120WINTER STUDENT LIFE DUE Dedication The first Black students to earn bachelor’s degrees at Harding are honored on the Anthony and Wright Administration Building. ON OCT. 23, 2021, THE ANTHONY AND WRIGHT Administration Building was dedicated to alumni Elijah Anthony and Howard Wright, the first Black students to earn bachelor’s degrees at Harding. The dedication began with a performance from the Good News Singers followed by interim President David Burks giving remarks and dedicating the building. The present honorees spoke, as well as family and friends of those unable to attend. Dr. Bob Walker, chairman of the board of trustees, delivered the closing prayer. “This is a great day because it has acknowledged and recognized trailblazers at this University,” Walker said. “We’re going to be reminded of what these individuals did to bring this University to where it is now, and that’s one of unity and togetherness among all races.” The first Black students to earn graduate degrees in 1965 at Harding were Thelma Fae Smith and Curtis H. Sykes, and the first Black students to enroll at Harding in 1963 were J.C. Lewis Brown, Walter Cunningham and David Johnson. Along with Anthony and Wright, they were honored with monuments outside the Anthony and Wright Administration Building. Brown, Cunningham and Johnson were given honorary degrees. “I’m really proud of him,” Derek Anthony, son of Elijah Anthony, said. “He’s been a great example to me and shown me how to be an example to other people. This is definitely one of the most memorable days of my life, as I know it is for him.” On Feb. 1, 2021, the first day of Black History Month, Burks announced the plans for the dedication, which was suggested by the University Task Force on Recognizing African American Achievement and approved by the board of trustees. “Most of this year I have been walking in the past during the Jim Crow laws and the civil rights movement and watching my steps in this medical and social pandemic in the present tense,” Wright said. “As my ancestors have often said, ‘God has brought me from a mighty long way.’” The Anthony and Wright Administration Building held chapel when the honorees attended Harding. This made the dedication significant because it was a central location on campus that resonated with the entire student body. “I am humbled beyond expression that God has chosen my experiences at Harding and beyond to influence the lives of untold numbers of students for generations to come,” Elijah Anthony said. “As Mordecai reminded Esther, I paraphrase— who knows that God brought us to Harding University for such a time as this?” WRITTEN BY CAROLINE SLATER “I AM SO GLAD TO WITNESS THE NAMING dedication of the Anthony and Wright Administration Building,” admissions counselor Jessica Berry said. “Excitement and joy come to my heart seeing these names displayed in the center part of Harding’s campus. I look forward to seeing how Harding continues to celebrate African-American alumni in the future.”
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