Luke Humphrey and Lindsey Bender co-directed Impact for the second year in a row. Junior Lindsey Bender and senior Luke Humphrey made an impact on summer orientation history when they returned as new student orientation co-directors for a second time. Humphrey said he and Bender never imagined they would serve as codirectors for a second time until the subject came up in casual conversation. "The more we thought about our time as co-directors, the more we wanted to do the whole thing over again," Humphrey said. Caitlin Denton, assistant director of First Year Experience, said the University College team did not usually consider previous co-directors as eligible applicants for another year of directing, but they made an exception for Bender and Humphrey because of their work ethic. "Luke and Lindsey are set apart because of their passion for this job and their love for incoming students and for Harding," Denton said. "You can tell they believe in the Harding experience, and they want each student to have an awesome college experience as well." Bender said she believed co-directors were important roles in Impact and Bison Bound experiences because it was the directors' duty to serve as ambassadors for the student body. "When you are a new student coming [to] a new school, it is important to hear from professors, administrators and other faculty, but it also means so much to be able to hear from fellow students who have been in the same place," Bender said. "Luke and I were able to invite people into our student community and say, 'We want you to be a part of us."' 18 Humphrey said a co-director should be someone who demonstrated love, showed up for people and reiterated involvement. He said the leadership position allowed him to form connections that lasted beyond Impact weekend. "Students will seek Lindsey and me out in a crowd because they know they can count on us to guide them in the right direction," Humphrey said. Unlike previous new student orientation co-directors, Bender and Humphrey had the opportunity to build upon the experience they created the year before. One of their visions was to intentionally integrate the year's Impact theme, "Your Story, Our Story," into more activities. "In the past, the theme was always just a little motto that would show up here and there, but we wanted to use the meaning and colorful imagery of this year's theme to our advantage," Humphrey said. "We wanted everyone to visually understand that their story brings a new color to the table, but we can all mix into a beautiful mess of colors here at Harding, so we hosted a color war amongst other activities." Denton said Bender and Humphrey set standards high for future years. She said Humphrey curated a guidebook that would help direct and inspire future new student orientation co-directors. The book incorporated notes from Humphrey and previous co-directors. "Those who read the book will learn from many great role models and leaders and will feel encouraged to meet high standards," Denton said. story by Caroline Lea
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