said Maddie Altman, a graduating senior returning for a fifth year on the women’s basketball team.

Kathleen Paulsen, Ph.D., head coach of the women’s soccer team, has made it a priority for her athletes to serve in the schools of Colcord, Oklahoma.

“I think one of the great parts about sports is you get invested in by the community,” Paulsen said. “But I think one of the big things is where are you then pouring out? How are you impacting your community and your world?”

“My favorite volunteer work we did as a team was serving at Ability Tree,” said Cooper McCombs, a senior on the men’s soccer team. “We were able to invest in kids with disabilities and play all sorts of games with them. These kids always had so much fun no matter what. I was impacted by the joy they found in the little things.”

Community service is required by the NAIA and is part of their “Champions of Character” program, but for Daugherty, it’s about more than meeting requirements.

“The NAIA asks us to count service for a scorecard, and we struggle with that,” Daugherty said. “We want to serve because it’s an outreach of who we are and the people we’re trying to develop here — not because of some score.”

Faith Integration

As a Christian institution, JBU integrates faith into the college experience, and athletics is no exception. For some athletes, it is a new experience to see sports and faith working so closely together.

“We want to be careful that we’re being intentional,” Daugherty said. “We’re not assuming that everyone’s a believer.”

Faith integration looks different on every team. For some teams, it’s one-on-one meetings where players have the freedom to ask hard questions and explore their faith. For others, it’s team Bible studies where players are able to explore their well-grounded faith.

“I leave that up to the coach, because there’s a lot of different ways to achieve the desired outcome,” Daugherty said. “But it’s a big part of their evaluation at the end of year. I look at what they have done for spiritual mentoring and development of our students.”

Altman has been able to participate in a Bible study every other week with her team and experience growth in their faith together.

“We get to talk with Morgan Ankrom, who’s an alumna of the team,” Altman said. “She’s served on the mission field and is very passionate about Christ, so it’s a great experience to take a step back from our studies during our devotions to grow in our faith.”

While JBU athletes continue to represent JBU well on the pitch, court or track, they are being developed to represent JBU in their communities, churches and workplaces long after college.

“Yes, we still want to win, we definitely are competing,” Daugherty said. “But the focus on graduation rates, retention, service and spiritual development — that sets us apart.”

With a commitment to academic excellence, a focus on servant leadership and a deeper faith, JBU student-athletes will also be set apart as they leave and begin careers that bring glory to God.

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