Harding offers more than 100 student organizations to choose from, which serve as great ways for students to get involved on and off campus.
Each student organization has developed over the years from students with a passion and a vision. Though student organizations grow and fade, new organizations are constantly developing.
Some student organizations, such as HUmanity, have dissolved in past years but are now being made active again with a new mission.
Senior Ashli Roussel, member of the recently re-established HUmanity, is excited to see the organization come back to life and start making a difference again.
“Originally HUmanity was about justice issues in general,” Roussel said. “We all had a passion for the prevention of human trafficking, so it seemed like a good fit for this specific mission.”
Roussel said HUmanity just restarted last semester and has grown to about 50 members.
According to vice president of Student Life and dean of students David Collins, starting a new organization on campus is a simple process requiring a group of charter members, an identified staff or faculty member to serve as an advisor and a constitution to sustain the organization after the charter members have graduated.
Collins said recognized student organizations are a great way for students to find people with similar interests, to get involved on campus and to familiarize themselves with everything Harding has to offer.
According to Collins, the diversity of students in each social club might make it difficult to find students with similar interests, whereas student organizations offer a variety of groups that are more specific to majors, interests and hobbies.
“Involvement with others and building relationships — all these things are part of a student’s development and growth, so we encourage these organizations as a sort of beginning or starting point for many of those things to happen,” Collins said.
Some newer organizations on campus are Volunteer Harding, a student organization created to enrich the community through organized acts of service; Harding Farm: A Community Project was created to organize, maintain and perpetuate the school garden, which is intended for use by students and faculty of Harding and the Searcy community; Harding University Students for Life, which was recently established to inform, organize and activate anti-abortion students on campus; and Hearts after HIZ, which was created to rally students who have studied at Harding in Zambia to participate in service projects that benefit the people of Namwianga and Zambia.
Additional recent organizations include Harding University Student Branch of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Harding University Student Chapter of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Harding University Student Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, Liberty United and the Public Relations Student Society of America. All student organizations and contact information is located on the Student Life page of the Harding website.
New student organizations are always encouraged and students can refer to section eight of the student handbook for more details.
So get involved – no jersey required.
