Connections
Where are They Now?
Profile: Howard Wright 1968
Alma Matters
Focus on the future
Tribute: Jack Wood Sears 1940
WHERE ARE THEY NOW? … Ted Lloyd 1957
Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame inductee
In October, Ted Lloyd will celebrate his Golden Circle anniversary at Homecoming with fellow classmates. But unlike many alumni, he won’t travel far to partake in the ceremonies. That’s because his career as a basketball, football, track and cross country coach began, ended and continues in Searcy.
 After graduation, Lloyd moved right into a coaching position at Harding Academy, transferring to University staff in the fall of 1964. For the next 30-plus years he headed the men’s and women’s track and then cross country teams — with great success.
During his tenure, he led the Bisons to the AIC men’s cross country championship in his first two seasons and, after a leave of absence, returned to the University and went for 19 straight. He ended with championships in 1991 and 1993. He took the Lady Bisons to championships from 1986 to 1993.
Men’s and women’s track also saw many victories under his leadership, with the men champions in 1965-66, 1981-82 and 1993-94, and the women earning the title in 1989-91.
Lloyd also served as sports information director from 1990 until 1999.
His accolades are many: He was inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame in 1983, Harding Athletics Hall of Fame in 1989, and Arkansas Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1999.
 His latest honor, induction into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame at North Little Rock’s Alltel Arena Feb. 23, distinguishes him as the first University coach to earn the recognition.
According to the organization’s Web site, the board of directors chose 10 individuals to honor this year, basing the selection on such criteria as “athletic accomplishment, character and leadership, national significance, conduct during years following active participation in athletics … representation of women …”.
“I had very mixed emotions,” Lloyd said of receiving the honor. “I was very pleased of course, but I know there were a lot of worthy people out there. I’m very grateful.”
But Lloyd does not see his induction as something he has accomplished on his own. “Being inducted is really a tribute to all the great athletes I’ve had the privilege to coach.”
Although formally retired since 1999, Lloyd continues to be active in University life. He and his wife taught through International Programs in Greece in 2002 and England in 2005. Currently, he is teaching a health and safety class for the kinesiology department.
And chances are you will find him at many meets standing alongside cross country and track coach Steve Guymon, offering advice and encouragement to athletes. “I’m really grateful to coach Guymon for including me, and he includes me so often,” he says. “It’s enjoyable to me to still be a part of things.”
— Jennifer L. Marcussen
PROFILE: Howard Wright 1968
A life of service
Only in retrospect does Howard Wright realize his walk across the Administration Auditorium stage in 1968 was a historical moment. He and Elijah Anthony were the first two African-Americans to receive undergraduate degrees from the University.
 “We didn’t even know we were making history,” Wright said. “We didn’t come here to make history. No one from the media was present. No one from the University wrote anything about the event in any of the school’s publications. But it was history, nonetheless.”
Wright shared his experience in chapel during February’s Black History Month. “On this campus in the ‘60s, there wasn’t really a civil rights movement. There were no walkouts, no marches, no protests. It was more of a quiet storm than a movement. No one knew the storm was coming, and no one noticed when the quiet storm had passed by.”
But his story was just beginning. Wright went on to receive the master of social work degree from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He preached 23 years for Huntington Church of Christ in Long Island, N.Y. In addition to his ministerial duties, he served as executive director of Target Youth Centers, a Long Island program responsible for juvenile delinquency prevention, court diversion and drug prevention. He trained community volunteers and students in mediation and conflict resolution to assist young people in trouble with the court system. He also taught English and social studies and served as a social worker in the Long Island Public School System.
Since 1992 he has served as minister of Greenbriar Church of Christ in Atlanta. Under his leadership, the church initiated a Male Mentoring Program for boys in the congregation and neighborhood schools. With concerned male volunteers, these at-risk boys are finding role models and receiving guidance at a critical time in their lives.
Wright’s subsequent devotion to his church and community was drawn from the isolation and marginalization he felt as a student on campus. So overwhelming were those feelings that he dropped out of school after his first semester.
“I became a statistical dropout,” he said. “I became part of a group for whom Jesus came to give relief — the dropouts, the left-outs, the pushed-outs. … That was very compelling.”
Further motivation came from a statement his English professor made before Wright left school: “I hope I don’t see you shining shoes somewhere some day.”
Explained Wright, “During virtually every conscious moment, there was this chorus ringing in my brain — ‘shining shoes some day.’”
So he and his wife, Claudine, came back in time for him to enroll in classes the following summer.
Nearly 40 years later, he told the chapel audience, “I wanted to say these things, not to make you feel angry or to think that I was resentful or bitter. That was a pivotal point in my life, one that has made all the difference in the world. It has given me the ability to deal with issues and work through problems beyond my control.”
And then, he issued his own challenge to the audience. “How do you help people? If your life is not about service, it’s not about anything.”
— April M. Fatula
ALMA MATTERS
Bisons for Christ embraces servant-leadership
By Liz Howell, director of alumni relations
 Service to others constitutes a major part of the University’s mission. Bisons for Christ, a new community outreach designed to connect current students with local residents, is the latest such endeavor.
During the last decade, the Student Association organized a yearly Day of Outreach. Bisons for Christ has built upon this foundation, extending the event to once every fall and spring semester using the slogan, “You have talent. Use it well.”
Careful consideration went into matching the talents of our students to needs within the community. Key students possessing strong leadership skills were invited to join the planning committee comprised of Nate Copeland, April Fatula, Todd Gentry and myself. Shortly thereafter, the committee held several focus groups composed of coaches, club and organization presidents, and professors and administrators before planning the event.
