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Alumnus Timothy James was just a young man when he accepted a 10 week summer job in Kansas City, Missouri for a short-term ministry experience. It was 1972 and the ongoing Vietnam War required Timothy to apply for the draft. Being raised in a Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) family with seven children, he understood what it would mean to be uprooted to follow a calling. “I had never used the Bible as a defenseful position, but I could feel the Lord putting his hands on me,” Timothy recalled as he chose to follow his calling to ministry. It was that summer where he met Gary Rowlen ’66, also a pastor’s kid and a Culver-Stockton College alumnus. “Gary personally took me to campus because he knew they had a religion program,” Timothy said. “While I was visiting I met President Helsabeck, and I told him my situation of finishing junior college in Alameda, California and not knowing where to go next.” During that visit, the C-SC staff and faculty assisted with the application process and helped him obtain his transcripts “before I knew it, I was attending Culver-Stockton instead of going back home to California,” Timothy recalled. The initial connections, warm welcomes into the community, provisions of respite and outpouring of opportunities, helped shape a young man from California with a heart of reconciliation, into a transformational leader for the greater community. It was that first interaction, a connection that led to a friendship, that became a pivotal part of the now Reverend Dr. Timothy James ’74 lifelong commitment to ministry. As a religion and philosophy student at C-SC during a time in history when colleges were beginning to integrate, joining the Kappas was Dr. James’ first impact on “the Hill.” Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. is a historically African American organization, founded on biblical principles with a purpose focused on achievement. As one of the founding members, James recalls “my pledge group had 13 and we dwindled
