Rocks of Remembrance
On the morning of March 27, 1989, Westmont students Lisa Bebout, Patty (Hallock) Crosby, Megan (Harter) Adams, Alan Voorman and Garth Weedman drove in Voorman’s bright yellow Toyota Corolla from their camp in Ensenada, Mexico, to a nearby village. As members of the Potter’s Clay Construction Team, they were renovating a dilapidated house there. But an oncoming car suddenly jumped the divider and landed on top of Voorman’s vehicle. Fellow students in two cars behind them screeched to a halt and piled out to rescue their friends as ambulances rushed to the scene.
In the days that followed, Bebout, Voorman and Weedman died. Crosby and Adams suffered critical injuries but survived.
About 70 people gathered on Oct. 4 during Homecoming to honor the 35th anniversary of the fatal accident during the college’s annual outreach to Ensenada during spring break. They stood in the stone pine forest below Westmont’s Dining Commons around a monument of stones students brought back from Ensenada as a memorial to the three students who died. The family members, former students and staff who spoke at the event shared their emotional stories about hope in the midst of devastating loss.
Adams, who has written a book about the incident, shared her faith and near-death experience, emphasizing the importance of love and sacrifice.
“I’ve seen such amazing things happen in my life,” she said. “I’m thankful to be a part of this for the revelation God has given me and an amazing testimony. I choose to look for the good, because that’s where God is.”
Former Westmont chaplain Bart Tarman ministered to 500 grieving students in Ensenada despite his own traumatic shock. He reflected on the question of where to go when faced with tragedy and the importance of faith.
“Our pain doesn’t go away, but it doesn’t have to tyrannize us anymore,” he said. “Our memories don't go away, but they don't have to tyrannize us.”
In 1989, students each collected three rocks from their Ensenada camp: one for a memorial there, one for the monument on campus, and the third to take with them to remember the victims. At the conclusion of the service in October, Campus Pastor Scott Lisea offered engraved, polished rocks for participants to take and remember.