Biology Professor Remembers Spirit of Student

By: Dixon Land

As students return to class next week, they’ll walk into classrooms all over campus. However, students entering classes of Dr. Jess Kelly, assistant professor of biology, will have one fewer desk to choose from.

Kelly, known for being a professor that is all about his students, reserves a specific desk for Shelby Seabaugh, a previous student at Ouachita that passed away on March 17, 2014. Seabaugh was known for her undeniable spirit and enthusiasm for all things Ouachita. She not only had a lasting impact on her friends at Ouachita, but also on many of her teachers, including Kelly.

“I remember the day I was notified that she passed away and it was just surreal—I couldn’t believe it. I struggled with that and that was a real tough time for students. We had to finish that semester and that empty desk was a real large presence in our classroom so we prayed together as a class and we cried together as a class,” Kelly said.

Finding the strength to return to class was hard for Kelly, but his return to where he had once seen Seabaugh’s smiling face daily, was one of gratefulness and honor.

“Just a couple of days after she had passed away, all of the flowers were blooming and without really thinking about it, I went and cut a few of them and put them on her desk. That really seemed to help all of us because it wasn’t so empty anymore—her presence was still there, we could feel that she was kind of still there,” Kelly said.

“She left an amazing legacy, but I thought about doing something to remember her. So on the first day of every semester, I put a sign out. It has a picture of her favorite flower on it and a verse that I thought was important. It’s just a way of remembering her and making sure that we honor her,” Kelly added.

The verse is a passage from 1 Corinthians 15. “Death is swallowed up in victory,” it says, “O’ Death, where is your victory? O’ Death, where is your sting?” Reminding all students that separation between our loved ones and ourselves through death is just temporary and that an everlasting life awaits all of us in heaven.

Seabaugh was an active member on campus, participating in a number of organizations and events, each of which she contributed to greatly. She served on the Ouachita Student Foundation, was a member of the Pruet Sisterhood and Carl Goodson Honors Program, was a Tiger Network Scholar and was on the Dean’s List. She also was a member of the Women of EEE where she served as a co-director of the 2013 Tiger Tunes Winning Show, the shEEEp.

“One of the lasting imprints that will remain with me until my last day alive, was when she had won a Tiger Tunes Award and jumped up in the air and Dr. Kluck snapped a picture of it. She’s in the air and the joy she showed in that moment will always mean so much to me and I think that’s what she gave to this campus—the same type of joy that she showed in that moment,” Kelly said.