When three Hastings College students left class Oct. 2, they weren’t expecting to make a neighbor’s day — they were just driving down 4th Street.
Passing by a house near campus, football players Jakeveon Bolding of Clanton, Alabama; Konrad Prescott of Cheyenne, Wyoming; and JD Washington of Olive Branch, Mississippi, noticed an 87-year-old resident struggling to trim bushes in her front yard. Without hesitation, the trio pulled over to offer a hand, and even offered to check back in during the winter months to help clear her driveway and sidewalks.
What the three didn’t know at the time was that the resident was their History of Rock & Roll professor’s mother-in-law. The story only came to light over the weekend when the professor, Rick Matticks, overheard a family phone call describing three helpful young men in a black pickup.
“They didn’t stop because they knew who she was, or because anyone told them to,” the Matticks said. “They simply saw a neighbor who could use a hand and did the right thing.”
At Hastings College, the idea of “One Campus, One Community” isn’t just a phrase. It’s reflected in the quiet, everyday choices our students make. Whether in the classroom, on the football field or on 4th Street, this group showed what it means to look out for our neighbors.