Several groups and organizations have helped Harding become a successful university. One of these, the President's Counci l, has provided nearly 35 years of service. "Council members have typ ically been recommended to us from someone in their church or community," RegionalAdvancement Director Mark Moore said. "Members are usually outstanding members in the ir community. Not all are alumni . Some of the members are parents of students or just people that are very interested in the advancement of Christian education." The council is made up of hundreds of dedicated men and women. Five hundred and seventy nine current members are spread throughout the United States. The council is trying to increase its membership to 1,000 by the year 2000. "Having 1,000 families wi lling to contribute to Harding and its ideas will be remarkable," President David Burks said. The members are essentiallyasked to perform four funct ions. The first function is to spread the word ofwhat is going on at Hard ing. "The President's Counci l members are basically the eyes and ears of the University," Moore said. "They not only tell us what is going on outside the University setting, but they also spread the word to others about what is taking place inside the University. It's much easier to inform 1,000 people than 100,000 alumni ." The council's second and third functions both deal with finding talented people. They help find new faculty and recruit students. li lt's a lot more impressive to aprospective Harding student if someone other than an admissions counselor talks to them face to face," Moore said. "Council members carry more weight than a Harding employee because council members are people of influence within the community." The final function is to help fund the financia l campaigns. Counci l members are expected to provide financial leadership through their own gifts to Hardi ng and by influencing others to give. Members are asked to give a minimum of $1,000 annually to the President's Council Schol~rsh ip Fund and to assist in identifying, cultivating and soli citing gifts from others. "ThePresident's Council has always played a significant role in helping fund scholarships," Burks said. "I believe that, in the future, the President's Council will playa bigger role in providing leadership and spreading the word about our newest campaign." The Diamond Campaign was introduced to the council members this year. This campaign is the largest in Harding hi sto ry and it will run for the next five years . The University seeks to raise $100 millionwith this campaign. "The President's Counc il will playa pivotal role in the Diamond Campaign,"Assistant Vice President for UniversityAdvancement Tim Bruner said. "The council members will be ab le to give funds to the campaign, but more importantly they will be able to tell others about the campaign." "We want to be ab le to give them updates on what's going on academica lly and spiritually, and on what is planned for the future," Moore said. "Recently, we've found that the President's Counci l had the biggest influence in Harding's strategic planning." - Philip Murphy Mark Wallis, Jimmy Cone and Tammie Hacker gather with Tim Bruner and other President's Council members in their meeting room in the American Heritage. Members used their meeting times to exchange ideas and proposals. Despite the hard work, they looked forward to the times when they were on campus together. PRESIDENTS COUNC IL/BOARD O F TRUSTEES 141 •
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