Barry Collier

Retired Butler University VP & Director of Athletics Barry Collier. 🇺🇸 E pluribus unum

[Sterling Snow @sterlingmsnow]

I reread this every year.

I cry like a baby every year.

Todd Beamer died a father, husband, and hero.

Todd: Hello… Operator… listen to me. I can’t speak very loud. This is an emergency. I’m a passenger on a United flight to San Francisco. Our plane has been hijacked.

Lisa: I understand. Can they see you?

Todd: No. There are three that we know of. They have knives — razor knives, like box cutters. Someone announced from the cockpit there was a bomb. It sounded fake.

Lisa: Your name?Todd: Todd Beamer. United Flight 93.Todd: They killed one passenger in first class. They forced most of us back. Fourteen of us here. Five flight attendants. The guy with the bomb ordered us to sit on the floor.

Lisa: Are you okay?

Todd: We’re going down… wait. No. We’re leveling off. We changed directions. We’re flying east again.

Todd: A guy named Jeremy called his wife. She told him two planes hit the World Trade Center. Lisa, is that true?

Lisa: I have to tell you the truth. It’s very bad. Both towers are gone. A third plane hit the Pentagon. Our country is under attack. I’m afraid your plane may be part of their plan.

Todd: Oh God. Lisa, will you do something for me? Call my wife and my kids. Promise me you’ll call.

Lisa: I promise.

Todd: Our home number is… You have the same name as my wife. Lisa. We’ve been married ten years. She’s pregnant with our third child. Tell her I love her. I’ll always love her. We have two boys — David, he’s 3, and Andrew, he’s 1. Tell them their daddy loves them and he is so proud of them. The baby is due January 12th. I saw an ultrasound. We still don’t know if it’s a girl or a boy.

Lisa: I’ll tell them. I promise, Todd.(Lisa patches in the FBI.)

Agent: Todd, your plane is on a course for Washington. Best guess is the White House or the Capitol.

Todd: I understand. I’ll be back.

Todd: Everyone knows this isn’t a normal hijacking. We have decided we will not be pawns in their plot.

Lisa: What are you going to do?

Todd: Four of us are going to rush the one with the bomb. Then the cockpit. A stewardess is getting boiling water. We’ll take them out.

Todd: Would you pray with me?They pray the Lord’s Prayer. Then: Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me.

Todd: God help me. Jesus help me.Are you guys ready? Let’s Roll.

[The Vigilant Fox 🦊 @VigilantFox]

Have you ever heard the Declaration of Independence read out loud?

You should. It’s the greatest break-up letter ever written.

At just 33 years old, Thomas Jefferson, with cold moral clarity, told the British government to pound sand:

“Whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends [life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness], it is the Right of the People to alter or to ABOLISH it.”

The power of that line isn’t just what it says. It’s how it’s said.

Jefferson wasn’t writing from a place of outrage. He was transmitting conviction—moral clarity delivered from a steady frame of mind.

It’s said Jefferson revised the Declaration of Independence with the help of Franklin and Adams dozens of times before it was finalized.

And that deliberate, cutting language, paired with emotional steadiness, is precisely why the words still land 250 years later.

Today, we’re blessed to be the inheritors of the great nation those steady hands wrote into existence.

Happy Birthday, America. 🇺🇸

[Barry Collier @BUADCollier]

Happy Birthday America from Team Collier!

[Barry Collier @BUADCollier]

51 years with my best girl! I love you!❤️

[Barry Collier @BUADCollier]

Go Big Red!! So happy for Fred, the team and all the Husker fans. 🌽

[Barry Collier @BUADCollier]

Sláinte!

[Barry Collier @BUADCollier]

Merry Christmas!

[Barry Collier @BUADCollier]

Dad, Thank you for your service. (photo circa 1950). 🇺🇸❤️

[Barry Collier @BUADCollier]

@CoachDMonson Dan, so sorry to learn about your dad’s passing. He was a giant who never thought of himself as such. I have so many great memories and learned so much from him. My life changed when he took a chance on me in 1978. ❤️&🙏 to your mom and whole family.

[Barry Collier @BUADCollier]

This is what really happened, right?! 😢🤣

[College Sports Only @CSOonX]

Do you ever wonder if — 15 years ago today — Butler’s Gordon Hayward had hit this shot vs. Duke in the 2010 championship game?? 🤔

[Barry Collier @BUADCollier]

50 years ago today she said “I do”. ❤️❤️ I love you more every day!

[Brady Collier @bradyLcollier]

Section 224 row 3 seat 9 can be your season ticket location for the low low price of $645!

🔗: https://t.co/5hHzrcyHrW

[The Disrespected Trucker @DisrespectedThe]

Ronald Reagan said it perfectly.

[Barry Collier @BUADCollier]

He lives. He lives. Christ Jesus lives today!

[Barry Collier @BUADCollier]

Headed home today from my 49th straight Final Four. Atlanta in 1977 was my first. Marquette led by coaching icon Al Maguire cut down the nets. San Antonio was great this year but I can’t wait for Indianapolis next year, my hometown.

[Barry Collier @BUADCollier]

NEW We Row For William : Make a donation today to support NEW We Row For William https://t.co/xpCJSENf3x #new-we-row-for-william via @raisely