Big questions remain unanswered in the killing of Botham Jean, but his fellow Harding Bisons found hope Monday night.
Approximately 200 people gathered for a candlelight vigil four days after Jean’s death inside his apartment at the hand of a Dallas Police Department officer.
“To lose someone like Botham, you think about the impact that he could’ve had on this world,” Chuck Hicks said Monday evening. “But then you, after you process it a little bit, you realize that he had an impact. And I think his impact will not pass away. I think his impact is going to live on beyond him.”
Hicks felt that impact. An assistant music professor at Harding, he leads the Good News Singers, an a cappella group with which Jean performed in 2014-15 while a student. Hicks pulled up on his phone an audio file of Jean’s audition, in which he sang the harmony on Amazing Grace, because it was so remarkable.
Jean displayed, “the passion of music,” Hicks explained. “The way you lift the hearts of people with the songs that you sing, the spirit that you portray on the stage. The things that elevate a person who may be sad—from that point—to a place, either of reflection, or a place of actually finding joy.”
Hicks said he keeps photos of Jean in his office, as well as recordings from various performances. “You’d have to hear them to really appreciate it,” he said, “but each one reflects a passion that you don’t see in people regularly, but you could see it in Botham Jean.”
Hundreds of candles tried to replicate his light as they shined outside Benson Auditorium during the vigil. After a brief opening prayer, the whole crowd joined together in songs of worship, letting the candles and melodies create a sense of togetherness to replace the sadness of loss.
Though Jean graduated in 2016, Hicks said many students told him over the last few days that Jean’s death affected them.
“He was always pretty happy,” Hicks recalled. “And, mostly, he was just looking for something he could do to make you happy.”
Hicks said he had many fond memories of the trips he and Jean went on as part of the Good News Singers. Hicks said they toured around the Midwest and South that year, and may have performed as many as 50 concerts, but he never saw Jean tire of it.
“And that’s a lot of singing,” Hicks added, “but to Botham, it was not just a lot of singing, it was a lot of people that you could have an effect on.”
The collective voice of mourning revealed the faith that is a central tenet of the Harding community. Hicks said Botham was confident in his faith, and that the songs of worship during Monday’s vigil would remind those who heard them of his values.
“Botham’s message,” Hicks said, “was: when bad things happen, you don’t respond in hate, you respond in gentleness, in patience, in kindness, in love. And you ultimately learn how to forgive people.”
Amber Guyger was arrested Sunday for Manslaughter for killing Jean. She was released on $300,000 bond, and is awaiting an investigation by the district attorney’s office and the decision of a grand jury that will determine if she will trial and for what charges.
Hicks said the Good News Singers will travel to Dallas and perform at Jean’s funeral on Thursday. He praised the composure of Jean’s mother, Allison, during extraordinary circumstances, and said he expects the funeral to be both a sad and beautiful occasion.
“I don’t expect my young ones to pass away,” Hicks said of his former student. “He’s found something bigger and better. Because he went to the end and he now is at the beginning. And that’s really nice. I love that.”