Ouachita welcomes new counselor Dan Jarboe and his family to our campus this semester. The Jarboes recently returned to the U.S. after a period of missionary work in Russia and, according to the Jarboes, are “pretty excited about coming to a small town.”
Jarboe has been a counselor for 22 years. While pursuing a religion major at California Baptist University he discovered his “real passion was working with people in crisis.” He went on to get his master’s at Southwestern Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. Most recently he worked in Russia with the International Mission Board doing member care for the missionaries stationed in Russia and Eastern Europe.
Jarboe’s road to Ouachita was definitely no coincidence. He met Dr. Bill Viser while in Russia and when his family needed to return to the U.S, Viser suggested he interview with Dr. Keldon Henley for the position here. Henley and Jarboe attended Southwestern together more than 20 years ago, though they had lost contact.
“He is a fine individual,” Henley said. “Very strong in his faith, he certainly is a gifted and caring counselor…I think students will find him to be very trustworthy and dependable.”
Viser recently returned from a conference in Moscow where the Jarboes are loved and missed.
“They clearly miss him and his family and would tell me that he was on temporary loan to OBU,” Viser said, “I truly believe he and his family will meet a great need at OBU and will come to be loved and appreciated by the OBU family as they are by his mission family.”
Jarboe said he wants to be more than just a counselor.
“My real eagerness, my desire here at Ouachita is not just to sit in my office,” he said, “I really enjoy just being involved with students. I want to have a pro-active role here as much as I possibly can.”
When not counseling, he enjoys time with his wife and five children, biking, camping, archery and playing acoustic guitar. Jarboe also mentioned he would enjoy guest speaking in classes as his schedule permits.
The counseling center has moved and is now located in the Student Services Office, Evans Student Center room 220. The primary reasons for the move were to make it less isolated and more accessible to students. The university provides Jarboe’s services to students at no cost. Henley hopes “any student who is experiencing difficulty with transition or any other personal issues in their lives will feel the freedom to see Dan; we want him to be utilized.”
