Once Hornet, Always a Hornet

Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family.
Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.
Jane Howard

I’ve thought of this quote a great deal this week as students returned to campus with the devastating reality that one of our own, Kristine Kitts, had died in a tragic car accident over the break. In the last several days members of the Spiritual Life staff and Counseling Center have been meeting with a variety of groups closely associated with Kristie. As we visited with members of her nursing classes, her Kappa Delta sisters, her colleagues and friends from PASS, and others, it was clear that Kristie was surrounded by many families within the greater family that is Lynchburg College.

As I’ve listened to stories and memories of Kristie from so many of her friends here on campus I’ve been touched by the way in which she impacted our community in so many different ways. She was an extremely dedicated and disciplined student herself and yet she chose to invest herself fully in helping other students achieve their full potential, especially through the PASS program. She was unconditionally loved by her family, especially her twin sister Katie and yet she also found room in her heart to welcome the amazing sisterhood of her sorority. She was committed to a professional path towards a nursing career and yet she offered a healing presence simply through her kind spirit, forgiving nature and inclusive embrace of all people.

Whether or not you knew Kristine Kitts personally, you are a member of her tribe by virtue of your membership in the clan we call the LC Hornet Hive. Be aware that many of us are walking around with broken hearts, not only as a result of the death of Kristie but also because the reality of her absence may bring up the pain of other losses from our personal and collective past as well. In the words of Philo of Alexandria, “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle.”

The journey of healing is a marathon, not a sprint, so we will need time to absorb the pain, to seek out support, and to deepen our ties to one another. May each of us take even one of the virtues for which Kristie was known and develop it a bit more in our own lives. Let us go above and beyond in ensuring that the spirit of Kristie and the legacy of her life live on through each of us and through the campus community that she loved so much. Once a Hornet, Always a Hornet.

Peace, Anne