Hardin-Simmons University President Dr. Craig Turner announced that Leland Harden, director of University Communications, will become the new Vice President of Institutional Advancement; stepping into the position being vacated by Mr. Wayne Roy.

Harden will continue to drive HSU marketing initiatives while assuming the additional responsibilities of leading University development efforts. Although the change is effective 1 Jan, 2007, as Vice President Elect, Harden will begin the transition immediately.

Leland has already worked out a way to be in two places at once:

“I am humbled and inspired by this opportunity to follow in the footsteps of the great names in this role like Childers, Hemphill, Styles, and Roy,” says Harden, “I’m confident that our outstanding staff will continue to exceed the University’s goals as we further HSU’s divine mission.”

Harden is a 1984 graduate of HSU with a BBA degree in Management. In his career as a serial entrepreneur, he launched companies in New York City and San Francisco, working extensively with angel investors, venture capitalists, and investment bankers. In these efforts, he successfully participated in raising more than $100 million for various enterprises.

He co-authored three books relating to online marketing, including what many consider the primer of online marketing, Net Results: Web Marketing that Works. He followed with Net Results.2, The Auction-App and was frequently published in numerous industry journals. In March 2001, Harden agreed to join the New Economy Council, which advises the President of the United States on issues relating to online business.

In February of 2004, Harden was honored as one of HSU’s first Outstanding Young Alumni award recipients, and at that time he felt a calling to return to HSU and use his talents on behalf of the University. Harden has since been responsible for a marked improvement in the overall HSU brand image, its publications, and the consolidation of the brand message. Under his direction, the office of University Communications won 3 gold Addy Awards, 2 silver Addy awards, and 3 bronze Addy awards.

By an interesting family coincidence, Leland’s great-uncle, J.L. “Red” Harden, served God as business manager at Wayland Baptist University and vice president of development at California Baptist University, in Riverside, California, until his retirement in 1978.

Leland and his family are members of First Baptist Church, Abilene, where he serves as a deacon. The former HSU Cowboy Band Drum Major also serves as the Cowboy Band Foundation President, and as a board member for the Grace Museum. He has served as a founding member of the the West Texas sports Expo and a founding director of the Abilene Public Relations Organization.

Posted by Dave Coffield · July 31, 2006 3:45 PM · Comments (0)

The HSU Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) are at it again. During the summer, the group created a miniature town that will be used to teach elementary school-aged children about the workings of businesses and economies.

The town is portable so it can be taken to area schools, after-school programs, and other appropriate venues. The SIFE students, advised by Dr. Coleman Patterson, constructed the buildings and secured uniforms and products the elementary students can use to conduct business transactions just like those found in a small city. The city has a post office, a WalMart, fast food outlets, and many other businesses. They plan to have some of the students play the role of merchants, and others the role of consumers. The village is intended to give students an introduction to the importance of responsibility, economics, personal finance, and education in their future success.

The village makes its first appearance at Sears Park Tuesday, Aug 1, from 9 – 11 a.m., then Pioneer Drive August 2, also from 9 – 11 a.m. After evaluating the concept, the SIFE students will take the village on the road to area schools when the fall semester starts.

Below, SIFE student (and HSU football player) Jordan Daniel flashes SIFE cash and samples a SIFE burger (it’s actually a plush-toy) in preparation for the first village outing.

SIFE is a global non-profit organization active in more than 40 countries. SIFE is funded by financial contributions from corporations, entrepreneurs, foundations, government agencies and individuals. SIFE team members leverage their personal educational experiences, the expertise of their faculty advisors, the support of their local business advisory boards, and the resources of their institutions to implement programs that create real economic opportunities for members of their communities.
Check back to see how the village works…should be fun.

Posted by Dave Coffield · July 31, 2006 3:38 PM · Comments (0)

The HSU web log is back up after a short hiatus, and we’d like to welcome readers back with a note from Nigeria. The format is designed to be informal and to give readers a feel for some of the behind-the-scenes happenings at the University. Some stories will be big, some will be small, but hopefully, all will be worth a look.

HSU physical therapy faculty member Dr, Phillip Palmer, his wife Elayne, son Luke, and two physical therapy students are currently on the ground in Jos, Nigeria. Jos is so remote, even Google Earth took a long time getting there.

Dr. Palmer is working in the Evangel Hospital and students Eryn Mikel and Jamie White are completing a portion of their clinical rotations there. Elayne and Luke are working at the Transition House, a ministry to “street boys.” The group arrived last week and will work with the Jos community until Aug 10.

The group lost the struggle to stay awake after multiple flights and a 4-hour drive by jeep. Exhausted, they missed some of the beauty of the Nigerian wild.

