LEAD NG I I ll O U G 11 For the first time in its history, Harding introduced a campus read program during the 2016-20 l 7 school year. The idea of Harding Read was started by Dean for Student Success Dr. Kn-in Kehl, student success librarian Lisa Fuller and associate executive director of the American Studies Institute Kim Kirkman in an effort to engage incoming freshmen and transfer students during their first year of college. Af'tcr many discussions, the idea was presented to President Dr. Bruce ~lcLany, which he immediately approYed. Fuller said she was upliftfd by the effort of the university to implement a campus-wide program that emphasized the importance of reading, and she was appreciati\'e of McLarty's passion to the program and subject. "f was an English major and I'm a librarian, so, obviously, I love books," Fuller said. "l lm·e that we ha\T said, collectively, that reading is important.'. A quote by preacher and authorjohn Pipe1~"fa·eryone should have a best friend in another century," inAuenccd McLarty's selection of the book used for the Harding Read. He said he loved to read biographies and loved William Wilberforce, an English politician driven to abolish the English slave trade in the 1800s. Dr. Kevin Klein, chair of the history and political science departmcnt, suggested '·Amazing Grace" by author Eric 1,Ietaxas for the Harding Read. ~fcLarty said ''Amazing Grace" modeled a positive message for college students. "One of great messages that \ \'ilberforcc [showcased \\'3S J his model of endurance, and how someone took so much defeat, so much resistance and so much unfair criticism, and because he believed in the rightness of the cause, he kept on ll An I N G By Alex Wingrove doing it,'' t\IcLany said. ·'The world belongs to people who know how to persist." The mm·ie ·'Amazing Grace" was shown in chapel during the second week of school. Kirkman said she thought the movie helped to engage students who did not like to read. ·'It's \·cry historical, and I think it was great that the movie was ,hown, so [students could gctl a picture of the time period," Kirkman said. 'Tm not a British historian, so there were lots of things that \\Tre happening [in the 1800s] that I didn't know about.'. Kirkman said \\'ilberforcc's efforts to abolish slaYery in Britain affected many people in a positive way. She said that was a major message in \ Vilberforce's story. '"It's a great story, and I'm a huge belic\Tr [that] one person can make a difference,'· Kirkman said. "You can be just a regular, general person like me, but you can make a difference." According ro Fuller, ne\\' Harding students could go to the Brackett Library to receive their free copy of "Amazing Grace." There were 965 free copies of the book given. l\1cLarty said he 10\·ecl ''Amazing Grace'· because of its great message, and he hoped to find other books of its caliber Lo read in future years for the Harding Read program. "One of the key points of the story of \\'ilberforce that I hope is picked up is that [there] was this remarkable social reformer who was motivated strongly by his faith in Jesus," }.JcLany said. ·',\"e li\·e in a time where the idea of social justice ha· almost been hijacked by anti-faith voices. I hope that we can recover some of that and sec v\'hat a difference this person made, and he made it because of his faith, not in spite of faith." President Dr. Bruce McLarty is proud to begin a campus-wide reading initiative centered on the book ''Ama;;:ing Grace" by Eric Metaxas and plans to continue this program in the coming years. M cLarty chose to begin a campus-wide reading program as an effort to encourage conversation among the entire student body. I Photo by Macy Pate PIU'.\ IIIF.\T <111(18<)
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