Issue: Summer 2014 | Posted: June 2, 2014

Union Remembers

Greenlee, Delk, Williams

Each academic year at Union University presents a unique set of challenges. But no one could have anticipated the painful and life-changing hardships that have come in 2013-14 following the deaths of two Union students and a third former student with strong ties to the Jackson campus.

Olivia Greenlee, a senior music education major, was found dead in her vehicle on the Luther Hall parking lot Feb. 12. Three days later, her fiancée Charles Pittman, a senior Christian ministries major, was arrested and charged with her murder.

On Jan. 29, former Union art student Beverly Delk died following brief complications associated with acute leukemia. Delk had transferred to Middle Tennessee State University a few months earlier, but still had many active friendships on the Union campus.

In the early hours of Sept. 21, senior nursing major Leighton Williams died from injuries sustained in a weather-related car accident as she traveled from Jackson to her family home near Nashville.

The Union community continues to offer prayer support to all the friends and families connected to these tragedies. What follows is a closer look at each well-lived life, as seen by fellow Unionites.

OLIVIA GREENLEE

Olivia Greenlee (right), with fellow student Hannah Strickland

Union University students, faculty and staff gathered for a special prayer service Feb. 14 in G.M. Savage Memorial Chapel as they mourned the loss of Union student Olivia Greenlee.

“Reeling, staggering, speechless, grieving: These are words that describe us this week,” said Todd Brady, vice president for university ministries, during the service. “We have not known what to pray for as we ought, and we have trusted that the Spirit has interceded for us with groanings that are too deep for words.”

“Many of us are baffled, in disbelief, sad and grieving, yet grieving not without hope because of our faith and our confidence in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ,” former president David S. Dockery said. “The Bible tells us to weep with those who weep. And across campus this week, there have been plenty of tears.”

Union’s Zeta Tau Alpha chapter, of which Greenlee was a member, gathered to read Scripture, while the music department met to sing and share a meal.

“As we move into this weekend together, as we move into this semester together and as we move into the rest of our days, let us continue our turning to God and our turning to one another,” Brady said. “God has given us himself, and he has given us one another. In the midst of our grief, let us turn to these gifts from God.”

Friends remember Greenlee as a cheerful, carefree person who loved to sing and laugh.

The department of music and Zeta Tau Alpha hosted a benefit concert and silent auction May 10 to raise money for a scholarship that would honor Greenlee’s memory.

Beverly Delk

BEVERLY DELK

Delk transferred following an active freshman year (2012–13) at Union. She served on freshman council, joined the Kappa Delta sorority and had applied to be a Life Group leader. But relatively few pictures of her can be found.

“That’s because she was always taking pictures of everyone else,” said Elizabeth Oakes, former president of Union’s Kappa Delta chapter. “She was enthusiastic from day one. Beverly brought spunk and sincerity to our chapter and had a beautiful laugh that I will never forget.”

Her death followed by only one day a diagnosis of acute leukemia.

“From the first day I met Beverly, I knew Christ was the most important person in her life,” said Emily Russell, the current Kappa Delta president. “She loved life, loved people and most importantly loved God. Everything she did, she did with all of her heart, mind, body and spirit. Her laugh was contagious, her smile lit up a room and everything about her demonstrated joy that can only be known through a deep relationship with Jesus Christ.”

LEIGHTON WILLIAMS

Leighton Williams (right), with her sister Ashton.

For those who knew her best, Leighton Williams will be remembered for the joyful way she lived.

“Leighton was one of those, she walked in a room and you knew she was there, because she brought joy to everyone she was around,” said Savannah Hari, president of Union’s Chi Omega chapter, of which Williams was a member. “She was such a perfect, perfect picture of a friend and a sister.”

About 300 students, faculty and staff gathered in front of White Hall Sept. 23 for a prayer service.

LeeAnne Wilhite, assistant professor of nursing, said from the moment she met Williams during orientation, she noticed how “she was just joyous all the time.”

“You can teach people the skill of nursing,” Wilhite said. “And you can try to instill a passion and a love for what you’re doing. Leighton would just absorb that— every ounce of it. She was a nurse from the beginning. She had a true passion for it.”

Hillarie Henderson, a junior from Jonesboro, Ark., and a close friend of Williams, described her as “my calm during my storms.”

“She never had a bad thing to say about anybody,” Henderson said. “She never picked sides. You know, girl drama—she never wanted to pick sides. She was everyone’s friend. She never met a stranger.”