Searcy may not seem like a big town, especially to the many students who come to Harding from larger cities. It can, therefore, be tempting for those students who are not familiar with the city to assume that Searcy is merely a college town, sustained and maintained by Harding’s long-term presence and continued growth over the years. Harding does, after all, play a major role in the community. But as temporary residents living among Searcy’s more permanent citizens, it is important for students to take the time to understand their place and Harding’s role in the wider community.
As an institution of higher education and as one of the top three employers in Searcy, Harding draws many people from across the nation to the city in search of both jobs and education. Because of its prominent role in the city, Harding University and many of the people associated with it often interact with Searcy on the level of city government. Chancellor David B. Burks often worked alongside members of the city government during his time as Harding’s fourth president and has continued involvement with several civic organizations. Burks said he believes Harding’s relationship with city hall is a two-way street.
“We very much influence the city, and we are very much influenced by the city,” Burks said. “I always talk about that reciprocal relationship, that ‘town and gown’ relationship. I think that Searcy has been good for Harding, and so I think it’s also important that faculty members and administrators also be involved in civic clubs and therefore take part in the community. It’s important for everyone to be involved in the community where they live.”
Burks said he has served as the president of the Chamber of Commerce and is currently a member of the Searcy Regional Economic Development Corporation. Since stepping down as president of Harding, Burks said he decided to become more involved with the political side of the Searcy community. Most recently, Burks said he was highly involved with the “Our Town” campaign, which successfully campaigned to raise local sales tax by 1 percent in order to provide more services to the community.
City Councilman Mike Chalenburg, who is also Harding’s assistant vice president for information systems and technology, said Searcy city government provides a number of important things for Harding and its students.
“On a more obvious level, Searcy provides infrastructure for Harding, but it also provides opportunities in a lot of ways,” Chalenburg said. “There are a lot of Harding employees or students who work in various functions in the community, where they can help coach a softball team or help out in lots of other ways.”
Chalenburg said that though the relationship between Harding administration and city government is overwhelmingly beneficial, there have historically been some tensions that arose from time to time over what is best for the city and the university. Still, he said he thinks such tensions were not the result of conflicting interests or malice, but more of miscommunication of intentions.
“For a while, it seemed like there was more of a divide than there is now,” Chalenburg said. “It seems like now it is much more integrated and the line that used to be there has mostly gone away. I think people figured out that it was the right thing to do and that while there may have been some misunderstandings over the years, that there has never been a negative agenda on either side, and that everyone really just wants to do what is best for the city.”
Searcy Mayor David Morris said he is very positive about the future of that relationship. Although he never attended Harding as a student, he has a long-standing relationship with the university on both personal and professional levels. Growing up in Searcy, Morris said he had the chance to spend time with a number of families of Harding faculty and administrators, including that of Cliff Ganus Jr., Harding’s chancellor emeritus. As mayor, he said he has enjoyed opportunities to work with Harding on building projects and to speak on behalf of the city during President Bruce McLarty’s inauguration last year. Morris said he had the chance to speak with McLarty just before the board announced he would be the next president.
“We were doing the dedication of the first phase of Legacy Park the day the board announced their decision that (McLarty) had been chosen to be the fifth president,” Morris said. “He was standing very close to me there at the ceremony, and I shook hands with him and wished him luck and told him I looked forward to working with him if he was chosen. I found out later that day that they had chosen him as the next president, so I joked with him later that it was that lucky handshake I gave him that put him over the top.”
Morris said he looks forward to continued cooperation with Harding as he works with McLarty in the future.
