FRANKLIN, Ind. — This is perhaps one of the most stressful summer breaks for educators and students as it has been filled with uncertainty about the fall.
While some Indiana school districts return to class in late July, colleges have a little more time since they typically start the academic year in August.
Franklin College is leaning on its past to carry it forward in this challenging year. The Johnson County campus has been eerily quiet since students left for spring break and never came back for class. Professors switched to online learning to finish out the school year.
Franklin uniquely knows how to shine during a tragedy: It did that 35 years ago when a major chunk of the campus sat in ruins.
A March 1985 WTHR newscast started with the unimaginable headline: "The worst fire in Franklin College history," but that wouldn't be the last tragedy that year.
Fire roared through all levels of the men's dorm known as Bryan Hall. A heat lamp left on near a couch was later determined to be the cause. No major injuries were reported.
As the campus community scrambled to find affected students a place to live, another tragedy hit the campus only a few months later.
"Look how fast that steeple caught back on fire," someone can be heard saying in a 1985 student-recorded video.
Once again, a huge fire burned on campus and heavily damaged the cluster of classroom and administration buildings known as "Old Main," which includes the iconic steeple. The cause was believed to be electrical.
"You had two giant buildings that were basically rubble but then a sense of 'how do we put this back together?'" said Kerry Prather. "I remember having prospective student visits up and down campus, and we had fences and piles of debris, but I think there was this real sense among those students coming in that this wasn't just going to be survival — this was going to be a chance for the campus to be reborn and in effect, that's exactly what took place."
Prather started at Franklin in 1982 as a men's basketball coach and helped put the college back together. He’s doing it once again but with a title he never expected: president.
"Not in my wildest dreams, but I have learned to expect the unexpected," he laughed when asked if he imagined he would one day lead the college.
"Coach" has always been just one of his many titles at the school.
"I've always been an administrator at the same time. I worked in student affairs, I worked in admissions, I was an acting vice president twice and I've been on the cabinet of four different presidents," Prather said.
His new chapter as president started in January after the arrest of Thomas Minar on felony child enticement charges.
"The students, the faculty, the staff, the alumni and the community takes great pride in Franklin College, what it represents and what it stands for. To the extent that that was compromised is just a disappointment to everybody," Prather said.
Healing and repairing the college's image in January suddenly switched to the COVID-19 crisis all in Prather's first 90 days as president.
"We sent the students home early for spring break, not really anticipating that they wouldn't come back," Prather said.
The campus of roughly 900 students now awaits what the fall will bring.
"We have a goal and we have a plan. The goal is to return to in-person instruction on schedule in August," Prather said. "The plan goes lots of different directions. We have a worst-case scenario. We have a couple of middle-of-the-road scenarios. We can tweak the academic calendar."
The new curriculum, which includes esports, is part of the plan this fall.
"The opportunity is there for us to combine another layer of digital expertise across the curriculum and have a co-curricular program of esports, which is just really storming the country. We have a facility, we have a plan, and we have funding," Prather said. "I think that's going to be another addition to meeting students in their world and letting that provide them some opportunities beyond that include helping prepare them for the marketplace."
The school year may have to be delayed or may start online, but it will continue, Prather said, because just like in 1985, life must go on.
"There are classes and midterms that must be taken," veteran 13News reporter Rich Van Wyk said in a March 1985 report on the fire.
Prather said enrollment is already up for the 2020-2021 academic year, and so are spirits.
"I think there's just a resilience to this place, and I'm not sure I can completely account for it except that it lies in the people," Prather said. "That was true in 1985 and it is equally true today. The faculty members dig in and just work even harder. Staff people do the same. Students are amazingly resilient and amazingly protective of the place, and I think all of that bodes well for we'll get through this as conditions allow for us to get through this, and we'll be stronger because we've gone through it."
Homecoming is scheduled to have extra meaning this year with graduation ceremonies for the class of 2020 scheduled for that weekend, in addition to the normal events, all while leaders keep a close eye on COVID-19 and make any potential adjustments.
"We've been through a lot over the years, and we've always been strengthened by it," Prather said. "We've always come out of it stronger than we went into it, and I think we'll have the same experience coming out of this."