(WALNUT RIDGE, Ark.) – Students from Williams Baptist University will travel to Park City, Utah, in January. They will have the opportunity to study films with other Christian students at the Windrider Institute and view new, independent movies at the renowned Sundance Film Festival.
The trip is made possible in large part by a challenge gift from the Ramsons Arts Partnership, a philanthropic arm of Ramsons Construction in Jonesboro. Ramsons is matching each gift toward the students’ trip, dollar for dollar, until the needed $10,000 is raised to fund their travels.
“The Windrider Institute is a group of scholars, students, and filmmakers who get together to talk about Christ and culture in film,” said Dr. Trevor Babcock, assistant professor of English at Williams. “WBU’s purpose is to cultivate Christ-centered leaders who make a difference in their lifework. The Windrider Summit at Sundance gives us an opportunity to personally interact with Christians who are living out this vision in the culture.”
Babcock will lead the WBU group to the summit and film festival. He noted that Windrider is the single largest purchaser of tickets to the Sundance Festival each year.
“It’s one thing to encourage students to get out there and shape culture for Christ, and it’s another thing to go and shake hands with Christians in and around the film world who are actually doing it,” he said. “Our students are going to see for themselves that God has people everywhere.”
The Ramsons Arts Partnership has helped fund other artistic endeavors at WBU, and Ramsons Construction Vice President Scott McDaniel said he is excited to help students experience the Sundance Festival.
“In Northeast Arkansas, I learned early how the arts can change a life,” McDaniel noted. “That’s the heart of the Ramsons Arts Partnership. So when WBU called, our answer was simple: yes — and we’ll match every donor who joins us. This campaign matters because it creates opportunities for students to grow in ways we can’t even imagine yet.”
Those who want to make a gift toward the WBU trip to Windrider and Sundance can do so at williamsbu.edu/give/. All gifts will be matched by Ramsons.
“I really want to extend gratitude to Ramsons and our other donors for making this trip possible,” Babcock said. “I’m hoping it will shape the careers of our students. More importantly, I’m confident that it will encourage them in their spiritual growth as they see firsthand that the kingdom of God is at work in the arts.”
Williams is a private, Christian university in Walnut Ridge.