188 BRUCE MCLARTY A LIVING Bruce McLarty retires as president of Harding University in fall 2020 after seven and a half years. On Oct. 30, 2020, students, faculty and staff were ushered into Homecoming weekend by the announcement of President Bruce McLarty’s retirement, effective Nov. 30, 2020. Since his inauguration on June 1, 2013, McLarty had a mission in mind. McLarty’s tenure as president began with a challenge to define his vision for Harding. In 2013, he attended the Harvard Seminar for First Year University Presidents. The seminar’s instructor encouraged attendees to think deeply about their new responsibilities and view them with a duty to find the words to move forward their distinct visions. On the flight home from the seminar, McLarty took notes about Harding and what it meant to him. The result of his brainstorming inspired the University’s motto. “The two words that ended up being the biggest on the page were community and mission,” McLarty said. “What makes Harding special is that we live for a purpose, and that purpose is God. A community of mission is what we are and what we aspire to be. It is the way I found Harding, and it’s where I wanted to leave Harding.” McLarty said the “community of mission” signs on the lampposts that hung around the University’s campus were intended to serve as a reminder that Harding welcomed people from all over the world and opened the door to community. The role of a president in fostering that sense of community was significant, and McLarty recognized his unique relationship with the student body. “I would like to think that the special relationship is because students sense that I love them and that I am interested in their lives,” McLarty said. “It is very true that the happiest part of this whole seven and a half year experience has been getting to walk with students through the very pivotal time in their lives. I’ve been very blessed that by being president, I get invited into the lives of students.” McLarty’s presidency came to a close in the midst of a pandemic. As the leader of a university, much of the pressure to determine the fate of campus procedures and instruction fell to him. “I’ve tried to listen to everyone I needed to listen to,” McLarty said. “Part of that is the medical side, but the other part is student life. We have had to adjust because of everything that is a part of being a university in a COVID-era. This has been the most unusual year and the defining moment.” In the years prior to his presidency, McLarty worked as a preacher at College Church of Christ in Searcy. He said the presidency was never his identity, but an opportunity that he embraced—to carry Harding through a time for which he was called. “My mission is the stewardship of the presidency,” McLarty said. “It is never my possession. I was Bruce before I became president, and when the presidency is over, I will continue to be Bruce.” story by Holly Tubbs L E G A C Y
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