Rev. Wick provides spiritual, emotional support for students

By Tiffany Litzelman
Norwich Guidon Staff Writer

Even though he holds only one weekly service at Norwich, Rev. William S. Wick, Norwich University's Director of Campus Ministries, spends 72 hours a week on campus, and much of that time is spent giving encouragement and counseling to students.

"My goal," said Wick, who has been dubbed affectionately as Rev,"is that if someone is against the wall, hopefully, the first thing they'll say is, 'I'm going to go see Rev.' In some ways, my job is primarily counseling."

"He's here early in the morning, late at night," said Capt. N.J. Newell, Assistant Professor of Military Science. "I have my phone on speed dial, so when I have a cadet that has a problem that needs the Rev's assistance, I just call Rev up, and he comes right down here to talk to them."

Although the hours are long, Wick's wife, Debra Wick, the Assistant Director of the Military Graduate Program, is supportive of his work.

"I'm as involved as I can be. We've always seen this as our ministry together, not ever just his job," Mrs. Wick said. "He's never here for frivolous things; he's here because the students need him here."

Among those who benefit from Wick's presence are the rooks. According to Newell, many rooks experience a shock when they arrive on campus in September.

"The rooks, I don't think, would be able to get through their experience without the support given by Rev to the rooks and to the leaders that work with them," Newell said.

Megin Berglund, 20, a junior psychology major from Thomaston, Conn., was introduced to Wick during her first few weeks as a rook. At the time, she was considering leaving the school.

"He didn't suggest that I stay, and he didn't suggest that I leave, but he said to do whatever I thought was right," Berglund said. "If it wasn't for his help, I don't know if I'd still actually be here."

Natasha Waggoner, a 20-year-old junior communications major from San Diego, Calif., said that, although she doesn't have much contact with Wick, she thinks he is a "great listener."

"You can go talk to him about anything, and he won't judge you at all. He's there for you," said Waggoner.

In addition to counseling rooks, Wick does financial counseling, relationship and pre-marital counseling, performs weddings, writes recommendations for graduates, plans Sunday's sermon, advises the corps honor committees, and organizes such events as the rook dining-out.

According to Wick, the majority of the counseling he provides is relationship counseling.

"I think that, by and large, our society is relationally impoverished," Wick said. "They don't know how to put together a solid relationship and keep it that way.

"In pre-marital counseling, I walk through the basic areas where I've seen marriages be derailed, and I try to cover all of those areas," Wick said.

Prior to his arrival at Norwich, Wick had worked since 1978 as a church planter for the Evangelical Free Church. This consisted of moving to a new location, finding a job that would support him, and at the same time helping to start a new church in a community.

While starting one of the churches, Wick took a part-time job at Norwich. He decided to come full-time to Norwich when the hours from both jobs began to total more than 100 a week.

He decided to stay even though he knew that full-time employment would still mean a lot of time.

"Sometimes church-work can be too safe. A church can grow to a point and forget that their mission is to reach the world. The campus provided me with an atmosphere that has the world at my footstep."

One of the characteristics it takes to be a University chaplain, said Wick, is knowledge of a person's psychological, sociological and spiritual needs.

"He understands people, and he works really well with them," Berglund said. "Sometimes I'll stop in, and he always has words of encouragement. He's experienced and been around so many people that he knows how to talk to them."

"You have to come with a desire to serve," Wick said. "I think that leadership begins with servantship and the greatest leaders are the best servants. So often in the minds of our world is 'serve us', rather than 'service.'"

"He loves this place," Mrs. Wick said. "I have seen him get more excited over the personal victories of students, and yet, at the same time, he can shed tears of sadness and sorrow when he walks with students through the heartbreak of their lives."

According to Wick, while he does strive to support and counsel students, "I will have a spiritual agenda. I don't expect that all people accept Christ, but they can't avoid Christ around me."

Part of Wick's "agenda" is to make religious activities enjoyable for the students who attend his services.

"Many kids are not 'un-churched', but 'de-churched'," Wick said. "A de-churched person is someone who once was part of it and said 'that's it'; either it wasn't relevant to them, or it was in some way uncharitable toward them. I try to make it clear, make it relevant and practical to them."

Although Wick's services are non-denominational, he also ensures that students of other religions have a place to practice their faith. Among them are Jews, Mormons, Buddhists, Wiccans, and Muslims.

"I have some people who come very privately to use the chapel for prayer. There was one student last year, a rook, who had no access to a vehicle, and I would make sure that he made it to Montpelier each week for a meditation session that he was involved in," Wick said.

"I know he's here because God wants him here," Mrs. Wick said of her husband's presence at Norwich. "I can't imagine a better place for him. It's like he was created to do this."

According to Wick, he has a picture that was taken of him at age eight, standing behind a makeshift pulpit pretending to be the Rev. Billy Graham.

"I wanted to have a life that, for the individual, would make an impact, not just for now, but for eternity," Wick said. "All I wanted to be was 'Rev'."

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