DePauw Chaplain P.T. Wilson Speaks at Service Marking 30 Year Anniversary of Tragedy

December 14, 2007

December 14, 2007, Greencastle, Ind. - "I discovered there are no answers but rather, in the spiritual journey, you simply walk on," said the Reverend Paul "P.T." Wilson at a memorial Thursday for the 29 people killed in the Dec. 13, 1977 airplane crash involving the University of Evansville's basketball team. Wilson, who is DePauw University's chaplain, was a student at Evansville at the time. He was one of the featured speakers at yesterday's event.

The Evansville Courier & Press reports that Rev. Wilson, "as a religion and philosophy student at the time ... helped comfort students and members of the university community and recalled how the number of people gathered at Neu Chapel surged several times that night, each time more news was reported. 'We had such an outpouring of support from all over the country, so helpful, of people calling to say they were praying for us,' he said."

The story written by Mark Wilson continues, "Wilson said the plane crash was a tragedy that extended beyond the university. 'The plane crash affected the DNA of this community as well as the university,' he said."

In an Associated Press report on the service, Wilson -- who is also pastor at Gobin Memorial United Methodist Church -- is quoted, "We had such an outpouring of support from all over the country, so helpful, of people calling to say they were praying for us. I discovered there are no answers but rather, in the spiritual journey, you simply walk on."

Evansville's current basketball coach, Marty Simmons, also spoke at the gathering.

Read the complete story at the newspaper's Web site and Sports Illustrated.com.

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