President Clifton Ganus: diplomat at home and abroad Serving as a civil ambassador in China, campaigning for funds and interacting with Harding students, President Ganus was a diplomat at home and overseas. Visiting for three weeks in Pakistan and the People's Republic of China highlighted the year for Dr. Clifton L. Ganus, President of Harding College. Having visited all the other major communist countries of the world, Dr. Ganus had been trying to visit China for some time when he re - ceived a call in July from People to People, an organization established by President Dwight Eisenhower , to serve as a civilian ambassador in improving reliationships with other countries. Stating that a trip had been approved, People to People asked him if he wished to be a part of a group of college and university officials to tour and study the educational systems, the political systems, the economy and life in general in Pakistan and China. Although the tour was highly structured , Dr. Ganus was able to visit about the cities somewhat on his own. He was impressed with the serious efforts being made by the Chinese to educate their people and to modernize their way of life. "One of my first impressions, " related Dr. Ganus, "was of a mass of humanity living in extremely crowded conditions and in spartan circumstances. The Ch inese themselves are not sure what their population is because they haven't taken a census since the early 50s. We got estimates varying from about 900 million ·to more than a billion. " There was no violence in the streets, according to Ganus , and people went about freely. "I was not afraid to go anywhere , yet I couldn 't help remembering the violence of the Communist takeover after World War 11. Many millions were killed. When we asked our guide about the fate of the early opponents of Chinese Communism, she replied, 'We liquidated them. Otherwise, they would have been spies in 172 ~ President our midst, ' " "Teng Hsiao-Peng, who recently visited Washington, is a guiding light in the new leadership. He wants to bring China back into the mainstream of nations and make alliances and improvements that will keep Russia from attacking China. He disagrees with Mao TseTung , who thought Russia wou ld not invade China because there are just too many Chinese to fight against. " Ganus gained the impression that the Chinese educational system, including the schools and the mass media, has a strong homogenizing effect on the people. "There was a sameness, a lack of diversity and a drabness in houses, clothes and entertainment . . Even the theater and light opera were heavy on propaganda. We saw four Chinese movies, and they always emphasized indoctrination much more than entertainment. " President Ganus also made a trip to Japan for the Union Avenue church in Memphis to negotiate with Ibaraki Christian College on behalf of the church over disputed ·ownership of a building on campus. Two major fund-raising activities occupied much of the time of the President. He spent considerable time in the Memphis area seeking to raise $1.6 ,. million for the Harding Graduate School of Religion. This involved speaking on Wednesday evenings to a number of congregations , speaking at special fund - raising dinners, and talking with individual members. Considerable time was also spent in raising the final funds for the $2.6 million dollar George S. Benson Auditorium on the Searcy campus. Louise Ganus named Outstanding Alumnus Louise Nicholas Ganus , a 1942 graduate and the wife of President Clifton L. Ganus, received the Harding Distinguished Alumnus award for 1978 at the Black and Gold banquet during Homecoming weekend. She was the second woman to receive the honor in the 20-year history of the award. Opening the year with the annual President's reception ,
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