God and Humanity at Marshall: Toward November 14, 1970, and Beyond by Mark Coppenger

The movie We Are Marshall brought national attention to the tragic loss and dramatic reconstitution of the school’s football team. But neither this film nor the Emmy-winning documentary, Marshall University: Ashes to Glory, explores the spiritual context and effect of the plane crash.

Few know that a visiting campus preacher touched the life of a popular defensive lineman the week before his ill-fated flight; that a campus minister was surprised several weeks later by a nighttime visit from students who’d come to ask “the Jesus man” how to be saved; that two years before the crash, a new, young professor, with a doctorate from India, enlisted five students to help evangelize the campus; and that three decades later, a devout linebacker urged the coach to change the name of a play since it was demeaning to women.

The story extends back to the school’s log-church beginnings, up through the decades when campus Ys generated foreign missionaries, to the national championship years, when key players testified freely to their faith—nearly two centuries of spiritual highs (and yes, lows) in the life of this remarkable school.