{"id":16532,"date":"2016-12-27T10:00:45","date_gmt":"2016-12-27T15:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/?p=16532"},"modified":"2016-12-27T10:00:45","modified_gmt":"2016-12-27T15:00:45","slug":"bloom-where-youre-planted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/bloom-where-youre-planted\/","title":{"rendered":"Bloom Where You're Planted"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Brooks Center Director Lillian U. Harder, set to retire in 2017, reflects on her 44 years\u00a0at Clemson.<\/span><\/h2>\n

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One year.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That\u2019s how long Lillian \u201cMickey\u201d Harder, director of the Brooks Center for the Performing Arts, and her husband planned to stay in Clemson when they arrived in 1972. Sitting in her office 44 years later, she reflected on the course of her life. \u201cSometimes we need to relax and take what comes,\u201d she mused, \u201cbecause if anyone had ever told me that I would have ended up doing what I\u2019ve been doing, I would have laughed out loud.\u201d
\nHarder, who will retire this year, knows the surprises life can hold. She began teaching piano at age 16 in her hometown of St. George, South Carolina, and believes she was destined for a career in education: \u201cTo take students who knew absolutely nothing about music and to be able to turn them on to something that they could use for the rest of their lives was awe-inspiring.\u201d
\nAfter receiving her bachelor\u2019s degree from Coker College and her master\u2019s degree from Converse College, Harder\u2019s first college job offer wasn\u2019t the right fit. \u201cI had the heart to know something else was out there,\u201d she said. She never thought that \u201csomething\u201d would be Clemson. Harder\u2019s husband returned from service in Vietnam to serve as a physician on the staff of Redfern Health Center. Though doubtful she could pursue music at a University primarily known for engineering and agriculture, Harder reluctantly accepted a one-year teaching appointment in the music department.
\nOne year turned into many. Rising through the ranks to full professor, Harder taught piano and other music courses for 24 years. In 1986, she and her husband established and funded what would become her legacy: the Lillian and Robert Utsey Chamber Music Series. Named in honor of her parents, the series has featured up-and-coming classical musicians, free of charge, for over three decades. Harder was in charge of booking those musicians for 10 years before receiving the opportunity of a lifetime in 1996.
\nThat was the year she was offered the position of director by performing arts department chair, Chip Egan. \u201cI was really very reticent about doing it,\u201d she said. \u201cI loved the classroom, and I felt very successful in that.\u201d
\nTwo pieces of advice ultimately swayed her. Egan himself told her, \u201cYour classroom is just going to be bigger.\u201d In a speech honoring co-education at Clemson, news anchor and Clemson graduate Jane Robelot said, \u201cThose of us who can<\/em>, have to do<\/em>, because there are a lot of people who can only dream<\/em>.\u201d With that, Harder accepted the position and has spent two decades at the helm of Clemson University\u2019s only performing arts center.
\nThere is perhaps no better illustration of Harder\u2019s favorite saying, \u201cBloom where you\u2019re planted,\u201d than her own life. \u201cI think, sometimes, we just have to go with things and be determined that we\u2019re going to do and be the best that we can,\u201d she said. \u201cThings happen for a reason, and they usually turn out pretty darn well.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Thomas Hudgins<\/em><\/p>\n

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Brooks Center Director Lillian U. Harder, set to retire in 2017, reflects on her 44 years\u00a0at Clemson.   One year. That\u2019s how long Lillian \u201cMickey\u201d Harder, director of the Brooks Center for the Performing Arts, and her husband planned to stay in Clemson when they arrived in 1972. Sitting in her office 44 years later, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":16533,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[454,610,1250,1762,1805,3306,3313],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-16532","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-landmarks-legends","tag-brooks-center-for-the-performing-arts","tag-chip-egan","tag-fine-arts","tag-landmarks-legends","tag-lillian-harder","tag-winter-2017","tag-winter-2017-landmarks-legends"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/12\/Mickey-Harder-1500-pixel.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16532","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16532"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16532\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16532"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16532"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16532"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=16532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}