Nov. 26, 2008

Story courtesy of Lindsey Wilson

COLUMBIA, Ky. -- When Westmont (Calif.) College was damaged by the recent fires in the Santa Barbara area of Southern California, Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) College Associate Professor of English Tim McAlpine wanted to let that college’s faculty, staff and students know that people more than 2,200 miles to the east are thinking about it.

Westmont has special meaning to McAlpine because he is a 1977 graduate of the small Church-related college. So McAlpine and colleague Library Director Phil Hanna organized a campuswide effort to have members of the Lindsey Wilson community sign an original card.

“As you can imagine, the campus community there is going through a very difficult time dealing with both the loss of buildings and the deeper psychological impact,” McAlpine said. “As people engaged in the same endeavor of helping students in ‘an atmosphere of active caring and Christian concern,’ we can imagine ourselves in their place.”

The card – which Hanna created – featured a facsimile of the Guttenberg Bible’s first chapter of the Gospel of John on the cover. Inside, the card included a reprint of John 1:5: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

“While it isn’t a large thing, it’s nice that we can send a card expressing our thoughts, prayers and concerns for our distant colleagues as they go through this difficult time,” McAlpine said.

The card will be sent to Westmont on Wednesday, the final day before the Thanksgiving break.