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Remembering Our Girls

The Power of an Empty Chair: How Pepperdine Professors are Coping with Loss

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Class after class, professors are used to seeing the same students, in the same seats. Some students talk more than others, but each one has a value, purpose and place in the classroom.And then — after a tragedy, their seats are empty, and professors can distinctly tell the community is missing someone. “Often, professors are expected to be immediately OK, mature … [Read more...] about The Power of an Empty Chair: How Pepperdine Professors are Coping with Loss

Community Contribution: To Asha, From Briana Labe

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“There are not many words to describe a loss like this or a soul this pure. But here is my best shot: Asha was everything kind in the world. Asha was the most thoughtful human being I have ever met. She was my rock and human GPS in our time abroad together in London. She was someone who became very close to me very fast. We visited her hometown in Ireland together, one of … [Read more...] about Community Contribution: To Asha, From Briana Labe

Community Contribution: Community Remembers a Bright Light Asha Weir

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My Dearest Asha, I find myself sitting down to write this letter, my heart heavy with the void your absence has left in my life and in our beloved Alpha Phi sisterhood. I miss you more than words can express, and it's been a journey of profound sorrow and reflection since that fateful day when you were taken from us far too soon. You were not just my big sister in Alpha Phi; … [Read more...] about Community Contribution: Community Remembers a Bright Light Asha Weir

Community Contribution: A Message from Tim Spivey

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After the on-campus memorial service for Deslyn, Peyton, Asha and Niamh, I went home. Not the home where I receive my mail and sleep at night. There was another home calling me. Some call it, “church.” That evening, I called it home. I didn’t go out of obligation or fear. I went because I needed to. My soul needed it —my weary, worn-out soul. Of course, there was a part … [Read more...] about Community Contribution: A Message from Tim Spivey

This is Our Worship: A Message from Sara Barton

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Grief is destabilizing. And because it’s destabilizing, uncomfortable and a host of other things, we sometimes feel that it is also bad, perhaps something to be ashamed of, or to rush past, or to fix with shallow religious answers. But as uncomfortable and unwelcome as it is, what if grief is the seed of healing? What if seasons of grief are not a sign of a lack of faith … [Read more...] about This is Our Worship: A Message from Sara Barton