Viewpoint: Blessed

"Men, we are a blessed brotherhood,” head football coach Ronnie Huckeba told the Bisons on Nov. 12, 2016, after they completed an undefeated regular season, the first in Harding’s history.

I couldn’t be more proud of this team and coaching staff after making it all the way to the NCAA Division II quarterfinals before losing a game. One of the reasons is this statement from coach Huckeba in Arkansas Online on Dec. 2, 2016, “We don’t believe that God cares about the outcome of a football game. But he does care about people, and we’ve been very blessed with all the things that have happened this year.”

One of the greatest blessings began even before the season started when sophomore Braden Hood was baptized in the swimming pool on campus. This was just the start of several athletes from softball, tennis and cross-country putting on Christ this fall, the most wonderful blessing there is.

In a stellar fall athletic season, volleyball and football both took Great American Conference championships and men’s and women’s soccer won GAC tournament titles. The story of this record-breaking football season is shared by Scott Goode here .

It is just one of the many stories being told in this magazine now in its 25th year of publication after replacing the tabloid many of you knew as the Harding Bulletin. Editor Tom Buterbaugh and photographer Jeff Montgomery have been with the magazine since its inception, and here , Jennifer Hannigan goes back in time to trace the story of how it all began and evolved to where it is today.

Our seven international programs continue to provide life changing experiences for many, and I am always thankful when I get to witness this firsthand. The beauty of New Zealand almost overwhelmed Ann’s and my senses when we had the opportunity to visit the Harding University Australasia program this fall. Hannah Owens takes us on a journey with our oldest international studies program begun in 1980 in Florence, Italy, as she relays the story of two students following in their mother’s footsteps 26 years later. See the story here .

The inside story on how the blessing of chapel comes together each weekday is told through examples of the various presentations throughout the fall semester. You can learn about the variety of programs students experience here .

From chapel to academic programs to athletics, we at Harding are a blessed community of mission. In this issue, we celebrate these blessings as we seek to pass them along to others.