uo the Students of c;;earding C;ollege..; To you nnd the stude nt bodies of forllle r years 11:1J'(ling' Co ll cgC' owes IllOI'C' for its almost unparallcd SUCCl'SS Ihan to nn)' ot her group of hcllH'rs in all the wor ld. \Vc doubt if any olhel' in s tituti on hns evcl' had more s in ce r e ly loyal stude nt bodi es thnn I-lardi ng Coll ege has had in its s ix ycal'<; of ex istence. In evcry cmel'geney. afLcr fir s t mnking OUl' nee d known to God, we have gone to you and we have never been turn ed nway. OUl' gratitud e is without mcasur e. Hardin/Z College has malic a most int c l'cs ting hi stOl'Y. Financially it tws a lways been 011 the roc ks , never being ab le nl the beginning of any yea r to sec its way to the (' IHI ; but its lIl:lI1agclllcnl has ('uch lime trus ted in God and each time the victory bas been a ll but shlr tlin g. Through these s ix yea r s ou r en tire counlr·y has been st l"l,~glin g in wha t might almost be ca ll ed a money panic. In st ituti o ns of lea rning have been pressed as never bdo,·c b~' the inexo,·ablc- rcquirements of acrediting agencies, wh ich )"equh·cments are almost en li,·cly based on lIIoney. Ilowevc )" , Hardin g- Co ll ege is c losi ng he)" s ixth yea .· with th e highes t ~tnd firmest rating as an educa ti onal inst itution that H has evt'l" e nj oyed. Yes , I know it is " luc k" to thosc w ho look on, but to u s w ho know and bt'lievc in .Jehovah the exp lanation is s imple. The faith that has c limbed th e "A lps" beyond which Ilal y has lain ha s ha d its sen t in yOlll· facu lt y . Do you ,·clJlelll bel' Hobert E. Lee and his s tar v in g arl1ly-~ln a r llly that lived for IIlQJllhs o n " parched co rn ," or Gcneral .:\iarion who in vi ted thc English :!enCl"n J to dine w ith him w ith no thi ng to o rrer but a pota to se r vt'd upon a piece or ba,·k? For a g r e~l t er ca use than t' itlll'1' Lee's 0 1' Mari o n 's your fi1culty has li ved o n a "c,·ust" that Hardin g College might live and attain unt o it s hi gh I':lting. Tht·y have indeed been " foo ls for Chri st's s:lkc." Tlwl'l'fol"c we arc c los in g thi s s ix th ycar with th e s lr·o ngcs t teaching force, <.I nd with the mos t po ten tial stu dent body th e i nstit uti on h as cvcr had. Th e gt'llc l'al financial con diti o n o f Jlm·din g College is th l! bl!s t in its hi s tory. It s rating, as stated :lbove, alllong cducat io na l in s titutions is tht, firlll cst and hi ghes t it hn s ever had . This mean s that youI' credits, yo uI' dipl oma s, and YOlll· dt'gl"ccs are thc sa fes t evel" secur ed in these halls; but it means morc than thi s: It mcans C\'c l'y credit earned a nd every d eg rec co nfe T"l"eu in the s i x yca ,·s have been sll·cng th el1ed and incl"(~ ascd in va lue . So, in thi s fin a l work we bl"in g to you two 'ipecia l concer ns thai lie on our h l':u· ts an d on th e h ea rt s o f yo ur faculty. First of <III there is an indebtedness that hangs abou t the neck o f Hnrd i ng Co llege like a mill -s to n e. This stone Iliust be c ut loose that thi s ".p·eat sel"\' icc may go on, free tinct unh rullpel"ed . The o th cr ca r e is th e la ck o f an adequate support for yOllr facu lt y. These teac hers mus t have more than a "c,'us t" o n w hi c h to live. In th e las t analysis thi s means c~lI·e for en dow lll e nt , for th e re is no othe r" sa fe s upport fOI" s u ch an in s tituti o n as Harding College. But till the n we must take carc of this problcm by di,·ecl d o nat ions for thi s purpose. These two--the indebtedness and a d eq uat e fa c uity s upport are our problems. \Ve IHlIst wake lIIJ to th e scl"iousness of both. The vcry life of th e ins tituti on is in vo l ved . So we appeal to you to help LI S win a triumphant victory ovcr th e~~ OUI' deadly enem i es. In God we trus t! llHOTIIEH AND SISTEH AHMSTHONG.
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