Across the university, ACU organizations and events gathered to remember and reflect on those injured and affected by Friday’s car accident.

The crowd in Moody Coliseum stopped for a moment of silence prior to the women’s basketball game versus Angelo State on Saturday night.

In light of the tragedy that struck ACU Friday night, John Earle, a former NFL and CFL player who spoke during halftime, said a few words of encouragement after the death of Lindsey Smith, the junior Ad/PR major from New Braunfels killed in the car wreck Friday evening.

“My dad shared with me the most important words; ‘Jesus loves you, he will never leave you nor forsake you,'” Earle said. “To the hurting community, and to the hurting classmates and especially to the families who have to deal with this, when you can’t make any sense out of things that happen in this world, the only thing that makes sense is Jesus and our hope that we have in Him. Cling to it.”

The weekly Sunday night Nine O’Clock worship at University Church of Christ dedicated its service as a vigil. A crowd of about 850 people packed the vigil for Smith. Dr. Phil Schubert, president of the university, asked those in attendance to remain faithful in God.

“God’s glory is most profound in our greatest weaknesses,” Schubert said. “When all those questions seem so loud, only God can soothe them.”

Monday morning at 9 a.m., JMC faculty and students met in Don Morris 320 for a brief time of prayer and devotion. It was the time and location of Smith’s JMC 100 Media Issues course, where her empty seat will be a reminder for the rest of the semester.

Monday’s Chapel was planned to kick-off a semester series by Dr. Randy Harris. Instead, Schubert led a special Chapel memorial service to observe the tragedy.

“I know we can’t begin to fathom what the Smith family is dealing with,” he said. “The depth and breadth of the pain is beyond anything we can imagine. But we’re mindful that even in this community of incredible love and strength and support, that God is the only one who can deliver us from that despair.”

Anne-Marie Coffee, Gabi Powell and Mark Smith contributed to this report.