scott haddix.

I first attended TUFW as a student from 1991 through 1994 after transferring as a sophomore. Upon arriving at TUFW I met two men and one woman who would specifically play major roles in my immediate future. Dr Doug Barcalow was the professor I spent the most time with through classes. He taught me a ton about my major, how my spiritual life could be used in my professional life and how to overcome some of my personal obstacles. He helped shape the way I would do whatever it was after I finished my education. The second man I met was Bud Hamilton. He would eventually be my basketball coach and future boss. Bud taught me so much about how to be the person God intended me to be regardless of what did or didn’t happen in my life. Bud taught me about integrity and doing what was right when no one was watching. Being excellent in everything you did regardless of who was paying attention and about being honest. Along the path I met Agnes Saddington who quietly but persistently supported and encouraged me first as an athlete and then as a coach. She taught me about quiet perseverance.

The legacy of TUFW will not be confined to a campus or a city, it never has been confined then. The legacy of TUFW is how it has impacted people and how those people have impacted people. TUFW is the ultimate example of the pebble that sends the ripples across the glassy smooth pond. What else disrupts the chaotic mess of this world other than a pebble like TUFW? We weren’t the biggest, nor the best, but TUFW made it’s impact and that impact will ripple across the ages until those of us who were here fail to teach others what we were taught while hear.

The aspect that will I will forever remember about my experience at TUFW is that regardless of your stature, resources, experience, history, public power, authority, regardless of all the worldly values this planet offers, you can make a difference in as many lives as you can, if only you will choose to make a difference in their lives. 

I don’t remember the name of the class, but it was with Dr. Barcalow. It might have been philosophy of ministry or something along those lines, but I remember coming into that class almost daily and discussing different concepts and theories about ministry. What would work, what wouldn’t, why and why not. It was the class that I felt gave me the chance to think, dream, discuss and learn from each other. Plus Dr. Barcalow would let me set in the window well of the second floor of Witmer with my hat on backwards, just thinking and dreaming and talking. How cool is that?

I was called by God to vocational student ministry while at LeTourneau University in Longview, TX. As I prayed and thought about it, coming home and going to school in Fort Wayne became the obvious and logical choice. Even though when I graduated from high school I sent I would never go to school in Fort Wayne. Never say never.

I think some of my most vivid memories about how TUFW impacted others was listening to and watching volleyball players come back together each August. You could see how much they enjoyed each other, you could see how much they were looking forward to the new experience but you would also hear the stories of how they had been doing things all summer for other people. Camp counselors, camp directors, summer camp coaches, you name it. We knew each fall that most of the players had gone out over the summer and impacted the lives of other students just as their lives had been impacted the year or more prior. It was a great thing to watch. Then the e-mails and phone calls from former players who were now working with students or as coaches and they wanted to talk about this or that, you knew they were doing what had been modeled for them at TUFW.