It would not be hyperbole to say that Birmingham-Southern changed my life. It would be fact.

When I began looking at colleges, BSC wasn’t even on my list. When time came for me to choose a college, I was originally going to Emory University in Atlanta. I had recently received a roommate preference form from Emory when two friends I highly respected, Jim Pool and Jayne Collins, invited me to attend a BSC basketball game. That night, I met people who would become my friends and remain my friends for the rest of my life. I realize this might sound like a romanticized remembrance, but really, it is a fact. I still enjoy substantive friendships with many of these same people today.

My wife, Linda, who did attend Emory, describes it this way: “I went to Emory and got a world-class education. Keith went to BSC and got a world-class education and made lifelong friends.” That’s also why two of our sons went to BSC. None of them went to Emory.

Imagine what it is like as a parent listening to your college-age children talk with enthusiasm and excitement about what they are learning in a class with professors like Mark Lester, Amy Cottrill, Alan Litsey, Randy Law, or Michael Flowers. Again, this is not romanticized reminiscing; this is what happened. I will confess that each time I heard their passion for what they were experiencing from their professors, it was initially hard to speak, which is true anytime a dream comes true. There were times I thought I could hear their brains expanding over the phone. (OK, that might be a little hyperbole). Still, what an amazing experience!

About 25 years after I had graduated from BSC, I was given the opportunity to work at the College. I was hesitant about working at my alma mater, because sometimes when you see behind the curtain it is easy to become disillusioned and lose respect for people you once thought of as heroes. While I certainly saw the more human and sometimes exasperated side of some of the faculty and staff, what I really discovered behind the curtain was how incredibly dedicated they all are. While working at BSC, I found campus police who were feeding student’s goldfish while they are on Spring Break. I found professors who were going the extra mile to try and help a struggling student learn to open their mind to new concepts regarding complex problems. I saw coaches who were great at coaching sports, and even better at developing the players into quality people. I watched productions and performances that not only moved the heart, but planted important questions in the mind. I once more experienced the unending hospitality from people like Miss Johnnie and Queenie, who always served you an ample portion of grace with the food they provided for you. I met alumni from all over the world and from all generations who were unusually thoughtful, intelligent, compassionate, and engaged in their community. What I found at BSC 25 years after I graduated was a more in-depth exposure to the same transformative knowledge and relationships I experienced as a student, and the College was now transforming a new generation.

I am currently in my second round of serving on the BSC Board of Trustees — another role where you get to see behind the curtain. What I find at the College now is a dedicated, insightful, hardworking president, faculty, and staff who are making the sacrifices necessary to continue transforming students into adults who are unusually thoughtful, intelligent, compassionate, and engaged in their community.

As a trustee, I occasionally get to listen to students who seem so much smarter than I was as a student, and every time I hear them, I shake my head and wonder “How I was allowed entrance into this place?” Every time I reflect on this question, I am filled with gratitude, because this College changed my life and the lives of people I love. And that’s a fact.

Forward Ever. Always.

• • •

Keith Thompson ’83 is the senior pastor of Canterbury United Methodist Church in Mountain Brook, Alabama.

This story was included in a special religious studies and ministry edition of From the Hilltop, Birmingham-Southern’s alumni email newsletter.

You can email [email protected] to get in touch with the Office of Alumni Engagement, learn about upcoming opportunities and events, and tell us more about you.