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NEWS
November 2, 2012 Vol. 88 No. 7
Features:
Omega Phi and Sigma Phi Mu comment on their clubs’ first pledge week.
Opinions:
Opposing viewpoints: Barack Obama v. Mitt Romney.
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OPINIONS . . . .
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SPORTS
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FEATURES
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CAMPUS LIFE
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McLarty to be next president by HARDING PUBLIC RELATIONS
Dr. Bruce McLarty, 55, vice president for spiritual life at Harding University, has been named to succeed Harding University President David B. Burks when Burks retires from the position in June. The announcement of McLarty’s selection was made yesterday by Dr. John O. Simmons, chairman of the school’s board of trustees. Simmons also served as chairman of the six-member Presidential Succession Process Committee, which created and executed the plan allowing the entire board to review all applications from candidates for the position. Harding’s board met in its regular semi-annual meetings on Oct. 26-27 and made the decision to name McLarty to the post. The decision comes one year after Burks announced his intention to retire from the presidency at the end of the 2012-2013 school year. Burks will become chancellor of the university in June. Commenting on the McLarty’s selection, Simmons said, “We are very pleased to announce that Dr. Bruce McLarty will be the next president of Harding University. The Board of Trustees had the privilege of working with
an outstanding pool of applicants for what I consider to be one of the best jobs in the world. Harding’s president gets to work with our faculty, staff and wonderful students who continue to choose to come to Harding for their education, spiritual growth and maturation. Dr. McLarty is a leader, not in the mold of a typical CEO or academician, but he is a servant leader with a very bright mind, a keen insight into people and the ability to communicate effectively. He brings energy and a clear vision of the mission of Harding to the table, and he will be an effective leader as our fifth president ... He is the right man for this time.” Burks said he is very confident in McLarty and thinks he will be a great asset to Harding. “He has been a valuable member of my administrative team for the past seven years,” Burks said. “He has a valuable background as a pulpit minister, teacher, dean and vice president for spiritual life. This will be great benefit to him as he assumes this new role. I very much look forward to working with Dr. McLarty for the next seven months photo by ASHEL PARSONS | Student Publications as he prepares to assume this position in June. I believe Dr. Bruce McLarty smiles at an applauding audience he is a man of deep spiritual commitment and possesses during a press conference on Thursday. McLarty will impeccable integrity.” succeed Dr. David Burks as university president.
Club week 2012 by LEXI STUTZMAN news editor
Social club induction activities are part of a long-standing tradition at Harding. For decades, social clubs have welcomed new classes of members with a weeklong series of activities meant to bond new inductees. This year was no exception as close to 800 new club members and 1,300 old members participated in club week activities. For as long as the tradition of “pledging” has existed, so have concerns about hazing and the future of induction activities on college campuses around the country. This year, “Rush” activities
at Oklahoma Christian University were limited to a 24-hour period according to president of Chi Lambda Phi, senior Caleb Smith, after incidents in the past few years showed negative impacts on new members. Vice president and dean of students David Collins said Harding social clubs serve a distinctly Christian purpose and function under the authority of the university and the guidelines stated in the Student Handbook and the Social Club Handbook. “Club members are responsible for reading, understanding and abiding by these expectations,” Collins said. “This is acknowledged by signing the Anti-Hazing Agree-
Impact of the Arkansas Hazing Law on Harding’s club week history, activities
ment. If a member or members violate university policies, consequences range from warnings up to disbandment of the club or expulsion from the university for the individual. Students who violate state hazing laws can face legal consequences.” Over the years, several social clubs have been disbanded for failure to follow the university code of conduct. In 1981 the men’s social club, the Mohicans, was disbanded not long after then freshman Lynn Bartley O’Neal III had a five-inch “M” burned into his skin by silver nitrate during a pledge week initiation. O’Neal sued the university and two Mohican members for $25,000 and
photo by ASHEL PARSONS | Student Publications Pi Theta Phi pledges show their club pride as they yell out during All-Club Devotional on Tuesday night. Club week activities started on Sunday night and end tonight.
