Former UCA President Lu Hardin was sentenced to five years of probation Monday morning for wire fraud and money laundering, crimes that continue to hurt efforts to bolster UCA’s image.
The conviction serves as the end of a long and dark chapter in UCA’s history.
Opinion will differ about whether the sentence was fair or too lenient, but regardless, when Hardin left, he left a black mark on UCA’s reputation from which it still has not recovered.
Hardin began the long line of scandals that have affected UCA for the past three years. When Hardin wrote the memo to give himself money to pay off gambling debts, he effectively ended the period of rapid growth UCA experienced under him.
When former UCA President Allen Meadors came to UCA, he inherited the problems Hardin left when he resigned. Meadors was the right president for the monetary problems UCA had, but was not the right person to deal with the image problems. Meadors made many of the public trust issues worse for UCA by being secretive and not cooperating with the media.
Many of Meadors’ problems stemmed from his inability to deal with the press and the public well, but the scrutiny he was placed under was not something most university presidents deal with.
Meadors was not the right person to fix UCA’s broken image, but was unsuccessful because of Hardin’s crimes.
If Hardin had not created a stigma against UCA’s administration, Meadors would not have had to deal with so much media attention and  could have been a much more successful president at UCA.
Hardin’s crimes had far more impact than just the scandal that resulted after they were discovered. They have affected UCA’s ability to compete with other universities as well.
Many potential students will not come to UCA simply because of its tarnished image. When less students attend a university, there is less money, which means higher tuition for students who choose to attend the school.
Hardin’s conviction does not mean the end of controversies he is involved with at UCA. In addition to the Aramark scandal, which is still ongoing, Hardin is currently cooperating with the FBI in another investigation. While the details of the case have not been released, the case will undoubtedly bring more attention to UCA’s problems.
His cooperation with the investigation was part of his plea deal, so while he isn’t at the center of the investigation, he is involved with it somehow.
Hardin’s lack of judgement in 2008 not only cost him his career and the rights lost by being a convicted felon, but also lost him the respect and image that he worked decades to achieve.
The UCA community and much of Arkansas trusted and respected Hardin until his crimes were revealed. His gambling debts cost him more than his money. His debts cost him his future and the money, power and career he spent years building.
Hardin’s crimes cost him nearly everything he had, but they cost UCA more than anyone could have predicted. His selfish act hurt the community he supposedly loved. In addition to his probation and personal losses that Hardin has experienced as a result of his crimes, he will have to live with being the cause of many of UCA’s financial woes and image problems that have continued to affect its community years later.