Results from these meetings revealed that students desire strong relationships with those outside of their age group, so many were paired with members of local churches, University faculty and staff, younger people, and prospective students for the service day April 18.
The opportunities were numerous. Home Bible study groups completed several projects. Spring break campaigners kept their groups together and worked throughout White County. While some volunteers sang at nursing homes, others crafted items for prisoners and victims of domestic violence. The Early Bird Class at College Church and the College of Nursing worked with the elderly at the Lightle Center.
Local youth were targets of many efforts. The Pied Pipers entertained children participating in a tutoring program while education majors initiated Reading in the Park — Children’s Story Hour in Spring and Berryhill parks. University athletes helped young hopefuls improve skills in soccer, softball, baseball and skateboarding at the Searcy Sports Complex, and future Bison football players enjoyed a mini training camp on the Astroturf of First Security Stadium.
TNT and Zeta Rho social clubs painted a family’s home, and other volunteers assisted in a countywide cleanup led by White County Judge Michael Lincoln.
As the workday ended, participants met in the Family Room at College Church of Christ to reflect and enjoy a cookout provided by Bison Boosters and several volunteers. A devotional and slide show capped off the day.
I couldn’t help but think of Matthew 25:40, “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” Many efforts saw immediate success; others planted seeds to bloom later. Yet only God knows the magnitude of good that was accomplished in the name of Christ.
For more information, contact Todd Gentry, college ministry and outreach, at todd_gentry@yahoo.com.
Focus on the future
Inspire your family with a charitable report
By Ted Hackney, director of the Center for Charitable Estate Planning
 Putting one’s affairs in order usually includes an up-to-date will, directive to physicians, power of attorney, funeral instructions, and sometimes a loving letter or video addressed to immediate family members.
Another document to consider is a charitable report. This report need not be long, but it should include your philosophy of giving (your reasons for making charitable gifts), names of those organizations you have supported through regular giving, a list of any special gifts you can recall (capital campaign gifts and other major contributions), and planned gifts you have made (including bequests in your will, charitable gift annuities, charitable trusts, endowments or other gift arrangements).
Include copies of any gift-related documents with your report. Be sure to highlight any conditions that should be monitored by your family, such as endowment provisions. Finally, indicate why the organizations and gifts mentioned in your charitable report were important to you and what led you to make each gift.
Your charitable report brings together in one statement your giving philosophy and practices. It will be a treasured document and may be highly influential in motivating your children, grandchildren and even great-grandchildren to follow in your footsteps.
You may request our latest brochure on planned giving by contacting Ted Hackney, director, Center for Charitable Estate Planning, at (800) 477-4312 or thackney@harding.edu.
Tribute: Jack Wood Sears 1940
Faithful scientist
By Jennifer L. Marcussen
While often overused, legacy can still be the best word to describe someone. Such is the case for Jack Wood Sears.
 Says Chancellor Clifton L. Ganus Jr., both a peer and colleague of Sears, “He came by it honestly, and what a legacy he had.”
Sears was born in Cordell, Okla., where his father, L.C., taught at Cordell Christian College. The family soon moved to Harper, Kansas, where L.C. served as dean and English professor at Harper College until 1924.
His mother, Pattie Hathaway, was the daughter of J.N. and Woodson Harding Armstrong, Harding’s first president and speech teacher, respectively. His great-grandparents, James and Pattie Cobb Harding, helped start several Christian colleges.
When Sears was a first-grader, his family moved to Morrilton, Ark., where L.C. would act as dean and chair the English department at newly established Harding College. In 1934 at the age of 16, Sears helped the College locate to Searcy and began a lifetime of preaching.
He desired to follow his lineage in Christian education by dedicating his life to teaching young people.
Statements beside his junior and senior Petit Jean photos best sum up his educational philosophy. “Wisdom is better than rubies,” reads his 1939 quote. He followed his senior year in 1940 with “the dome of thought — the palace of the soul.”
After graduation, he obtained a master’s in biology and Ph.D. in genetics at University of Texas. He returned to Harding in 1946 to teach Bible and biology, eventually serving as professor and chair of biological sciences. He retired in 1986, one year after being selected the University’s Distinguished Alumnus.
His professional memberships included American Chemical Society, Arkansas Academy of Science, New York Academy of Science, American Institute of Biological Science, and National Science Foundation. He wrote numerous articles and one book, Conflict and Harmony in Science and the Bible.
He was on the editorial board of Twentieth Century Christian; conducted a weekly radio program on KLRA in Little Rock during the ’50s; was a charter member and past president of Searcy Lions Club; and was appointed by Gov. Faubus to the Arkansas State Healing Arts Board.
He preached and later served as an elder at Downtown Church of Christ.
During his memorial service, Ganus compared Sears to the great men from whom he came. “Jack Wood reminds me of his father,” he said. “He was learned, capable, yet humble and serving; somewhat reserved, but firm in his opinions and ready to speak what he believed.
“He was always helpful to those in need, was a hard worker … loved God and trusted him and was faithful to him. He loved the church, and he loved Harding.”
He closed with 1 Corinthians 15:58: “Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”
Said Ganus, “Jack Wood has now experienced the promise that God made him.”
Sears, 88, died Feb. 5 from complications of pneumonia. He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Mattie Sue Speck (’69); one son, James (’69); two daughters, Pattie (’69) and Martha Collins (’83); six grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.
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