Class of 1976 reunites five decades later

By Macey Smith

Staff Writer

50 years after graduation, members of Trevecca Nazarene University’s Class of 1976 returned to the Hill Saturday, Nov. 7, for a reunion in Jernigan Student Center during Trevecca’s homecoming celebrations to reconnect with life long friends and remember the experiences that have shaped their lives long after graduation.

For many returning alumni, the celebration was more than a chance to revisit their college years. Despite the time that has passed and the different paths their lives have taken, alumni reflected on how the relationships and experiences they developed at Trevecca have remained meaningful throughout the past five decades.

Linda Cramer, a member of the Class of 1976 and former editor of the TrevEchoes, said the relationships and spiritual foundation she developed as a student have remained an important part of her life.

“We will always have that foundation in those connections from when we were students together on campus,” Cramer said. “Trevecca gave us a foundation that nothing else could have ever given us.”

It’s been nearly 10 years since Cramer last visited campus, making the day especially meaningful to her.

“It’s one of the best days I’ve had in a long time.” Cramer said.

For other alumni, the relationships formed at Trevecca have lasted a lifetime.

John and Celeste Gillespie, members of the Classes of 1977 and 1976, respectively, met while studying music at Trevecca. Celeste was a pianist, and John played the trumpet, which he used as an excuse to interrupt her practice sessions.

“I would accidentally leave my trumpet in the practice room so I would have to interrupt her,” John said. “I interrupted her one too many times, and we’ve been married 50 years as of December.”

The couple married in 1975 while still attending Trevecca and have lived in Oklahoma City for the past 44 years, where they have served as worship pastors in the church of the Nazarene. Saturday marked their first return to campus in approximately 50 years.

For Phyllis Coulter, a member of the Class of 1976, a connection formed during her time at Trevecca eventually became a part of her life decades after graduation.

Coulter attended Trevecca when her now-husband, Gary Coulter, was a communication professor. Gary said he knew Phyllis and her former husband during their time at the university.

After both lost their spouses, the two reconnected and married eight years ago.

The reunion also brought former classmates together to reminisce about their shared experiences on campus.

Jim Hiatt and Karl Papon recalled being RA’s together in Wise Hall while attending Trevecca.

“We were RAs together in Wise Hall, so I was on the top floor, and he was on the bottom floor,” Hiatt said.

Hiatt’s connection to Trevecca continued well past graduation. After earning his business degree in 1976, he went on to work for Trevecca for 43 years, retiring June 30, 2026, after serving as the dean of the School of Business.

For Terry Langford, a member of the Class of 1976, returning to campus reinforced the connection he feels with his former classmates at Trevecca.

“On one level, even seeing other friends, there’s this aspect of the time that hasn’t separated you from feeling a connection,” said Langford. “Feeling a connection is pretty powerful.”

Marilyn Rishel, a member of the Class of 1978 who returned with her husband Ted, Class of 1976, was shocked by how much the campus had changed.

“The school has changed so much everything is so different you don’t even recognize it,” Rishel said. We were here when they put in the cascade down there, the water feature. It was wonderful and added so much to the campus.”

Although the physical campus has changed drastically, some of the most meaningful moments of the reunion came from reconnecting with people who had influenced alumni decades earlier.

For Cramer, one of the most meaningful moments of the weekend came when she reunited with Bob Johnson, a former part-time drama professor who she described as being one of the most influential people in her college experience.

It had been 20 years since Cramer had last seen Johnson. While attending a larger alumni gathering at Trevecca Community Church, she spotted him among the crowd.

Johnson, who Cramer described as one of the most creative people she has ever known, helped introduce her to the idea of using creative talents as a form of ministry.

“He took the creative arts to a level that I had not seen before, and that I had not been involved in prior to that, as a form of ministry.” Cramer said.

For Cramer, writing was one of the creative talents she developed during her time at Trevecca. She served as editor of the TrevEchoes, becoming known on campus for her involvement in student journalism.

“The writing was mine. That’s what I did. That’s what I was known for,” Cramer said.

Cramer continued using her writing skills beyond the student newspaper, contributing to the Treveccan, Trevecca’s alumni publication, and Nashville First Church of the Nazarenes weekly newsletter, Nazarene Weekly.

Cramer said her reunion with Johnson reminded her of the lasting influence of her experience at Trevecca.

“It just reminded me again of the foundation that Trevecca gave me, in so many ways, the connections and the people,” Cramer said.

More than five decades after graduation, Cramer said she has come to appreciate the significance of her college experience even more with age.

“The older I have gotten, the more I realize how fortunate I was to have had that as my roots and my foundation, as a young adult,” Cramer said.

From college classmates to lifelong friends

In 1973, two Trevecca students posed for a yearbook photo outside McClurkan Hall. Terry Langford climbed onto the shoulders of his lifelong friend Louie Weaver and flashed a peace sign, capturing a moment that made the cover of Trevecca’s 1973 Darda yearbook.

