12 Student Life Harding community celebrates 100 years with food, front lawn fun, time capsules and more. Harding University honored its founders with several festivities that took place on campus to commemorate the end of the Centennial celebrations. These activities included the opening of the 1979 time capsule, a birthday party on the front lawn, a tailgate before the first football game of the year and a firework show to celebrate the team’s victory. These celebrations required the help of Archives and Special Collections librarian Hannah Wood. Her main focus was the time capsule, which was unearthed after being buried for 45 years. “I was terrified that [the time capsule] would be a huge mess,” Wood said. “Just the idea that it could all be dust or be moldy.” Wood was in charge of revealing the buried items live on stage during chapel on Sept. 5. The time capsule remained intact and preserved. Items in the time capsule included a lock of Dr. Jimmy Carr’s signature white hair and a bow tie belonging to Dr. Joseph Pryor, a trademark part of his wardrobe. The administration at the time published a list of the buried items in an issue of the Harding Bulletin, so Wood and others in charge of the project knew the contents of the capsule. However, one item that left the faculty and staff stumped was an empty envelope with no explanation. The published list mentioned this envelope but with no hint as to its contents. Could this have been a prank left from 1979, or was it left empty by accident? After the unveiling of the time capsule in chapel, many students attended the birthday celebration on the front lawn. A barbecue lunch was provided along with sponsorship from Yarnell’s Ice Cream and Coca-Cola. The Thundering Herd also performed live. “They asked us to play about 10 to 15 minutes of music, which is typically a pretty standard request when we go and perform at campus events,” senior drum major Kylie James said. “They did have a special request for us to play ‘Happy Birthday.’” The Thundering Herd had never played “Happy Birthday” before and had to find a new arrangement of the song. They started preparing for the event in early August during band camp. The Thundering Herd performed ONE SCOOP AT A TIME On Sept. 5, President Dr. Mike Williams and Vice President Jean-Noel Thompson shovel a ceremonial first scoop on the new time capsule. Students also helped bury Harding mementos in the same location as the 1979 capsule, near the Olen Hendrix building. Photo by Jenna Gaessler Founding Function the fight song and alma mater in addition to “Happy Birthday,” which ended with Buff the Bison popping out of a 15-foot wooden birthday cake. “While there was the band playing, I snuck inside the cake as they were distracting everyone,” Buff the Bison said. “They were keeping me posted through an earpiece because they knew it would be a complicated set up.” Buff stuffed the mascot costume inside the cake the night before to avoid unwanted attention during the festivities. While the crowd was distracted, he snuck in, climbed a ladder inside the cake and rose from the top at the end of the birthday song. He later made an appearance at the opening football game at First Security Stadium that night. The Harding football team beat Southern Nazarene 59-0 and ended the game with copious amounts of fireworks. The day was a success that both created new memories and reminisced about those from the past with current students and alumni alike. Written by Adele Duncan
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTc5NA==