Frankly, the driver nervously working his prayer beads as the elephant crossed the road would have kept me awake.

The group spent their first day adjusting, unpacking, and setting up schedules. Adjusting may take a little longer than a day, “One thing that challenged me right away is the hospital,” says Eryn,”hardly nice enough for a storage room in the United States. In some rooms, there are about 20 patients, all with different problems and levels of involvement. Every room smells of urine, mixed with body odor and who knows what else. Sometimes I just want to cry just looking at it.”

Jamie asked one of the local doctors, “How does anything ever heal here?” “By the grace of God," answered the doctor, “by the grace of God.”

Luke spent his first day on an outreach trip to the city’s worst slums, “We were there to administer medicine to those in need. This was the area where the blind, lepers, and rejected people live. We walked through narrow alleyways between houses that weren’t really houses. The state in which the people are living is hard to describe in words.

Check in from time-to-time for an update on the mission as the HSU group struggles to bring light, and find light, in a truly desolate land.

Posted by Dave Coffield · July 31, 2006 2:05 PM · Comments (0)

Thank you for checking in this past week. We really appreciate the Abilene Reporter News giving us this opportunity to share behind-the-scenes moments with two of the jewels in the Hardin-Simmons University crown. The Reporter News has graciously offered to keep this blog active so we can continue to journal the activities that make our University so special.

We're going to take a short break, but save this link because we'll start bringing daily content to the blog on July 26th, or shortly thereafter. Stay tuned, and we'll see you in a couple of weeks. -Dave

Posted by Dave Coffield · July 7, 2006 11:53 PM · Comments (0)

I planned to end the trip with a story titled “Postcard from the Edge” yesterday. The day was challenging, to say the least, but a good night’s rest put things in better perspective.

The last entry in the Boston blog should read: “and they all arrived safely in Abilene at 4:00 a.m. Thursday completing a near perfect journey.” Unfortunately, like Dr. Dorothy’s long overdue luggage, stuck on some eternal mobius loop, we seemed to cross over into a strange land, forever waiting, forever flying….

The trip home started well enough. The band, the horse riders, and the adult coordinators all arrived at Logan airport at pretty much the same time. We even checked in with a minimum of discomfort; no trophies for security (no potentially hazardous hand lotion or shampoo this time, although there were several pairs of socks in front of me that would qualify as WMD’s), all of the instruments made it, the weather outside was great.

It got worse. Shortly after arriving at the boarding gate, our flight was delayed for weather in Atlanta; first an hour, then two, eventually five. We left Boston a little after midnight and entered the twilight zone.

We’d missed everything that could take us to Dallas, but the carrier promised a solution early in the morning. The best bet was a standby crew and aircraft to take us directly to DFW. When that didn’t materialize, we noticed the airline staff also failed to materialize. The gates were deserted and the students were huddling under blankets in a cold, empty space.

Ticketing and boarding agents were actually sequestered in a back room because they had no idea how to accommodate the 48 person group marooned at their gate. Of course an airline can’t control the weather, but a word of encouragement, some communication, even a note scrawled in crayon, would have been nice. I noticed a twitch starting in Dr. Dorothy’s brow.

As the morning progressed, (and after several calls to the carrier’s corporate offices) the staff decided we weren’t going to go away and woke up someone at home, who woke up another person, who woke up someone who could make a decision.

When the “decision-maker” arrived, he made a few calls and motioned us to a gate. The flight plan (I kid you not) actually changed 4 times in the time it took to walk 50 feet. Eventually, we were shipped off to CHICAGO with the hope that we would have a better chance of getting to Dallas that day. After a night in the Atlanta airport, we were going to the windy city.

After 30 hours without significant sleep we weren’t really sure we would ever make it home. Like spirits that ride the abandoned New York subway lines, we were the eternal riders of the sky.

We were split into two groups. One left for DFW early and waited for 10 hours in Dallas. The second group followed 10 hours later.

I’ll spare you the rest of the story, but we did arrive in Abilene at 9:30 last night. Other than an occasional cat-nap, no one had slept for two days. Dr. Dorothy did catch up with his luggage; It had never left the airport.

But, we ARE back. The Six White Horses are traveling through Branson Missouri, and should be home soon (we were worried they'd beat us home). I can’t tell you what an honor it was to travel with the Cowboy Band and Six White Horses riders. I’ve never met a more mature, helpful, inquisitive, gracious, sincere, and big-hearted group of students in my life. Everyone took delays in stride, and actively engaged the people, landmarks, and history of the city we visited. As ambassadors for Hardin-Simmons University, Abilene, and the Big Country, they did their job well.

