, , Good morning to each and every one of you. You all seem to be strik– ing and intelligent college students. Who here can sp ell 'camaraderie'? Can you spell 'camaraderie ' young man?" "C-O-M. " "Sorry, nice try. What about you?" We all remembe r it. It was the first Harding chapel of our collegiate career. We were freshmen, still learning o ur "H " number s and memoriz– ing which building was the Ezell and whi ch was th e Mclnteer. Some knew how to spell "camaraderie" and even raised the ir h ands wh en Dr. Burks asked. Some of us slumped in the chairs praying for the first bit of grace o f the semester that the president would not come our way. Or maybe some were congratulating themselves o n the brilliant idea to sit behind the break in the very back, far from Dr. Burks' reach. Whateve r the case, we all remember the "camaraderie" chapeL Some might say that the annual sp elling of camaraderie became legend upon the H arding campus . But where did the tradition begin and what was its original intent? "The idea for 'camaraderie' came from a public re lations piece 1wrote when 1 was Dean o f the College of Business in 1975, " Dr. David Burks , President of Harding, sa id . "No o n e really gave any thought to it then. It was only the titl e of the publi cat ion. " Even then, Dr. Burks acknowledged the signifi ca n ce of the word on Harding's campus. "It stands for fe llowship or eccl esia, which mean s 'called out,'" Burks sa id. "We were attempting to use the publication to highlight the cama– radt:rie between th e business community of H arding and of su rrounding areas . However , "camaraderie" first rece ived its limelight on the big stage of the Benson Auditorium in 1987 when Burks became president of the university. "I was telling students what Hardingwas aU about , and at some point in the address I used 'camaraderie ' and asked them if th ey knew how to sp ell it." Burks said . "It was a rhetorical question and completely unplanned . It was j ust a fun way to involve an audience." From that point o n , "camaraderie" has been a bywo rd for H arding. Ca maraderi~ ~umma riz.es and explains the Harding experi ence for stu President dents and fa culty alike . "Wh en I think o f H arding, I absolutely t hink of camarade rie." sophomore Lauren Binford sa id. "I have neve r been in a place where people are so fri endly and so willing to get to know you and support you in you r eve ry endeavor. I ca nnot wait to see what these n ext few years have in sto re for me at Harding." D r. Burks con tinued t hat the word "camaraderie" encapsu lated what Harding stood fo r . " It stands fo r high -spirited fe llowship, meaning what we do to– gether in th e Harding contex t ," Burks said. "Co llege should be about having fun, meaning Christians ought to smile and enjoy life to – gether becau se we know wh e r e we are going. We know the end of th e s tory. " Even wh en Dr. Burks was not o n the Harding campus, "cama ra– derie " seemed to follow him wherever h e went. "When I go to visit with people at alumni recep tion s, people intentionally use the word as a way of saying h e llo, " Burks said . "A group of students even spe ll ed it out for me when I visited th eir home congregat ion. It is a way they identify with the Harding expe rience." Camarade ri e was even the theme for Sp ri ng S ing 2007. Studen ts agreed th a t camaraderi e among faculty and stud ents was o n e of the mos t unique and signifi cant gems of H a r d i ng. "1 think that [Dr.] Burks realizes that camaraderie is part of the glu e that brings peopl e toge th er," senior Steven C handl er sa id. "Harding has allowed m e to develop d eep and m eaningful friend– ships with so many people th at I know 1 will carry all of my life. Ca– maraderie is a tricky word fo r some, but I feel th a t if you wan t to excel here a t H a r dingyou better get yo ur diction aries o ut. " Although the tradition began completely on a whim , the signifi– cance of camaraderie at H arding will be rem emb e red by students for years to come. "1 hope stude nts have lots of words to use to describe th eir time at Harding . but I th i nk it will b e a catch wo r d," Burks said. " It has been an interesting evo lution , and it's a word I will always remember as my time as president. " Jc:net Orgain As the guest of honor at the Burksday celebration, Dr. Burks competed against students in a trivia game on his own history Nov. 5. Students bought Burksday shirts and wore them to Dr. Burk's half birthday party. Nick Michael president 137
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