More than five decades later, the two friends returned to campus for the Class of 1976’s 50^th reunion.

Long before Louie Weaver became a Grammy-winning drummer for the pioneering Christian rock band Petra, he was a student at Trevecca Nazarene College, where he and his lifelong friend Terry Langford both studied percussion.

Weaver went on to spend 22 years performing with Petra, contributing to some of the band’s most successful albums and earning four Grammy Awards and 12 nominations.

But his journey to success began decades earlier on the hill.

Weaver and Langford’s friendship began long before either attended Trevecca. Their parents were close friends, and despite growing up in different states, the two spent their childhood summers visiting each other’s homes.

“Even before we came to Trevecca, we were best friends because our parents were best friends,” Weaver said. “We were never not around each other.”

Their shared love of music eventually brought them both to Trevecca, but their influence on each other’s lives went beyond music.

“He influenced me to play the drums,” Langford said.

Weaver shared a similar sentiment.

“He’s my inspiration to be a Christian,” said Weaver.

As a child, Langford looked up to Weaver’s musical talent and credits him for his decision to begin playing the drums in ninth grade.

Despite their close friendship, the two decided against becoming roommates.

“A great decision we both made was to not be roommates,” Langford said. “We probably would’ve drove each other crazy.”

The two had a huge influence on each other and their opportunities as musicians, despite not living together.

While attending Trevecca, both auditioned for Lost and Found, a Nazarene youth music group that selected students from Nazarene colleges to perform on summer tours.

Langford encouraged the group’s director, Norm Schumaker, to choose Weaver for one of the spots rather than himself because he believed the experience would be meaningful for his friend spiritually.

“I thought it would be a great experience for him and where he’s at spiritually,” said Langford.

Weaver was selected, and Langford joined a year later, going on to tour with the group for five summers and eventually becoming a road manager.

During his time at Trevecca, Weaver also became involved with a student band known as Parable, which later became Good Grief. The group rehearsed in an unused room in the former McKay Hall, a building that had been condemned but that the university allowed them to use for rehearsals.

The group had grown to love the Christian Rock band Petra, so when they came to perform at Trevecca, Weaver and his bandmates saw an opportunity and waited on the steps of McClurkan Hall, hoping to get the chance to introduce themselves.

“We ran up to them and said, ‘Hi we’re Good Grief, we’re a band here and we play all your songs and have our own band. Do you want to come over here in our practice room and jam?'” said Weaver.

To their surprise, Petra agreed and they gathered in Good Grief’s rehearsal room where Weaver and his bandmates had the opportunity to perform Petra’s song “Walking in the Light.”

According to Weaver, Petra guitarist and founding member Bob Hartman was surprised to hear another band performing one of his songs and told him that they had never heard anyone play their music before.

They spent the next several hours playing together, an experience that would ultimately shape Weaver’s future.

“So we played for a couple hours and the next night I went to their show and as I sat there and watched Petra. I got a calling and I told God that I wanted to be the drummer,” Weaver said. “I don’t know what I thought God was gonna do with the guy that was playing drums, but I found out through being his friend that he was gonna quit anyways.”

Later on, one of Weavers’ fellow band members, Chuck McCall approached him with a message that reinforced this calling.

“Anyway, Chuck came up to me one day and said, ‘Louie God told me that you wanted to be the drummer for Petra and you’re going to be, you just gotta wait on it.’ And I said that’s what he told me.” Said Weaver.

Weaver eventually joined Petra in 1981, beginning a career that would last more than two decades.

For Langford, who had watched Weaver’s musical and spiritual development since childhood, witnessing his friend’s success held a lot of significance.

“But looking back, we saw Louie go from just playing music as music to music is ministry to be used for the glory of God,” Langford said.

While Weaver pursued his career with Petra, Langford followed a different path. After his experiences touring with Lost and Found, he eventually became a marriage and family therapist.

Despite their different paths, the two continued to support each other throughout the years.

Langford recalled one example of their friendship while preparing for an international tour with Lost and Found.

“When I was going on a tour with Lost and Found I had a four drum kit and he had a 5 drum kit,” Langford said. “And he said, ‘Well just take my kit.'”

Langford recalled another occasion when Weaver left for a three-week tour and trusted him with one of his most prized possessions, a red Porsche he had spent years saving to purchase.

“In other words, I trust anything I have with him,” Weaver said.

The friendship that began with their parents continued into their own marriages and families. Langford’s wife, Nancy, and Weaver’s wife, Penny, also developed a close friendship.

Both couples met their spouses through connections to music and the Church of the Nazarene. Nancy first saw Terry performing with Lost and Found at a youth conference in Switzerland, while Penny met Louie after one of his concerts.

More than five decades after their yearbook photo was taken outside McClurkan Hall, Weaver and Langford returned to Trevecca with a lifetime of stories and friendship, able to reconnect with the place that helped shape their lives.