Posted by Dave Coffield · July 7, 2006 10:38 AM · Comments (1)

The Boston experience ended with a bang last night as most of the HSU contingent drifted toward the Charles River for the evening concert and fireworks. Although many of the Cowboy Band members were down at the Esplanade catching the Boston Pops concert (with special guest Steven Tyler and Joe Perry from Aerosmith), I joined the Six White Horses riders, their coordinator Debbie Jones, Dr. Wayne Dorothy (Cowboy Band Director), Lawson (dean of the School of Music and Fine Arts at HSU) and Jane Hager at the home of Jim and Jocelyn Sugden for dinner and fireworks.

The Sugden’s (supporters of HSU and the Six White Horses) home, on Beacon Street, overlooks the Charles River, was directly in front of the fireworks barge, and was only blocks from the Esplanade. We had front row seats for the show, gracious hosts, and a cool breeze carrying the sweet honeysuckle aroma of the Linden trees through the windows. As the last notes of Steven Tyler’s cover of “Dream On” echoed down the river, the crowd of 500,000 lining the banks began to roar in anticipation of the fireworks. The riders leaned out the windows to get a better view,

and at precisely 10:30 a full half-hour of the most amazing fireworks display began. There wasn’t a moment when at least a dozen shells weren’t painting the sky. It was a non-stop feast for the eyes that one literally had to see to believe. There were three-dimensional cubes, planets with rings, multi-colored happy faces, and hundreds and hundreds of starbursts, streamers, bombs, and sparkling showers. We were too astonished to even “ooh” and “aww.”

If you ever make it to Boston, try to make it the 4th of July. You’ll remember it forever.

Everyone should be packing for the trip home by now. We leave at 7:30 p.m. tonight and should be in Abilene by 3:00 tomorrow morning. The horses, who've thoroughly enjoyed the New England pastures,

will begin their 3-day trip home early this afternoon.

Posted by Dave Coffield · July 5, 2006 10:23 AM · Comments (2)

I’ve been to a number of conventions, all sizes, formats, and themes; but I really wasn’t prepared for the frenzy of the International Lions Club convention floor. A new president, especially one from Texas, is cause for a celebration almost bacchanalian in scope.

The HSU Cowboy Band’s morning performance was greeted with smiles, cheers, and a sea of flashbulbs (and the generally unrestrained revelry of the Texas delegation), but the celebration that followed was astonishing.

As the new Lions president, Jimmy Ross, was introduced, Texans (replete with western outfits and flags) came pouring down the aisles in something that I could only compare to a mosh pit (if you’ve ever been to a rock concert) or maybe the New York Stock Exchange trading floor.

Right in the middle of the giant, snaking conga line was the Cowboy Band; playing and marching for all they were worth. “It was a spontaneous performance, and we were making the rules as we went along,” said band director Dr. Wayne Dorothy. They had to. If anyone had stopped, they’d have been trampled. Everyone had to be near them, everyone had to touch them, the band was that charismatic. They owned the floor while they played.

After nearly 20 minutes of total chaos (but very musical chaos), the celebration wound down to a point where the new Lions president could speak. Meanwhile, a slightly bemused Cowboy Band emerged at the rear of the auditorium with placards stuck in tubas, cut-out faces of Mr. Ross attached to hats, and celebratory paraphernalia dangling from uniforms.

As the Ross explained his mandate for the coming year, the band made good its escape. Over 12,000 people would soon be pouring out of the new convention center, and we wanted to be well on our way by then.

Tonight the students continue their exploration of Boston, but many of them will watch the enormous fireworks display from the Charles River. Many will attend the outdoor Boston Pops concert (along with an audience projected at 70,000). A few of us will be at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Sugden, Boston based HSU supporters, watching the annual display from their river-front home. More later.

Posted by Dave Coffield · July 4, 2006 1:19 PM · Comments (1)

You may have noticed a lack of content yesterday. With a couple of days to see Boston, students were out the door yesterday morning, early, going in 48 directions. I didn’t have a chance.

I do know that the Six White Horses riders took their mounts on a trail ride in a botanical sanctuary (at the invitation of the owners), and discovered how black, thick, and sticky New England mud can be. Six half-white/half-mud horses (and riders) got a scrub-down when they returned. Fenway baseball park was a popular destination for the guys, and we’ll see quite a few Red Sox hats around HSU for a while.

I had a plan for today, though. I was to meet Debbie Jones (Six White horses program director) and Dr. Wayne Dorothy (Cowboy Band director) at 9:00 a.m. to walk the Freedom Trail, a marked route of historical sights, with a contingent of band members and horse riders. Can't go wrong with a plan, right? By 11:30 there was no sign of them, and I had a hint this wasn’t going to be easy. We linked up by noon and an hour later we’d traveled six blocks. The route is marked by a painted red stripe and a path three bricks wide, but a marked path is an affront to a Texan; so each turn resulted in a dozen spontaneous interpretations of where the route really lay. It was like herding cats.

