letters in football, basketball, baseball, and bowling and had received AllConference recognition in football and baseball. When the AIC was reorganized in 1956, placing the control of the Conference in the hands of a faculty representative from each member institution, emphasis was placed on making intercollegiate athletics an integral part of the educational program, an emphasis stressed by the North Central Association. The Bylaws call for awarding at the close of each academic year an award to the graduating senior from a member instituion who has achieved the highest cumulative academic record and who has earned at least two intercollegiate letters. Since 1959, the first year that Harding could nominate someone for this award, now called the AIC-Cliff Shaw Scholar-Athlete Award, in honor of the Little Rock businessman and sports enthusiast who guided the reorganization and served as commissioner for about a decade, ten Harding students have been the recipients. Listed below are these ten recipients giving the year of the award, sports lettered, the highest academic degree earned, and current professional activity: 1959 Joe Hightower, baseball, Ph.D. in physical chemistry, Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering at Rice University. 1961 Gerald Casey, basketball and baseball, M.A.T. in English, high school English teacher in Newark, Delaware. 1964 Jimmy Don Lawson, cross country and track, Ph.D. in mathematics, Associate Professor of Mathematics, Louisiana State University. 1965 Lanny Max Casey, cross country and track, Ph.D. in physical chemistry, student in Baylor School of Dentistry. 1966 Dennis Organ, bowling, Ph.D. in English, Assistant Professor of English, Harding College. 1967 Mike Plummer, football and baseball, Ph.D. in zoology, Assistant Professor of Biology, Harding College. 1968 Robert C. Erickson, cross country and track, M.D., practicing medicine in Nashville, Tennessee 1969 David T. Elliott, tennis, M.Ed. in physical education, Instructor in Physical Education, Harding College 1974 Jamie M. Cowley, basketball, B.A., in the insurance business in Little Rock. 1976 Kenneth V. Neller, football, B.A., doing graduate study at Harding Graduate School of Religion. The intercollegiate athletic program at Harding College is not an end in itself. Some of the primary functions are to serve as a laboratory for young men who want to make a career of coaching, to provide wholesome activities that will draw the student body and faculty together as a unified group, to provide an activity for students who want to develop their skills in a given sport, to provide competitive interrelationships with other senior colleges in the state and to give the college through the various news media publicity unattainable in other activities. Although each participant has as his objective winning the event in which he is participating, major emphasis is placed upon the development of good sportsmanship, the developing of leadership and the learning of teamwork. For several years, the AIC presented sportsmanship trophies in football and basketball and Harding Co~llege received a disproportionate share of these just as it has of the scholarathlete awards. Coaches at Harding College are men who are dedicated to Christ and seek the spiritual development of the athletes they are coaching. They also emphasize the importance of getting a good education and rendering service to others. Almost all of the athletes recruited by the coaches complete the baccalaureate degree and an increasing number of Harding's athletes are earning graduate degrees. The first cross country team at Harding may not be exactly typical, but six of the eight members have either an M.D. or Ph.D. degree and the other two have the M.A. degree. Harding athletes are now being chosen for important coaching positions throughout Arkansas and in other states. At least four coaches in Little Rock senior high schools are former Bisons. Several athletes are serving as preachers or missionaries and a number are active in the work of the church. The support that the students, faculty members, alumni and local supporters have given the Bisons over the years has been tremendous. The cheerleaders have done an outstanding job in leading fans in support of the Bisons. The marching band at fooball games and the pep band at basketball games have made a significant contribution to the athletic program as well as giving students interested in music an opportunity to perform. The coach of the basketball team of one of Harding's most spirited rivals called time out near the end of a game here, when his players became rattled near the end of the game because of the enthusiastic cheering of the Harding fans, to tell his players that they were ahead and should not "lose their cool." The sports information director of another AIC school, following the first basketball game in the new athletic center wrote a letter to President Ganus commending the Harding fans on their superior attitude and support of the Bisons - "an AllAmerican performance." These examples illustrate the enthusiastic support of Harding fans for the Bisons - win or lose. Although a few outstanding high school athletes have enrolled at Harding, "real blue chippers," the vast majority of the outstanding performers on Harding teams have been developed by the coaches from young men who were willing to work hard, to listen to the coaches and to dedicate themselves to the maximum development possible. Some of these have developed into All-Conference and even All-American athletes. During the 1976 season, 247 Harding men participated in intercollegiate athletics. Many of the victories that these young men will win in later life will actually have been won on the athletic fields of Harding College during their undergraduate days through the lessons of self-discipline, dedication, teamwork and sportsmanship instilled into them by their coaches and peers. 1. DR. GANUS receives the AIC All-Sports trophy from LeRoy Nix, AIC commissioner, during May, 1976 graduation ceremonies. SPORTS REPORT - 221
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