Reflecting Along the Journey
Reflecting Along the Journey
As has been true for so many across the country, including those in the deep south, the winter of 2025 has been a memorable one in the West Virginia mountains. From both alumni and Elkinites, I have heard many stories of winters past that left indelible memories. Cafeteria trays transformed into sleds on the front campus hill, epic snowball fights, and trudging through feet of snow to reach class seem to be rites of passage for D&E students.
The recent bout of wintry weather that began in very early January has been the most significant I have experienced in my nine winters in Elkins. Snow measured in feet rather than inches, significant accumulations of ice, and bone-chilling temperatures have been our reality.
Due to weather, l made the decision to close campus on Monday, January 6. That day I drove from the President’s House to campus. Through the deep snow and ice, I was able to drive past our historic buildings including Halliehurst and Graceland mansions, venture up to the new Glory Residence Hall with its scenic vista, and continue around Campus Drive to view a snow-covered Discovery & Esprit, our sculpture of dancers on the Myles Plaza. As I spun my tires up the road to Presidential Center and Moyer Hall, I gazed across the campus to the distant white mountains topped with windmills silhouetted against a gray sky.
With our students still on winter break and employees home due to weather, I found myself on a serene Davis & Elkins College campus – eerily quiet, incredibly tranquil, breathtakingly beautiful, and awe inspiring. As I was sitting in the Moyer parking lot and looking across the valley, the words of a familiar hymn from my childhood came to mind. Those words spoke to me in that moment that was surprisingly sacred. The hymn is entitled “In the Bleak Midwinter” and the words of the first verse are:
“In the bleak midwinter, frosty winds made moan;
earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;
snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow;
In the bleak midwinter, long ago.”
After this prayerful moment of reflection, I began to think of what inevitably follows the bleak midwinter. In due time, spring will come, and new life will emerge. Looking over the campus, I thought of the new life that was literally returning to the snow-covered D&E campus in just a few days. Hundreds of students would descend upon this hallowed ground – students from 35 counties in West Virginia, 32 states across the United States, and 46 countries from six continents around the globe. The gift of new life, new energy, and new possibilities was on its way. How grateful I was in that moment, and remain today, for the gift of our bleak midwinter and the promise…indeed the reality of imminent new life.
Being a part of the D&E family, a vibrant living and learning community, is a continual blessing that offers new daily life lessons, if only we open our eyes to see and hearts to experience. How grateful I am to be on this journey, and even more grateful that our journey continues….
Chris A. Wood
President
Davis & Elkins College