154 leadership New teacher and seasoned marathon runner Dr. Richard Brown added yet another dimension to the good work done at Harding. Brown, an associate professor of marketing, began teaching at Harding in the fall of 2008 after teaching marketing at Freed-Hardeman University in Henderson, Tennessee, for twelve years. After teaching at Harding for only a couple of weeks, faculty, staff and students became impressed with Brown’s initiative to take on leadership and show his desire to help the hurt. “Harding says to me, ‘educating for eternity’,” Brown said. “I do my job here. I teach marketing, but I also teach about being a good person and using your abilities to help in whatever way you can.” As if taking on a new job was not enough, assuming career responsibilities plus extra tasks did not seem like the lightest load. The additional workload did not seem to affect Brown as he began preparing a Harding team of runners, donators and supporters for the Dec. 6, St. Jude’s Marathon in Memphis, Tennessee. “To me, St. Jude’s is a hospital that researches and [treats] childhood diseases,” Brown said. “They take the hardest cases and do the best they can. They save a lot of people that would die otherwise.” The money raised from the marathon went toward research, expenses of low-income patients and the medical bills of uninsured children. “The first year I ran in that marathon, I did not even know what I was running for,” Brown said. “I was just looking for a marathon in a big city [that was] somewhat close to me.” After he found out that the marathon was to benefit St. Jude’s, he recalled his first memory of the hospital, which was an interaction he had a couple years back on an airplane with a mother and a sick child on their way to St. Jude’s. After that first marathon, he became interested in St. Jude’s and its mission. “The year after that I raised $6,000 easily; I just got the word out, and people were glad to help,” Brown said. “It grew from there, and we began raising money on campus. Students, faculty and sponsors around town donated. Everyone that helped by giving felt good about it.” The next year at Freed-Hardeman, a 13-member team was formed and ran the marathon. The second year they had 30 runners; the third year, 40 runners; the fourth time, 60 runners and the fifth time, 80 runners. Each year they increased the money raised by $10,000. “The money raised went towards buildings, research, doctors’ income and medical care,” Brown said. “If a child can’t afford it, [these funds] pay for it. They don’t turn anyone anyway.” Brown introduced the idea of helping St. Jude’s cause to Harding’s campus early in the 2008 fall semester and formed “Harding’s Heroes,” which was a group of runners, donators and supporters for St. Jude’s. “My long term goal, say five years from now, is to have a Freed team, Harding team, Oklahoma Christian University team and Abilene team,” Brown said. “I’d like it to become something churches of Christ schools do – something we do together.” His hopes were that other schools would see that Freed-Hardeman and Harding had positive experiences, recognize that it was a good opportunity and be encouraged to form a team as well. Brown became an even stronger supporter last year when one of his best friend’s daughters was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease and was treated at St. Jude’s. “Last year, I was running for one of my very best friend’s daughters, and that made it more realistic for me,” Brown said. “Before, I was just trying to raise money for what I thought was a good cause. Now, I know how good of a cause it is.” He gave an example of what the hospital looked like through a different light. “If you had a globe with pieces of land that don’t represent acreage but how much good there is in the world, St. Jude’s would be a big chunk of land,” Brown said. “You’d be able to see it from far, far away, showing how much good they’re doing.” Allison Weaver Heroes\ new teacher starts team racing to save lives\ Dr. Richard Brown, associate professor of marketing, teaches his world of business class on Oct. 24. Brown was involved with various activities around campus, such as the St. Jude’s Heroes at Harding, although this was the first year at Harding for both him and his daughter Bethany, who was a freshman this year. Nick Michael
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