.. Senior Julya Bentley along with Or. Burks play Dr. Burks Jeopardy in the cafeteria Feb. 5. The SA put together a party in order for students to celebrate Dr. Burks' holf– birthday. Nick Michael Dr. Burks' cake, also known as the Burksday cake, is served in the Cafeteria to faculty and students on Feb. 5. The cake was made by Aramark and fashioned in Harding's school colors. Nick Michael Sin ce b eing named the president o f Harding Uni– versity in 1987, Dr. David Burks has see n many unusual things. In that 23-year lenure h e has bee n able to participate in many Hardi ng firsts . On Nov. 5, he had th e chance to experience ano th er univenity first: his very own half-b irthday celebrat ion. The morning began in its usual fashion. Students filed into t heir ch apel seats to be met with a video presentat ion. However , to the surprise of the audience the video was nOt about Sp r ing Break Missions but instead a slideshow co n– tai ni ng li fe p ictures of Burks. A cake was brought out from b ehind th e stage, and in true Harding fashion, the schoo l Burks loved so dearly san g "Happy Birthday" to him. Bu rks' birthday actually fell on May 13 , but a chance to celebrate it in such grand fashion was n ever possible be– cause it was during summer break. "We d ecided to change it up and go for a h alf-b irth – day, and it kind of falls at a time of year when people need a bit of a pick me up," SA President Bryan Cli fton said, " Everybody's looking forward to Thanksgiving Break, so we needed some exci tement to spice things up a littl e." " Burksday" was successfully kept a secret for mo re than 230 organizations six weeks without Burks finding out. The wait paid off wh en Burks was met with the surpri se. '" It was not as hard as 1 expected," Clifton said. "A whole lot of people knew about it, ye t it n ever got around to Dr . Burks," The fest iviti es, however, were not limited to chapel. T – shirts adorned the campus with a picture of Burks himself on the front. Signs and banners throughout the halls also made it hard to miss the celebration, The cafeteria p layed home to th e nighttime activities with aU the birthday party essent ials: cake , balloons and what else but a game of Dr, BurksJ eopardy. T he game was played by Burks, Clifton and senior Julya Bentley. Burks was not able to squash the competition in a game dedicated to him but nonetheless th e party was something t hat he will never fo rgel. The celebration was a su ccessful way of showing Bu r ks how much he means to Harding and all of its students . The par ty was a recognition, not only of the life of a univer sity pl'esident, but also of a man who h as truly made a differ– ence to thousands of people over th e years. Joel Blake
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