» By Lindsay Gudal
On Thursday, July 19, Chris B. Hardin, associate professor of theater and dance, suffered a fatal heart attack. A beloved teacher and friend, his loss has been greatly felt by students and faculty alike.
“It wasn’t just like losing a professor,” said Jarvis Bynum, junior theater performance major, “it was like losing a friend.”
Andrea Coleman, a former student of Hardin’s, held back tears as she remembered Hardin. “He was amazing. You couldn’t stay in his class without laughing.”
Coleman, who was looking forward to Hardin’s advanced dialect class, said she’s trying to continue to focus on dialects. “It’s what I want to do, and he wouldn’t want me to give up on that.”
When asked how he impacted her as a student, former student of Hardin’s and junior theater major Kayla Atkins said, “Oh my gosh. I wanted to be him when I grew up. He was an inspiration. He made me want to be my best, to do better, and continue learning.
“He wasn’t just a professor. He was our friend. He was our mentor, our role model, our therapist. He was just that person we looked up to.”
