Experiencing an increase in enrollment for the ninth consecutive year, Harding enrolled a record 2,841 students for the 1977 fall semester, an increase of 117 students over the 1976 fall semester. Residence hall facilities and classrooms were filled almost to capacity, presenting the College with its greatest challenge and responsib ility in her 54-year history. Accord ing to Fred Alexander, Director of Adm issions , the enrollment would have been wel l over 3,000 last fall if spaces had been available. Since the fall of 1959, the birth year of many of this year's freshmen, the enrollment at Harding has increased by 1,840 students. This represents a 184% increase compared to the 157% average for four-year colleges and universities and the only 70"10 average for private colleges. In explaining the growth Harding has experienced, Alexander stated , "We believe it's because students are finding some things here which are very meaningful. Some things they like! They are having 62 • Academics a high quality educational experience in an atmosphere which is rare by today's social and spiritual standards." Represented in the student body were 47 states, the District of Columbia, and 24 foreign countries. No students were enrolled from North Dakota, Rhode Island, and Wyoming. There were 1,443 women students and 1,398 men students with 183 transfer students and 817 freshmen. Married students numbered 250, of whom 155 were men and 95 were women. Boarding students numbered 1,226 women and 1,080 men for a total of 2,306. The full-time equivalent based on a 15-semester hour load was 2,750. The faculty numbered 158 of whom 51 held the earned doctorate and 68 held the Masters degree or higher but . not the doc·torate. Five faculty members lacked only the completion and defense of the dissertation for the earned doctorate. The instructional faculty consisted of 124 full-time equivalent teachers, for a student-faculty ratio of 22.18. Three faculty members were granted leaves of absence for 1977-78 to work on doctorates: Rodger Lee Brewer, in English at the University of Missouri; W. Robert McKelvain, in psychology at Texas A&M University; and Eugene Underwood, in English at East Texas State University while teaching half time at Harding. During the past fiscal year , July 1, 1976, through June 30, 1977, 570 degrees were conferred by Harding, including 505 baccalaureate degrees and 20 MEd degrees on the Searcy campus and 45 graduate degrees by the Hard ing Graduate School of Religion in Memphis, Tennessee. TO"help promote the best possible instruction , the College began offering in 1%6-67 Distinguished Teacher Awards to three teachers annually, presented at the spring commencement with a stipend of $1,000 each. The three recipients on May 15, 1977, were Dr. Dennis M. Organ, Assistant Professor of English; Dr. Edward G. Sewell, Professor of Education; and Dr. Winfred O. Wright, Proessor of French. This was the second time for Drs. Sewell and Wright to receive this award. For the first time, Harding conducted an intersession from May 16 to June 1, 1977, between the spring commencement and the beginning of the regular summer session, offering 10 courses and enrolling 146 students for from one to four semester hours of cred it each. Si nce reports from both students and faculty members was highly favorable, another intersession will be held in the summer of 1978. Attendance of faculty members at state, regional, and national meetings was high. Participation of faculty members in various professional meetings through reading papers and serving as officers or members of various committees was extensive enough for a college that is primarily an undergraduate institution with strong emphasis on teaching. Several articles were also published in scholarly journals of various disciplines. Faculty members and administrators participated widely in civic clubs and community activities. Harding students continued their high level of achievement in a wide variety of activities. Michael Pullara, a senior social science major, presented the best undergraduate history paper at the Arkansas meeting of Phi Alpha Theta hosted by Southern Arkansas University. Wayne Brown placed first in the poetry contest sponsored by Arkansas Foreign Language Teachers Association. Jonathan Cloud, a
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