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Issue: Spring 2018 | Posted: June 1, 2018

1050 U.U. Drive

Union celebrates God's providence in 10-year anniversary of 2008 tornado

51���� marked the 10-year anniversary of the Feb. 5, 2008, tornado that hit the campus with a full day of activities Feb. 2 featuring former administrators, students and others closely involved with the event.

Former President David S. Dockery is greeted by current President Dub Oliver.

Former 51���� President David S. Dockery, in a Founders’ Day chapel address in G.M. Savage Memorial Chapel, spoke on providence and hope as he remembered the tornado.

He recalled sitting in his office and thinking perhaps the tornado had missed the campus when he got a call telling him to come to the residence life area. His mind was not prepared for what he was about to see, as the residence life area was completely in ruins.

“Buildings were devastated,” Dockery said. “The campus remained frighteningly dark having lost power across the area. Students were stumbling out of the buildings dazed, confused, bleeding from the cuts that had come from the flying, broken glass. Some students were trying to carry other students who had been injured.”

As emergency crews arrived on campus and students were taken to safety, Dockery said the hours were full of prayerful and hopeful moments. The rescue crews searched for bodies beneath the rubble and made sure everyone was accounted for while Dockery and others prayed that their worst fears of losing a student would not be realized.

“Indeed, the Lord had answered our prayers in ways that baffled every person associated with the emergency response,” he said. “Thanks be to God, there were no fatalities.”

Dockery said God’s providence did not end there. The next two weeks were hectic as national news media were focused on Union and decisions were made for completing the spring semester and rebuilding the residence area.

“We made more decisions each day than we normally make in a month, and looking back, the accomplishments of each day often included several weeks’ worth of work and activity,” Dockery said. “Those were certainly days like no other.”

Kimberly Thornbury, former dean of students, reflects on the 2008 tornado in chapel.

Kimberly Thornbury, former dean of students at Union, also shared her testimony in the chapel service about the day of the tornado. She said she never anticipated what a crisis like the tornado would require and how the university would care for the students, but God showed himself faithful.

“Before the tornado, the RAs reached out to all the students to make sure that they knew where they needed to be, in the downstairs bathroom,” Thornbury said. “However, our crisis plan never addressed what to do after the tornado when you walk out of your bathroom and your entire living room is gone.”

The campus had 1,100 students who needed beds that night, and thanks to volunteers from churches in the area, every one of them was housed somewhere. She said over the next few days, students and parents had many concerns, and the media and emergency personnel were looking to Dockery, but Dockery always prioritized prayer.

“That kind of godly leadership set the tone for reliance on Christ for all things,” she said.

The day of remembrance also included a luncheon, with remarks by Carla Sanderson, former Union provost, and Harry Smith, former chairman of the Union Board of Trustees, in addition to a special recognition service for first responders.

The day concluded with a community worship service that featured a concert by Christian recording artist Phil Wickham, testimonies from a panel of students who were injured during the tornado and an address by Gene Fant, president of North Greenville University and former dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Union.

Danny Song, one of the panelists, said the tornado changed his perspective about God.

“It’s the collection of stories that shows how big our God is,” Song said. “I used to think that God can’t care about me that much. I’m just one person.”

Now, however, he sees a much broader extent of God’s love, both for individuals and for entire communities.

“God is just as with us now as he was then,” Song said.