November 19, 2024

Dear University of Mobile Family,

As many of you now know, Kaiden Francis, a freshman basketball player from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, collapsed on campus this morning. Despite the quick and heroic efforts of students and medical professionals, Kaiden never recovered and passed away earlier today. Our hearts are heavy as we process this tragedy.

My family and I had the privilege of watching Kaiden play just last week. He was profoundly gifted and clearly loved by his teammates. As you can imagine, Kaiden’s family, coaches, and teammates are heartbroken and need our prayers.

As we walk through this together, I want to encourage you to remember where our help and hope come from. You may recall the first chapel of the semester began with a simple, but profound question: “Who is God?” Psalm 23 reminded us that even in the darkest valleys, we can trust that God is good, God is in control, and God is working all things – including this unspeakable tragedy – together for His glory and the good of His people. That doesn’t answer all our questions, nor does it bring our friend back, but it does point us to our deepest need: faith in The One who has always been, and will always be, faithful. As we grieve together, let’s do so with eyes fixed squarely on Jesus.

Wednesday’s classes have been canceled to give our community time to mourn and pray.

Please join us for a campus-wide time of prayer Wednesday at 10 AM in Ram Hall. This will be a time for us to lift up Kaiden’s family, his teammates, and one another, asking for God’s comfort, strength, and peace. I hope to see many of you there.

If you would benefit from speaking to a campus counselor in the hours ahead, please email Counseling@umobile.edu.

Praying with and for you,

Charles Smith
President, University of Mobile

This email was sent to all faculty, staff and students.