A Note from Elliot Anderson ‘89
“Doc Ryder knew his greatest ministry was not his teaching, it was his serving. The teaching, coaching, and training were roles that allowed positional access to influence young people through leadership and education, but where Doc discipled and mentored was through serving the students and serving alongside the students. Doc would pick up rocks with us before baseball practice before the field was even playable most days. Doc hosted his annual Halloween party and dressed in his orange jumpsuit. Doc had lead roles in the school theatre, spoke in many workshops in Wilson Hall on masculinity, started and funded the first FCA chapter on campus, and attended countless concerts, performances, speeches, and games. Doc believed you had to invest your time into your mission, and your passion into your position and this included hundreds of hours of free tutoring, philosophy breakfasts, thousands of dollars in student mission trips and activities, and rarely missing a chapel or a spiritual enrichment week, or a special guest teaching a principle from Scripture and the Lord.”
As we reflect on all the ways Doc Ryder served the Judson community, we invite you to join us in acts of service on Monday, October 17. By participating in this day-long celebration of Doc’s legacy (1969-2005), we invite you to honor his philanthropic impact, while making a difference in the lives of Judson students!
Here are two ways you can serve the Judson community and honor Doc’s continuous impact at Judson:
- Support Judson’s Feed the Eagles Food Pantry through a food or financial donation
- For a list of food items to donate please visit: (https://www.judsonspiritstore.com/food-drive)
- To make a financial contribution to Feed the Eagles, please visit: (https://bit.ly/FeedtheEagles)
- Alumni! Become a Judson University Mentoring Program (JUMP) Mentor (https://bit.ly/JudsonUMentor)
