Harding College - Petit Jean Yearbook (Searcy, AR)

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8 Student Impact

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Student life at; Harding University basically depends on the individual; what you put into it is what you get out. - Errica Walker Summertime snack. Dress- ed as a watermelon, Nathan Yoder, a sophomore Chi Sigma Alpha pledge from Flint, Michigan, greets people as they leave the Benson Auditorium from chapel. yoder was one of many pledges dress- ed as food on Silly Day during Pledge Week. - photo by Ierry Traughber. 1 ife at Harding can be full of changes as each week draws to a close. One week may be brimming over with club activities and sporting events, while the next involve total committment to classwork and studies. Other changes come about on a yearly basis. Best friends graduate, and new friends are met at such places as club softball games in the fall or on the front lawn on a lazy Sunday afternoon of pseudostudy. Sometimes, the shades of change are remarkably obvious, but however the changes come, ! they help us grow academicaly, mentally, and most im- portantly, spiritually. - David Dearin Assistant editor 5 Shades of Life f Shades of Life 7

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Student Impact. .. Student Impact hits Harding? campus e arrived with excitement, determina- tion, and yes, even a little a p p r e h e n - ' sion. The be- ginning of the first student en- deavor that Harding had ever sponsored was at hand. Its name? Student Impact. The idea for organizing Student Impact on Harding's campus originated in the minds of Alice Mankin, a senior public relations major from Nash- ville, Tennessee, and Deans Mary Beth Downing and Ed- die Campbell in the summer of 1985. On August 20, 1986, it was time for the planned pro- ject to become real people rather than mere names on paper. Student Impact was co-di- rected by Mankin and Lori Bailey, a senior from Searcy. A selected steering committee planned activities and group sessions for the week as well as taking care of financial pro- blems that arose during the session. The impact leaders were comprised of more than 150 upperclassmen who sac- rificed the last few weeks of their summer to help the in- coming freshmen feel at home and avoid mistakes that had been experienced by the lead- ers when they first arrived at Harding. The nucleus of the week was spent in clusters of people called energy groups. These groups were made up of 12-15 students that met twice daily. The main purpose of the en- ergy group was to provide a need of identity and belong- ingness. The smaller roups made the topics easiy dis- cussed and gave an openess that might have taken weeks to develop without Student Impact. The Student Life Committee was responsible for the activi- ties throughout the week. The committee planned mixers, movies, games, cheer compe- titions, concerts, and much more to entertain both new and old students alike. The last night of Student Impact began with a reserva- tion only dinner in the Amer- ican Heritage Cafeteria. The new students were escorted to the line and their trays were carried as a special service. Af- ter dinner, the closing cere- mony was held in the auditor- ium of the Administration Building. Jim Bill McInteer, minister of the West End Church of Christ in Nashville, Tennessee, was the guest speaker. He encouraged the new students to be the best that they could be while they were here at Harding. The night ended with an emo- tional air when the upper- classmen lit candles and then passed them throughout the students as they sang songs together. Student Impact was a first for Harding University, but the success was only one in a long list of many. The positive influence could still be seen throughout the campus. It's over but only for a year!. -- Amy Fisher The brains and the brawn. Co-directors Lori Bailey, a senior from Searcy, Arkansas, and Alice Mankin, a graduate from Nash- ville, Tennessee, discuss plans for the commencement of the Student Impact Retreat with lim Martin, a senior from Vincennes, Tknnes- see Although Munkin had al- ready graduated, she came back to see the final product in progress. - photo by Bill Tripp. We need energy. An energy group meets on the front lawn to touch base with each other Ener- gy groups helped the freshmen mingle and make new friends. Some of those friends will last a lifetime. e photo by Brad Watson Student Impact 9