SEARCY — When a tragedy takes the life of a student from a tight-knit university, the whole campus is affected. Students, faculty and staff at Harding University are reeling from the recent loss of one of their own, but they have each other to lean on through this time.
On Saturday, 11 Harding students were making their way to Syracuse, New York, for a mission trip, according to a university press release. The students were divided among four cars, and one vehicle carrying three of the students was involved in a multiple-car accident.
Nicholas Smith, a senior youth and family-ministry major, was driving the car when it was crushed between two semis at 1:15 a.m. in Kentucky. Smith was killed in the accident. The two passengers in the vehicle, Drew Taylor and Abby Owens, were taken to the University of Louisville Hospital. Owens was treated and released, and Taylor was admitted to the hospital.
The students were on their way to Wetzel Road Church of Christ in Syracuse, where Smith was going to be a youth intern this summer. After the accident, administrators from Harding — including President Bruce McLarty — went to Louisville to support the students and families directly impacted by the accident.
“All through the day on Saturday, there was a steady stream of people who came to the hospital with offers to help in any way that was needed,” McLarty said in a press release. “At least four different church congregations were represented, and two nearby Harding-trained ministers — Conrad Moorer and Larry Sawyer — spent the day helping the family walk through the long hours of the day. Numerous times during that difficult day, I heard people say, ‘The body of Christ is here today.’”
Stephen Mead was in several classes and participated in a Bible study with Smith, and he said Smith will be remembered for his service and love.
“He was known for his kindness,” Mead said. “He had lots of friends on campus, and he was well loved.”
Smith was a good student, Mead said, and was an important piece of the Harding student body. The loss will impact people across the campus, but Mead said the university has always been supportive in tough situations.
“His legacy is one of faith and service,” Mead said. “He’s quiet and unassuming, but he lived with a purpose. That was clear to everyone who knew him. He’d want to be remembered for that — for his love and service.”
Harding University students are on spring break this week, but there will be counseling services available to them when they return to campus. The university has an on-site counseling center staffed with six professional counselors who are always available to students.
“Our services extend to anyone on campus,” said Lew Moore, chair of the Marriage and Family Therapy department and counselor at the counseling center. “It’s a non-fee service we offer.”
Moore said the counseling center is ready to assist individuals and groups who need help working through the grieving process. Students can access the counseling center through www.harding.edu/counseling, and the information pertaining to the center is in the student handbook. There will also be announcements at the campus’s chapel services to remind students of the counseling center.
While these services are available to students, Moore said, many students will work through the beginning stages of their grief with friends and family while they are on spring break. Even when they return, many students will continue to work together through the following weeks and months.
“Collectively, on a positive side, they have more resources with each other. It’s kind of a kinship of loss and support,” Moore said. “They’re experiencing this not by themselves. We want to make sure, however, that we are there for an individual who may need a more-private setting to go through the grief.”
Moore said the counseling-center staff will expect an influx of students in the weeks after spring break, especially as students get back into their normal routine, and that routine is impacted by the absence of their friend and classmate.
“The old standard day-to-day routines will resume, and we’ll get more individual people coming in,” he said.
There will probably be memorial events organized by students when they return next week, Moore said, and that will help many through the grieving process.
Staff writer Angela Spencer can be reached at (501) 244-4307 or aspencer@arkansasonline.com.