FACE TO FACE. Student Association President David Burks presents the 1965 Petit Jean to Harding President George S. Benson in his last year as president. Burks succeeded Ganus as president in 1987. fttrough The story of Harding University, is the history of a struggle, fueled by a deep desire to provide a special environment for higher education. Believing that eternal life and values were the only genuine reasons for living, a number of godly men and women pioneered the effort to make learning possible in an environment of people whose hearts were focused on eternity. Only a cause worth dying for was worth living for, and faculty and administrators sacrificed salary, security, and time to accomplish their worthy task. The school grew out of the merger of two financially-failing junior colleges - Harper College in Harper, Kansas, and Arkansas Christian College in Morrilton, Arkansas. Although buildings had to be built, money had to be raised and the campus had to be maintained, the inner fire that ignited their energies centered around the unseen, the intangible, the eternal. The school was named for James A. Harding, a pioneer Christian educator who, according to biographer Lloyd Cline Sears, had "a magnetic personality, a fire and tenderness, a dynamic faith and childlike trust that gave him outstanding influence in his generation." Opening in Morrilton in 1924 with J. N. Armstrong as president, Harding College stressed its biblical principles and attitudes for 10 years "in the foothills of the Ozarks." When the 29-acre Galloway College campus in Searcy was purchased in 1934 and George S. Benson became president in 1936, Harding took her first strides toward security as a financially-stable, quality institution for Christian education. In spite of great depression in the national economy, the mortgage against the campus property was paid off in November, 1939, and students and faculty gathered on Thanksgiving Day to watch it blaze in a ceremonious fire. That milestone marked the end of an era during which teachers worked at times with little or no pay. With the college on sound financial footing, the emphasis shifted toward achievement of academic goals. The culmination of this pursuit came in 1954 when Harding College was granted full acceptance into North Central Association, a recognition which brought immediate status and prestige. (continued page 9)
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