MCLARTY MARKS THIRD GENERATION OF PRESIDENTS ACTIVE ON CAMPUS Vice president of spiritual life Dr. Bruce Mclarty, 55, was named to succeed President David B. Burks when Burks retired from the position in June 2013. The announcement of Mclarty's selection was made November 1 at 1:30 p.m. by Dr. John 0 . Simmons, chairman of the school's board of trustees. Shortly before the official public announcement, the Harding community was informed of the announcement via an email from Dr. Larry Long. Shortly after the announcement, Dr. Bruce Mclarty sat down with Bison Editor Lyndsey Ruble to discuss his reaction to the decision. L: How did you feel when you found out you had been selected? M: I am still working through those feelings. When Dr. Simmons told me of the Board's decision, I was humbled, happy, excited and immediately felt the heavy weight of responsibility. Those are a lot of things to feel all at the same time. L: Why did you want to be the president of the university? M: This was one of the first five questions that the Board asked the applicants to answer. It is a great question, and one that I spent a lot of time considering. Whenever people have asked me in recent years if I was going to apply to be the next president, my standard answer was that I wanted to. be ready if called. I haven't viewed the presidency as my "dream job" or as something that I needed to achieve. Instead. applying was more of an expression of my love for Harding. I have been incredibly blessed by Harding since I first came here as a freshman in 1975. Harding changed my life for the better. and I still believe strongly in the mission of this university. While we are far from perfect, I believe that Harding is the finest place in the world. If I could serve the students, faculty, staff and alumni, then I would be delighted to lead Harding into the future. The Board determined that I was a good fit for the mission and the needs of the university, so I am thrilled to have the opportunity to serve in this way. A major focus of my doctoral work was the examination of how faith-founded colleges typically, given enough time, drift from their founding faith. Many even become enemies of the faith that founded them. Some historians have written that the loss of faith is the primary story of American higher education. On the dedication page of my dissertation I wrote, "To Eli McCumpsey, my grandson (age two at the time), who I hope will someday come to Harding University and receive an outstanding Christian education." It is a passion of mine that Harding University not go the way of most faith-founded colleges and disconnect from the faith on which Harding was founded. Getting to have a hand in keeping Harding focused on our Christian mission is something that inspires me deeply to want to be the next president. L: What do you expect out of the presidency? What challenges and rewards will there be? M: I have learned so much by watching Dr. Burks and Chancellor Ganus. Both men have found a great joy in leading Harding. They have gotten to see thousands of people come through Harding and go on to bless the world. What job could possibly be better than that? Yet both men will tell you that there have been very difficult times and that they both faced many lonely decisions. Personnel decisions. the things that determine the jobs and livelihoods of people, are the most difficult and sometimes heartbreaking part of the job. Chancellor Ganus has a favorite quip about the presidency. He said, "When I was president, I slept like a baby; I would wake up every two hours and cry." He laughs when he says it, but I suspect that there is a kernel of truth in it. L: How will you benefit Harding? M: With God as my help and strength, I pray that I can have the same No. 1 accomplisrment as Harding's first four presidents- to be a faithful steward of Harding's Christian identity. My administration will have unique strengths, emphases and accomplishments, but those are all secondary to being a faithful steward of our Christian identity. L: What do you love about Harding? M: Almost everything. I love the students, the faculty, the staff, the administration, the alumni, the campus, our mission, our history, our heritage of world evangelism and just about everything I know about Harding. A couple of months ago, I spoke to I spoke to a group of high school guidance counselors. Two of them came up to me after our panel presentation and said that they wanted to tell me something. They said that they had never sent a student to Harding who had not had a great experience. The other thing they wanted to tell me was that every time they were on campus, they picked up on a deep sense of joy that seems to permeate the Harding family. They said, "Harding is such a happy place." I think sometimes we need people from the outside to point out things we can easily overlook from the inside. Harding, indeed, is a very happy place. That's why the late Dr. Jimmy Carr famously stated, "It's great to be at Harding." Lyndsey Ruble Presidential Dedication 1193
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