Words and Images from Groundbreaking

Currently the board of directors of Harless Center at Central Place is engaged in a capital campaign to raise funds to support the programs of Harless Center, to furnish the program spaces of the center, and to repay debt incurred whiled developing the project over the last six years.  We are grateful for the lead gift made by Mr. James H. 'Buck' Harless to the project.  Mr. Harless also agreed to serve as the honorary campaign chair and was in attendance at the groundbreaking on Sunday, September 29.  John Fisher, Dean of the WVU College of Law spoke on behalf and in honor of Mr. Harless.  Here are Dean Fisher's remarks.

If a person is lucky, during their life they will be blessed by the friendship of a very special person who becomes very important in their life.  Buck Harless has not only been such a friend to me, he has also touched the lives of countless others in so many ways.

Dean Fisher speaking in honor of Mr. Harless

            Buck grew up during the great depression in a family of limited financial means, but full of concern  and compassion for others.  Through hard work, good judgment and a strength of character, he became a very successful businessman and enjoyed financial success.  What makes Buck different from many others who have enjoyed financial success is that he believes that with such success comes responsibilities.  He believes that he is a steward of what God has given him, and as a steward he has a duty to use his financial resources wisely.    We can all learn a lesson of stewardship from the way Buck has lived his life.

Mr. Harless

            Throughout his life, Buck has supported many deserving causes and helped countless individuals.  Among those things important to Buck are his relationship with his God; his concern for young people and his belief in, and support of, education.  Buck has supported education at every level.  As a community leader, he worked to pass bond levys for better facilities.  A number of years ago when the new high school did not have the funds to build the auditorium, Buck’sgift made it possible.   More recently when the new consolidated Mingo Central  did not have the money to build the football complex, Mr. Harless understood how being teammates in Athletics would help bring what had been five separate schools together into one new student body.  Thanks to Mr. Harless, Mingo Central has a football complex that many a small college would envy. 

            Higher education has no better friend that Buck Harless.  He has supported WVU and Marshall; Pikesville College in Kentucky; Stillman College in Tuscaloosa, Alabama; the Presbyterian Seminary in Louisville, and The United Negro College Fund.  At WVU, he has supported new facilities, created scholarships, endowed Professorships and Chairs.  He has given of his time and talents – he served as both Chair of the WVU Foundation and our University’s  Board of Advisors.  Education at all levels in West Virginia has had no better friend that Buck Harless.

            Related to Buck’s commitment to improving education is his concern for young people.  He has always realized the importance of providing young people a positive environment in which to learn and play.  Buck’s son Larry worried about the lack of things for children in Gilbert to do.  Following Larry’s death in 1995, Buck built a community center for Gilbert that has a gymnasium, indoor Olympic swimming pool, racquet ball courts, weight room, walking track, outdoor tennis courts, movie theaters, a cafeteria, and dance studio.   Today it houses a medical clinic staffed by doctors from the WVU School of Medicine that brings specialized care to southern West Virginia.  There is no finer such facility in our state than The Larry Joe Harless Community Center.

            Buck’s faith is very important to him.  This ground breaking ceremony today is to build the Harless Center  -- a place where college students attending WVU can live in an environment conducive to their religious beliefs.  It is, indeed, most appropriate that a place for young people to live with others who share similar goals and values while they pursue a higher education shall be named the Harless Center.

            Buck’s favorite poem is entitled the Bridge Builder.  It’s verses are mounted on the walls of The Larry Joe Harless Community Center on a bronze plaque. The poem tells of a man in the twilight of his life who comes to a dangerous river to cross.  The man starts to build a bridge across the river and as he works, he is asked by another why he is building the bridge because he will not pass that way again.  The Bridge Builder answers, it is not for him, but for the youth that will follow so that they can cross safely to the other side.  The poem is a wonderful story of love told in verse.  It is what he celebrates today with this ground breaking.  It is what The Harless Center will be.  Buck, on behalf of the youth that will pass this way in the future and who will find shelter in The Harless Center, I thank you.