Emily Adair | Editor-in-Chief
Published Aug. 25, 2015; 7 a.m.

Lindenwood’s social media presence had an air of nostalgia this summer as the community mourned the destruction of the historic Alumnae Gate.

The university’s social media manager, Rachel Johnson, put out a call for people to send in their memories of the gate, which was originally constructed in 1921.

“We had some really great participation,” she said. “Some of the alumni from the ’50s and ’60s sent in pictures. Some of them just sent in their memories and cool stories, which we paired with pictures from the archives.”

Johnson said about a couple dozen memories came in over the course of a week. Those memories were made into a gallery on Lindenwood’s Flickr page.

“There was a lot of sentiment when that happened. It was really an outpouring, so we wanted to capture that,” she said.

Scott Queen, Lindenwood’s marketing director, said he was impressed with the variety of people who sent in their memories.

“There were some alumni from back in the day from when it was just a women’s college, to recent alumni and current students. Everybody was weighing in,” Queen said.

Public Relations Coordinator Chris Duggan said the response was touching.

“People were distraught when the gate was knocked over and weren’t sure if it was going to be fixed or could be fixed,” he said.

According to Duggan, the driver of a tractor trailer was attempting to correct a right turn onto Kingshighway when he backed into the gate. The driver initially left the scene, apparently unaware that he had hit the historic gate. He later returned to speak to the police after he was called back by his dispatcher.

The Alumnae Gate was mostly restored by Aug. 1, but the lights were installed Aug. 18, officially concluding the project.