Pryor Scrapbook Clippings, 1955-1980

(Continued from page one) education. · 'Carr entered the Ma Corp in 1943, and ended u a staff sergeant in the · Force. He had had som courses in climatology an entered the Air Force weather service when it was formed, where he spent three years. He ended his service on Cook Island in the Pacific. Other than his wife· and bis parents, Carr says the one person who infl~ced his fife the most was Dr. Doak Campbell, former president of Florida State University, and " an Arkansas boy." ·'And I've worked with 1 some wonderful people all my life," Carr says. Carr says he has worked since he was 12 years old, "never learned to play as much as I should have." "Because I grew up in the depression the main J?riority I learned policeman, and those types of people to get their opinions about Searcy, aild I was very impressed with what· they told me," he says. But he first started getting interested in Searcy in 1965 when his first son started college at Harding. · "I didn't know much about Harding before then, • · but it's been the best in– vestment I could have made," he says. . · At the time, he was with ' 1 organized . chapter of the AA WH in other states besides Arkansas. Because he is an optimist at heart, he feels that he . can have memberships in the association up to 5,000 in other states by tbe end of the year. He also works with the Harding boosters, a group of Searcy businessmen who support the college, and ts a liason for federal programs at the school. He answers only to · the president. . Florida .State University and his sons could have enrolled at the school at no cost. To see Carr in action ls to see a man on the go, ' friendly,-genuinely so, and interacting with as many peopl~ as he can. "But instead of walking out the back door to Florida State University, they walked out the front door and drove 700 miles to , Hardina," he uys. He has a quick smile, Carr has a .. philosophy l about community in- takes a joke - because he is only 5 feet 6 inches tall he ta~ a lot of ribbin& about his ~eight - _ and he genui~ely feels that the world would be a better place if everyone, got deeply involved with helping others. volvement. . · He feela that if a man lives, in a conu;nunity then he should take part in it as much~as he ii able. And if he is a member Qf a club, then he . should not be a member in just "name only." As assistant to the president at Harding, Cai,– is involved in public relations with fund raising _groups such as the Associated Women of Harding, and other dutietl the president assigns tQ him. Carr is working on a program now, to get an People look all over the 1 country helping the poor and needy, , but it could start right here in Searcy, he says. Carr laughs when he is asked when he started his ''extra curricular ac– tivities.'' In fact, he says it has _ becom~ a family jQke that he majored in "extra curricular activitl~s in college." Getting through college was not easy for North Carolina born Carr. providing for my family," he says. But he did get around to learning to play the drums. He played in the high school band. turning out a "good doctor, or lawyer." The emphasis in private education is the quality of the man as well as what he does. Carr feels that private education today, especially at Harding College is focusing on making a student "a good man who is a good doctor, or lawyer, or businessman." · Public education today, he says, only emphasizes But he also feels that both public and private education serve · a wor– thwhile purpose. "The rules and regulations we have at Harding would never be allowed in public education, but the students come here knowing that." He grew up during the Great Depression and webt to college in his home town. His par.ents encouraged him to attend college. At · the time, it cost $25 a month for tuition and books. " It was hard to make $25 a month ," he says. He almost dropped out of school, but his parents said it would be one of. the best investments he would ever make. He has never regretted it. When Carr , graduated from East Carolina College, he- got a job, teaching high school. He was the basketball coach and says he fil1ished with a winning season every year he was coach. He played football in high school, in North Carolina, but never basketball . There are not many 5 foot G inches basketbalt players. While he was a teacher, he made $78 a month. "I thought that was a pretty _ good life, so I thought I'd better go get some more education." He says he left teaching and enrolled in Peabody in Tennessee. He left before he finished his master's in geography to teach , geography on the college level at East Tennessee State. However, he left that job and finished his master's in Peabody. He also bas a masters in g-uidance ~ounseling, and a doctorate in higher