We started with a group of 25, but gradually lost most of them along the way. Every once in a while we’d look around and ask “where’s so-and-so?” We can only hope they are still shopping, or decided to strike out on their own. Nine of us made it to the Old North Church (where the lanterns indicated an invasion by land and sea during the American Revolution), and we were down to six by the time we crossed the Charles River and found the USS Constitution.

For once, pictures can’t really describe the day, although here is a shot of Tressie Smith navigating for the group by the old Anglican church on the north side of Boston Common, the oldest city park in the nation:

And here Erica Muzljakovich discovers the final resting place of Paul Revere:

And, two riders pose near Old Ironsides; which was preparing for its annual sail around the harbor:

Tonight a brave group heads out on the Ghost Tour. That’s right, our kids are going to follow famed ghost hunter and storyteller Jim McCabe on a tour of Boston’s most infamous haunted locales. It may be that McCabe is the brave one. He gets to try to keep that bunch together, I say more power to him!

Tomorrow are the final performances of the Cowboy Band at the Lion’s Club International convention. Okay, I had it wrong…there are 110 countries participating this year, not the predicted 99, and since there were 10,000 marchers in the parade alone, there have to be more than 12,000 attendees at the convention. Whatever the number, it's a bunch of people. The band plays for the entire assembly at 8:45, then performs during the inauguration of the new president, Texan Jimmy Ross.

Posted by Dave Coffield · July 3, 2006 7:33 PM · Comments (0)

Jimmy Ross is big news for Texas Lions; promising to “completely reinvigorate the Lions Club International.” He got a big leg up on that promise by consolidating his support-base at the Texas delegation’s Ice Cream Social tonight in Boston. With his inauguration just days away, Ross, of Quitaque, Texas, (shown here visiting with supporters)

already sounds presidential. New ideas always go down a little better with ice cream and good music, and the Cowboy Band supplied the latter with gusto.

Charging into the room with the volume turned up on full, the Band had the crowd on its feet celebrating the first Lions Club International president from Texas in grand style. With favorites like “Oh Lord, It’s Hard to Be Humble,” “Won’t You Be My Gal,” and the occasional shout to “save us some ice cream,” the Band turned the business meeting into a Texas sized pep rally.

The performance ended with the Texas state song and a request by the delegation to play at the Inaugural ceremony before the entire 12,000-member convention on the 4th. Until then, the musicians and riders are going to take some time out to enjoy the sights, sounds, tastes, and heritage of this historical city. We’ll try to follow a few and bring you their adventures. Till then, good night all!

Posted by Dave Coffield · July 2, 2006 12:21 AM · Comments (1)

After a week of rain, Boston gave its visitors and residents a glorious sunny day as participants gathered for the 2006 Lions Club International Parade. Rested and full of vinegar, the Six White Horses and Cowboy Band showed Boston a thing or two.

Lined up a full hour before the start, the west Texans drew such admiring crowds, the local gendarmes had their hands full clearing a path for the start of the parade. Clearly, cowboys and horses have lost none of their appeal for the rest of the nation…and the world.

The band hob-nobbed with delegates from India,

Invited the new Lion’s Club International president, Mr. Jimmy Ross for a photo op (in Black pin-stripe suit),

And milled about as the start time approached

Then they were off, with flags proudly waving, serenading the crowds with real western flavor.

When people call the Six White Horses and Cowboy Band “ambassadors,” they know what they’re talking about. Of all the parade marchers, bands, floats, and other assorted entrants, only the HSU students really put on a show. Band members periodically peeled off and sang to the crowds along the curbs of the parade route, or took the hands of children and twirled them around to their obvious delight. Mini Me got a year’s worth of hugs and pats in the .7 mile parade, and was the shutterbug favorite for delegates from all the assembled nations. One little girl reached out to touch the boots of a Six White Horses rider during a pause in the march and said, “Daddy, I want to grow up to be like them.”

Yes, HSU put on a show today. I heard at least 7 versions of “those HSU horses/Cowboys just made this parade” on the way back to the marshalling area. Even when walking into a restaurant at lunch, complete strangers saw the logo on my shirt and said, “Hardin-Simmons, huh? That band was the best entertainment out there!” At least I think that’s what they said; people talk really fast up here.

The route wasn’t especially long, but it was all uphill, and marchers were walking a little slower getting back onto the bus than when getting off, but like all good entertainers, they gave their best with glad hearts; and made a difference in quite a few lives today.

Next up…The Ice Cream Social for the Texas delegation at 8:00 tonight.

Posted by Dave Coffield · July 1, 2006 3:07 PM · Comments (5)