Austin AlexanderIn spring 2002, Austin Alexander’s Internet search for Christian universities ended in a phone conversation with Kathryn Mitchell, an enrollment counselor at Charleston Southern. “Kathryn, how do I go to school?” Austin asked excitedly. “You’ve got to walk me through every step.”
Kathryn Mitchell, now Kathryn LaCoss, director of admissions at CSU, was the next person to take up the baton God placed in Christian hands throughout Austin’s life. Ray Bradley was the first.
Bradley, a leader in the Young Life Organization, entered Austin’s life during his high school years in Virginia Beach. Austin and his mom had finally settled there after having moved numerous times.
Bradley knew Austin was a tough guy. In the eighth grade, Austin began experimenting with alcohol and other drugs. Once in high school, he began hanging out with older students and became more heavily involved with drugs and the “party scene.” After his freshman year, he rarely even attended school, recalling that his “first day of high school was the beginning of the end of high school.”
Austin was amused by Bradley’s goatee and overly enthusiastic attempts to relate. He remembers laughing the day Bradley asked him to go to a weeklong Christian Young Life Camp, but was astounded when Bradley told him he would pay the $500 fee for the camp. “That struck me,” Austin said. “Why would somebody I barely knew drop $500 for me?”
Austin agreed to attend the camp. Out of his element and surrounded by Christians, Austin was confronted by God with his life condition, and one evening in a private moment he prayed, “God, my life is yours. You can do whatever you want with me.”
Excited about what happened at camp, he returned home to share it with his friends. However, with no Christian follow-up or support, Austin quickly fell back into his old lifestyle.
During the next couple of years Austin recalls stumbling through life, going days without eating and doing so many drugs that at times he “felt like his heart would stop.” His relationship with his mother deteriorated and his friends scattered. In fall 2001, he left home to follow his girlfriend of two years to Wilmington, N.C., where she was to attend college. She was all he had left. But shortly after moving, their relationship began to fall apart.
Austin was devastated. Having no place to go, he called Bradley, who contacted Jamie and Kimber Smith, friends of Bradley’s in Wilmington. Austin remembers sitting on a curb when they pulled up in their Toyota 4Runner. They greeted Austin as if they had always known him, took him in, fed him, gave him money and even let him drive their car. “I saw for the first time what Christianity looks like and couldn’t believe what I had been missing,” Austin said. He can still picture their little white house, the inside “colored with Christianity.”
But when Austin and his girlfriend finally broke up in September, he began to wander and landed in California, working with his dad. Old habits pushed their way to the surface as he spent many drug-filled days and nights. He was making a lot of money and had a place of his own, but it wasn’t long before his life spun out of control and he hit bottom again.
Austin and Bradley had maintained their relationship throughout the years. But Austin knew God was really “running me down” when, during a phone conversation in January 2002, Bradley shared with him that the Smiths had moved to California and lived only 30 minutes from his house.
Stunned by this “miraculous event,” Austin finally stopped running and relinquished complete control of his life to God. He renewed his friendship with the couple and began his Internet search to find a Christian university where he could “learn about God.” After Kathryn Mitchell’s counsel, Austin told his mother and grandparents he was going to attend Charleston Southern. He completed his GED, took the SAT and was accepted at Charleston Southern, enrolling in fall 2002.
Austin expected to have to learn how to study, but what he did not expect was the family waiting for him at Charleston Southern. “There is this great sense of community here among faculty, staff and students,” Austin comments. “It’s a family environment, and CSU immediately felt like home.”
Throughout the next four years, Austin honestly questioned and searched, his mind soaking up everything he could. Tom Guerry, CSU religion professor, notes, “Austin has never been one to settle for easy answers, but has a remarkable gift of insight that asks the right questions. Austin is a careful thinker, a caring minister, and a convincing Christian.”
Austin thrived under the guidance of many who took up the baton, coaching him through academics and life. “All the religion professors, Dr. Parker, Dr. Brewer, and Clark Carter – the wisest country boy on the planet – and many others all had a hand in it,” Austin recollects.
He also fondly recalls Richard Johnson, a former religion professor at CSU, whom he credits with teaching him how to read the Bible and “giving him the tools needed to begin a lifelong journey of studying the scriptures – which impacts everything else in life.”
Austin’s outstanding leadership abilities became evident as he accepted opportunities for service on campus. He served as the chair of the academic committee in the Student Government Association, as a Campus Ambassador, and was involved in peer leadership. Austin was also the CSU Baptist Collegiate Ministries president, and this past year served as the South Carolina state BCM president.
Clark Carter, CSU campus minister, said of Austin, “During his two years working in campus ministries, our leadership base has almost doubled. Our BCM constitution was rewritten, and our ministries are the strongest that they have been?in my four years here.”???
While at CSU, Austin met Ashley Iseman, a beautiful and outgoing fellow student who shares his passion and love for the Lord. They married in May 2005. After graduation, they will move to Gloucester, Mass., where Austin will pursue a master of arts in biblical language degree at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.
Austin’s life has been filled with persistent Christians who never gave up on him, who loved him where he was, and who always answered his calls and questions.