medical expenses, according to Bison archives. Since then, club induction activities have seen many renovations focused around the Arkansas Hazing Law. Harding first began attempts to enforce the Arkansas Hazing Law, according to Bison archives, in 1989 when the administration scheduled a meeting between the club officers and the university’s attorney to discuss the Arkansas Hazing Law. One club president at the time said it was Harding’s way of passing on the responsibility to students. Assistant dean of students Kara Abston said while the university helps guide the clubs and inform students of the law, responsibility ultimately falls on the student to understand and follow the policies. Harding said the policies must be strictly followed to protect the students and the university as well. “The hazing law is a little unique,” Abston said. “Because if you witnessed a crime, by law you would not have to get involved or report it. Under the hazing law, if you don’t report it you may face legal consequences. So if you’re witnessing hazing and not doing something about it, then you can be liable as well.” In 2010 a lawsuit against the University of Arkansas demonstrated that the same rule applies to universities. The suit, filed by University of Arkansas sophomore Nicholas Brown, alleged that university officials, including the director of Greek life and dean of students, were aware of hazing issues within the fraternity Phi Delta Theta, but failed to enforce appropriate sanctions. According to the University of Arkansas’ student newspaper,
the suit claimed that the university placed greater value on Phi Delta Theta alumni donations and revenue than enforcing the policies of the university and Arkansas laws. In fall of 2011, stricter regulations were placed on Harding social clubs to prevent hazing. The old traditions of having inductees wear unusual clothes, stage line-ups, write essays and carry around designated items were outlawed under Harding’s anti-hazing policy. Many club officers said that while they understand the purpose of Harding’s regulations, the broadness of what ‘could’ be considered hazing under the policy has made it difficult to get activities for club week approved and has limited what clubs can do. “It’s not that any of things we were doing before were violating the hazing laws,” said vice president of Iota Chi senior Jill Holt. “It’s that the Harding policy put stricter limits on things that could be considered hazing to prevent any possible issue. Like standing in a line, it just helps with organization, getting information passed quicker and reducing confusion, but under the policy we can’t do that.” In addition to the increased regulation in 2011, the title for the week was changed to one that better communicated the week’s true goal, according to Collins. “The term ‘Induction Week’ was changed to ‘Club Week’ in an effort to better communicate the intended purpose of the week’s activities — to celebrate new membership and foster relationships among all club members,” Collins said.
Romney favored in HU campus voter poll
Need more guidance on who to vote for? Check out the Link to see where the candidates stand on the economy, immigration, gay rights and more. by STEVEN BREEZEEL associate prof. political science
Harding students demonstrated overwhelming support for Mitt Romney in an on-campus election poll recently completed by students in the political science department. Among the 763 likely voters sur veyed, Mitt Romney led President Obama 79.8 percent to 12.1 percent. In contrast to national trends, the Republican nominee drew greater support from Harding women than from men. Females favored Romney over President Obama by a
margin of 83 percent to 10.5 percent, while Romney’s lead among male students was 75.6 percent to 14.1 percent. The student body at Harding is clearly more conservative and Republican than the nation as a whole, but the level of support enjoyed by Mitt Romney at Harding is generally consistent with trends observed among Evangelical Christians in the general electorate. In a Pew Research poll published on Oct. 8, individuals classified as Evangelical Christians also favored Romney by a large margin (76 percent to 20 percent).
The results of this year’s poll are similar to those from a previous study conducted among Harding students during the 2008 presidential campaign. That poll also indicated widespread support for the Republican nominee, with John McCain favored by a margin of 73.9 percent to 17.3 percent. Both surveys produced very large majorities for the Republican candidate, but this year’s survey indicates a significant shift in support among Harding students. Support for President Obama is more than 5 percent less than in the earlier poll while support for the
Republican candidate is almost 6 percent higher. This shift in support represents a warning sign for the president, indicating a decline in his crossover appeal over the past four years. More than 70 percent of those surveyed reported moderate or high levels of interest in the presidential campaign with more than 53 percent of those surveyed identifying the economy as the central issue in the campaign. While Romney supporters outnumbered Obama supporters by a wide margin and Republicans outnumbered Democrats by more than a 10-1 margin (68
percent-6 percent), it is unlikely that Harding students will exert a dramatic influence over local races. Only 11 percent of those participating in the survey reported being registered to vote in White County. Students from the political science depar tment taking courses in parties and elections and policy analysis and applied research and the Pi Sigma Alpha honor society completed this survey of 763 likely voters among students at Harding between Sept. 26 and Oct. 15. The margin of error for the survey was +/- 3 percent.