Wednesday, October 5, 2011 shook the Hollins community to its core. In what can only be described as a tragic series of events, an email from President Gray was issued at 12:44 pm reading:
To the Campus Community,
I am deeply saddened to inform you that Klaus Phillips, Professor of film and director of the M.A. and M.F.A. programs in screenwriting and film studies, passed away last night.
No one expected it. No one knew how to react. There was a void on the campus felt by all.
In response to such a loss, each person reacts differently. Some cry; some feel only shock. Sympathies immediately went out to those left behind. As Katie Melton ’14 wrote, “He made his life count; the very fact that so many people are on Facebook remembering him and mourning him is testament to that.”
A vigil was held and Freya walked in his honor. Students, faculty, family and friends attended the funeral and reception. Yet even now, a week later, after everything has been said and done, the hollowness is still here. As I overheard one faculty member put it, “there remains an elephant on the campus.”
I never knew Klaus personally; I had only met him once and occasionally saw him around campus, but I was hoping to enroll in one of his introductory film classes next semester. So, for this article I asked others who were closer to him what he was like. My research revealed how truly extraordinary the man was; not only was he the founding director of the Hollins graduate program in screenwriting and film studies, but he also co-wrote the book Straight Through the Heart and guided J-term trips through Germany. When I asked one of Professor Phillips’ students to write a piece in response to his passing, she responded simply by sending me the following quote:
“…you’ll be sleeping as soundly as you’ve ever slept. And when you awake… I’ll be waiting for you… and so will all the world.”
She continued by writing that it came from a movie, though she couldn’t remember which one, and it was something she just kept returning to after hearing the news of his death.
In the wake of such sudden sorrow, each has to take his or her own steps to deal with grief. Friends and colleagues are always available, as are university counseling and chapel staffs. But even in the uncertainty, one fact remains: Professor Phillips will always be a part of the Hollins community.
For the official obituary, please visit: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/roanoke/obituary.aspx?n=klaus-phillips&pid=154010451&fhid=5754
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Hollins chapter.