Written by Jeffrey Ryan Howell
It happens almost every day that prospective students visit campus, wide-eyed, and diligently observing every fountain, “pregnant” tree, building, dorm and memorial. As these undecided students walk the campus with their parents, many who are already prepared to fork over nearly $20,000 in annual tuition and fees, a tour guide informs his guests of Harding University’s unique advantages.
Of the characteristics that distinguish Harding from most universities, spirituality is often the first to be touted. And with Harding’s emphasis on daily chapel, Bible classes and a lofty code of conduct, it’s not surprising that thousands of Christian families each year send their offspring to Harding.
“Spirituality is not a slice of the pie here; it, hopefully, is the flavor of the whole pie,” Bruce McLarty, vice president for spiritual life, said. “And so everything – whether you are in chorus, or on the football team, or sitting in an organic chemistry class – is permeated with a Christ-centeredness.”
But whatever new students imagine Harding to be — or what their spiritual life at Harding will look like — it rarely turns out the way they expect it to, McLarty said.
“Students who think that they are coming to a place where everything and everybody is going to be perfect are set up for disaster,” McLarty said. “If they come here hoping to find good people and at least a few very wonderful spiritual relationships and caring teachers…they will find what they are looking for.”
Scott Adair, a youth and family ministry professor, emphasized the importance of student initiative in their own spiritual life.
“It doesn’t matter what the school is. It’s not going to make you a spiritual person,” Adair said. “Spirituality has to be sought.”
According to Todd Gentry, college minister for the College Church of Christ, the people at Harding have a greater impact on a student’s spiritual life than the overall environment.
“Typically, it’s the people being loved in others’ lives that changes them,” Gentry said.
Nevertheless, a number of factors affect a student’s spirituality at Harding. Friends, roommates, chapel, dorms, clubs, classes, professors and classmates all contribute to the environment at Harding that influences students’ spirituality, according to McLarty.
“Who you are rooming with can have everything to do with whether you spiritually soar or crash at Harding,” McLarty said.
Social clubs at Harding can be quite taxing on students’ free time, as well as well as a major influence on the students’ spirituality, Gentry said.
“In some clubs people actually grow (spiritually). In some clubs they actually get farther away from God because of the group,” Gentry said.
In Adair’s opinion, clubs are “helpful as a social niche, but insufficient as an identity.”
According to McLarty, another common deterrent to student spiritual life is busyness. Students, he said, can become easily overwhelmed with activities to the point where they find themselves with almost no free time, and furthermore, little time for God.
Some students in turn come to think that they are suffering a spiritual crisis when all they need is some rest and more room in their schedule, explained McLarty.
An icon at Harding that is commonly associated with the student spirituality is chapel, a 35-minute daily devotional that students are required to attend. While some people say they find chapel spiritually enlightening, others seem to find chapel to be more of a nuisance than anything. And that concerns Adair.
“It’s very disappointing to see so many students so apathetic (towards chapel),” Adair said.
“We find ourselves at different times… more ready for what’s in chapel than at other times,” McLarty said.
Since its establishment in 1924, Harding has held on to its Christian roots, and according to all three interviewees, it will continue to do so.
“The board and administration are committed to Harding remaining, at the core, a Christian school,” McLarty said.
While Adair also believes in security of Harding’s fundamental Christian beliefs, he also offered a word of advice and caution.
“We need to continue to reassess and commit to a Christ-centered educational environment,” Adair said.
McLarty, Adair and Gentry agreed that it is important for students – those present and those coming – and parents alike to recognize that no matter where a student is, the only person who can control whether his spiritual life grows or diminishes is the student himself.
“At the end of the day, free will remains,” McLarty said.
