By John Lyon
Arkansas News Bureau

LITTLE ROCK — Lu Hardin, former president of the University of Central Arkansas, has accepted the position of president of Palm Beach Atlantic University, a Christian university in West Palm Beach, Fla.

Hardin, who starts on the job Wednesday, was selected from an initial pool of about 75 candidates, R. Marshall Jones, a member of the Florida university’s board and chairman of the search committee that chose Hardin, said Tuesday. He did not disclose Hardin’s compensation.

Hardin, 57, resigned as president of UCA last year under a cloud related to a $300,000 bonus that Hardin received and steps he took to secure the bonus and keep it from becoming public.

Questions have also been raised about other activities during Hardin’s tenure, including the conversion of public funds to private funds to pay a football coach’s salary, UCA’s borrowing of money for two years without required state approval and the awarding of “presidential discretionary” scholarships with no eligibility requirements.

Jones said Tuesday the committee he headed spent nine months selecting a replacement for outgoing PBA President David W. Clark, who retired after heading the university for six years.

Jones said Hardin stood out from the other candidates “because of his tremendous track record at the University of Central Arkansas, his strong commitment to higher education and his combination of vision and leadership.”

Asked if university officials were aware of the circumstances surrounding Hardin’s departure from UCA, Jones said, “Lu was completely forthright about his experience” and added, “We looked at the total man over 30 years.”

Jones said of Hardin, “He’s the right person to help us become the premier Christian university that we aspire to be. … He bases his life on open and good relationships with people, and we’re delighted to have him here at PBA.”

Hardin’s openness was called into question last year, after it was revealed that he falsely told the UCA Board of Trustees an attorney had advised that a $300,000 bonus he received could be kept secret.

Hardin also gave the board a memo about the bonus that bore the names of three UCA vice presidents, though the vice presidents said they had no knowledge of the memo. Hardin later acknowledged he wrote the note.

Hardin eventually returned the money, minus taxes. When he resigned, the UCA board approved a severance package that included nearly a year’s paid sabbatical at his $253,000 annual salary and a $670,000 buyout of his contract. He and the board later agreed on a lump sum payout of about $550,000.

A former state senator and Arkansas Tech University professor, Hardin stepped down at UCA after a six-year tenure in which UCA’s enrollment increased from 8,000 to 13,000 and the school became the state’s second largest university.

In a video greeting posted Tuesday on YouTube, Hardin said, “It is my honor and privilege to have been chosen as the seventh president of Palm Beach Atlantic University … It is a privilege not only to prepare students for a profession through higher education but also to prepare students for a Christ-centered life.”

The university’s Web site has a link to the video. Also on the site are endorsements of Hardin from former Arkansas Gov. and Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, former gas company CEO and Republican gubernatorial candidate Sheffield Nelson and Mark Dance, pastor of the Second Baptist Church in Conway.

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On the Net:
http://www.pba.edu