- Darrell L Truitt - lohn I. Radcliffe _ John /. Radcliffe _ Darrell L Truitt Two Towns In One _ Darrell L Truitt For nearly 49 years, Harding has been located in Searcy, the county seat of White County, which is the second largest county of Arkansas in land area. Searcy has been the home for a private school since 1849 when the Polytechnic Institute, Inc., of Searcy, was founded for the education of boys. The only exception to this was a few months during the Civil War. From 1889 to 1933, Galloway Female College, a sister school to Hendrix College in Conway, occupied the campus that was purc hased by Harding College of Morrilton, Ark ., in the late spring of 1934. For many years, Galloway had been an outstanding junior college with an emphasis on music and the humanities. Harding and Searcy have grown together. They have disagreed with each other, worked with each other and have come to be dependent upon each other. No two people see everything eye to eye and this same statement can be said for Harding and Searcy. In the beginning years of Harding's existence in Searcy, there were many compromises that had to be worked out, but the problems of recent years were few and far between. The only complaints worth mentioning were students not crossing at the traffic light on their way to church, a Harding male getting into a fist fight with a Searcy male, and occasional problems of loud students on Rough Night of Pledge Week . According to Dr. Clifton L. Ganus, Jr., president of Harding, the complaints were few and occured very seldom. - R. G. Deener of Searcy, said, "Harding students are courteous and friendly. They are anxious to co-operate in local activities, are not disturbances of the peace, and bring a collegiate atmosphere to the town." Perrin Jones, editor of Searcy's daily newspaper, the Citizen, said, "1 have always found Harding students to be intelligent and cooperative. As with any town-gown situation, I think there is reticence to get involved in civic affairs but I've known many students who did and the town was better for it." Many of Harding's faculty members were involved with civic and community affaiTs as members of the Kiwanis Club, officers of the Chamber of Commerce, United Way, the Searcy Municipal Planning Commission and as members of the board for the Savings and Loan Association and banks. Searcy citizens attended many functions at Harding such as American Studies lectures, Spring Sing, and concerts. The Chamber of Commerce has held its annual dinner in the Heritage cafeteria on campus for many years. More than 700 were present for the 1982 dinner and Searcy's has become the largest Chamber of Commerce dinner in Arkansas . The economy of Searcy was greatly effected by Harding students. Dale Neighbors, a Searcy businessman said, " I have a great deal of encounter with the students in that many of them shop at the store. The economy would worsen simply because there would be less desire Two Towns In Onel35
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