Concert makes a big impact on local college student
By Julie Rossman
Correspondent
It wasn’t Justin Timberlake, it wasn’t Taylor Swift.
But, for 22-year-old Sean Krause, a trip to Milwaukee to see and hear the Gaithers in concert was a dream come true.
“I love their music, all the time,” Sean said during an interview at Shepherds College, Union Grove. The Gaithers are a well-known southern gospel music group.
Sean is a third-year student at the college, which is the country’s leading three-year post-secondary educational program for students with intellectual disabilities.
Sean says he has always liked gospel music since he was a little boy, especially the Gaithers.
Laura Pollard is also a Gaithers fan. She is an academic advisor and instructor at Shepherds College. When she found out the Gaithers were coming to town, Pollard immediately thought of Sean.
She went right to Sean’s advisor, instructor Elyse Cyr, then spoke to Sean’s parents, who live in Detroit, for permission to get concert tickets for Sean.
When the teachers told Sean the big news, they had a video recorder rolling to catch his reaction. Sean was extremely excited for the April 13 concert. But it gets better.
Sean’s teachers wrote a letter to the Gaithers, telling them about Sean and how much he loved their music. They asked if Sean could meet them and get autographs.
The Gaithers responded and said Sean could come backstage before the concert to meet Bill Gaither, Sean’s favorite band member.
Sean loved the concert. “I was very excited,” he said. “They dedicated a song to me!” he added. The song is called “He Touched Me.”
Sean also loved meeting Bill Gaither. “It went really good,” he said.
He had fun getting pictures taken with Bill Gaither and with his teachers. And Sean was proud for his parents and other people from back home to see the pictures.
After the concert, other fans came up to Sean and told him, “You’re famous!” He also took the opportunity to tell those fans about Shepherds College.
Sean was beaming with smiles as he told about his evening at the concert but he didn’t forget about the teachers who made it all happen.
When asked what was the best part of the evening, he said, “Hangin’ out with my best teachers.”
Pollard was also full of smiles talking about the evening. When asked why she did this for Sean, she simply replied, “Why not?”
She explained that Shepherds College is an extraordinary place and they go with their heart.
After the concert, Shepherds College wrote a blog post with pictures, explaining the whole evening. They also thanked the Gaithers for all they did for Sean.
The Gaithers, in turn, wrote their own blog about meeting Sean, and the impact it had on them.
In that blog, Bill Gaither wrote: “What we do is about so much more than music. Meeting Sean was a wonderful reminder of why we create new recordings and pack into buses to take this music to people at every possible chance.”
He continued: “The Vocal Band was honored to meet this wonderful human being. It was he who made our night.”
These blogs, and Sean himself, have gained national and even international attention. The Shepherds College blog has received more than 1,800 hits since the concert and many comments from all over the world.
And it has all made Sean feel very special indeed.
Pollard never imagined that the gesture she and her colleague made would have such an effect.
“It’s amazing how God takes something so small, so ordinary, and turns it into something extraordinary!” she said.
To view the Shepherds College blog about Sean:
http://shepherdscollegeblog.blogspot.com/2013/04/a-gift-of-gaithers.html
To view the Gaithers blog:
http://gaither.com/news/gvb-makes-someone%E2%80%99s-day-he-makes-theirs
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