PSU Magazine Spring 1998

The Rev. Phil Harder, retiring from the Campus Ministry at Portland State after more than 20 years, almost didn't make it. In 1977, Harder moved from a small-town college campus to serve as ecumenical minister for the PSU community. The ministry, housed in the Koinonia House (affectionately know as the K-house), functions essen– tially as a multi-denominational house of worship. Although independent of PSU, the ministry works closely with the school. Twenty-one years ago, Harder discovered that plopping down a small– town kid in a big-town setting was more than he had bargained for. The urban etting and sheer size of PSU mac.le it hard to find a community, and without a community what is a minis– ter's mission? Harder found the answer in a question. "During my first three years," he says, "I wanted to quit-that's when I discovered what my question was." PHOTO BY STEVE DIPAOLA Rev. Phil Harder is retiring after 21 years with Campus Ministry. By Melissa Steineger A question, as Harder sees it, is the guiding principal for motivating oneself. Discover your question, then labor diligently to find the answer. Harder's question: Does Portland State have a moral responsibility to present student a view of the world other than a middle-class one? His answer led him to teach a class on development ethics. More classes ensued, including Conditions for World Peace, which evolved into a master's degree program in conflict resolution. Harder has actively sought to put questions before the general public, too--organizing conferences on racism and on America's involve– ment in the Gulf War, among others. And he helped found the Center for the Study of Religion, a place to collect all the classes taught at PSU that deal with issues of a spiritual or religious nature. His efforts have not gone unnoticed. Harder received the Thousand Cranes Peace Award in 1992, given by the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners in recognition of his activities promoting peace and under– standing on local and international levels. His dark hair glinting with steel, Harder, 66, is perfectly relaxed in an office that can most easily be described as a resting ground for paper. Thick stacks cover his desk and most of the floor. He has no time for sorting papers, he says, when more important duties call- like walking his beat. This beat, an informal affair, starts most days in the mail room, where Harder picks up the ministry's mail and takes time to talk with anyone who might have wandered in. Depending on the day, he might stop by the gym, swing through Cramer Hall-making sure to stop at offices with candy bowls-and on days when he takes voice lessons, he adds Lincoln Hall to the row1ds. Most outings include a stop at Annie's Coffee Co.-the site of anti– war protests when he arrived at PSU, now a popular dining spot for students, fac ulty, and staff. "I'm a 'safe ear' for people," he says. "Everyone knows what other people do--their job titles-I'm the one who goes around and finds out who they are." Who Harder is has changed over the years. A high school teacher for eight years, Harder decided at age 32 to earn a Doctorate in Religion. His experience in a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (M.A.S.H.) unit during the Korean war had given him the desire to "create little openings of light-truth, answers if you will-that demonstrate that life is more complex and more ambiguous than simple facts and figures." As a campus minister, he reasoned, he might find a fertile ground ro create those openings. Has he succeeded? "You have to have faith," says Harder, "because you can never know for sure. If what you teach is true, I have faith that it does create those openings for the spiritual to shine through." D (Melissa Steineger, a Portland freelance writer, wrote the article "Corporate Rescue, " which appeared in the winter 1998 PSU Magazine.) SPRING 1998 PSU MAGAZINE 13