Viewpoint: Global Impact

One hundred years ago our founders envisioned a school that was distinctly Christian. While they wished to educate young people by infusing biblical knowledge and scriptural principles into every course of study and daily life, their vision was for their particular communities. Many of them had already helped found other Christian colleges in Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Oklahoma and Tennessee and continued to provide Christian education in some of the most rural areas of the country. As they endured the daily struggles of limited resources, I’m not sure they ever dreamed that this little school in the foothills of the Ozarks could have a truly global impact.

Today, Harding has more than 60,000 living alumni in all 50 states and 103 nations around the world. Our graduates are leaders in business, education, government, health care, churches and the arts. Our students take advantage of dozens of opportunities each year to travel across the United States and around the globe preaching the gospel, serving their neighbors, broadening their worldviews and communing with God’s creation. If you pack a Harding T-shirt in your suitcase, it’s difficult to travel anywhere without encountering someone with a connection to Searcy. As they say, “It’s a small Harding world.” That long tradition of shared experience and love for the Lord and his church binds together tens of thousands of Bisons all over the world. 

At Homecoming this year, we dedicated the new Holland-Waller Center, which houses both the Center for Translation and the Swaid Institute for International Education. Dr. Swaid Swaid was an international student from 1969-73, and he understands very well the impact Harding has on students who study here as well as the life-enhancing experiences students have while studying abroad. The institute aspires to broaden global literacy and cultural understanding while enhancing students’ Christian worldview.

As we look forward into Harding’s second century, we are dreaming big. Our founders may not have been able to imagine how broad and deep the influence of this unique community would be, but the stories in this magazine will show you how the Harding network spans the globe. But I believe we can do even more. We can send out even more compassionate business leaders, merciful educators, principled politicians, dedicated ministers and caring health care providers who will make positive changes in the lives of many. Let’s dream big for Harding’s future. Let’s change the world. 

Alma mater, hail!