Written by Kylie Akins
The responsibility of organizing campus activities in the past was indistinguishable from the SA’s functions, passed through the hands of numerous Student Association presidents, Student Activities Committee chair members and SA sponsors. What began at Harding University as a classical music program soon split to integrate the popular music of the ’70s and provide students with a local, clean entertainment venue. Now managed separately by the Campus Activities Board, a student committee headed by Director of Campus Life Corey McEntyre, on-campus entertainment recently experienced a facelift with the unveiling of the organization’s redesigned logo.After branding sessions with 2010 Harding graduate Brandon Click, McEntyre chose from Click’s designs what he called a “multipurpose, multidimensional icon” to represent the CAB identity: A play button.”I wanted to convey that we’re here for entertainment,” McEntyre said. “We’re here to get you out of your dorm. The logo has motion to it; it wants you to move. I wanted something easily identifiable and something that had staying power.”The new logo has already been featured this year on several event posters and as a sticker placed on Pass owners’ student IDs.”When you see the play button, it means business; it means it’s time to have fun,” McEntyre said.CAB, formerly called the Student Activities Committee, split from the SA in 2003 with its renaming. Along with its new title came a separation of goals from those of the SA. Its main purpose, McEntyre said, became to provide entertainment on campus for students to enjoy in a wholesome environment. And this is a purpose retired Harding faculty member Dr. Jerome Barnes would agree with.”I felt like it was in some ways our duty to give the student alternative entertainment that fit the mission of a Christian college,” former SA sponsor Barnes said.Barnes began teaching at Harding in the early ’60s and became SA sponsor in the ’70s, when the SAC first developed with the creation of Harding’s popular music lyceum program. The first noteworthy concert featured Kenny Rogers, country music singer-songwriter, and would be the first of many country musicians to come and perform to a packed Administration Auditorium during the early years of Harding’s popular music program. The SAC’s participation in the National Association for Campus Activities conferences would allow Harding to hire performers like Jeff Dunham and the Oakridge Boys for less than $2,000 before their popularity reached its peak.Performances by many artists, such as the Carpenters, Sinbad the Entertainer, Bill Cosby, Air Supply and Don Williams, sold out quickly. With the Benson Auditorium’s opening in 1980, the Searcy community was able to attend concerts hosted by Harding as well.As ballad country disappeared into a more upbeat genre and different types of music, like pop and rock, became increasingly popular, the Benson stage began hosting new kinds of performers.”Looking back, we brought a lot of country acts in those days: Clint Black, Lonestar, Blackhawk, Martina McBride, Bryan White and Patty Loveless,” former sponsor of SAC/CAB and current professor of communication Dr. Jim Miller said. “I think CAB today does a very good job of bringing musicians that have broader appeal.”Recent artists have included Sara Bareilles, who headlined her first show at Harding; David Cook, fresh off his “American Idol” win; Taylor Swift, before she rose to her current place at the tops of country and pop charts; and Jason Mraz, the most recent big-name artist to grace the Benson stage.Steve Martin, director of Benson Auditorium technical services for the past 20 years, has coordinated concerts since the building’s creation. He said some of the favorite shows he managed were for Mark Nizer, a juggling and comedy act; Cary Trivanovich, a mime; 1964, a Beatles tribute band; and Switchfoot. After almost a quarter of a century managing concerts, he has seen the work of nearly every SAC and CAB director cross the Benson stage.”We still try to have entertainment that reflects our Christian values,” Martin said. “That has always been a difficult task for the Campus Activities Directors.”
