Dean's Column

Buck and June Harless

On April 18, 2000, the College of Law celebrated the gift of James H. "Buck" and June Harless endowing the James H. "Buck" and June M. Harless Professorship of Law and the John W. Fisher, II Professorship of Law. The following is a portion of my remarks made at the dedication.

Today is a very special day in the life of the West Virginia University College of Law and in my own life. Today, we dedicate two new professorships, and in so doing we express our deepest appreciation to Buck and June Harless for a gift which will enable members of our faculty to better fulfill our college's mission of teaching, research, and service.

While the significance of this gift lies in what it means to the future of our College of Law, it is also a very special day for me. Today, I am participating in the ceremony as both the dean and as an honoree. Buck, on behalf of our College of Law as a community, we thank you and June for what your gift will mean to us in the years ahead and to the future of legal education in our state. Personally, I thank you for the love and friendship we share and for your honoring my service to this college of law in a manner which means so much to me. Through this gift, you have forever linked our names and friendship together on the campus of West Virginia University and as part of our College of Law. But above all, today we celebrate the lives of two people who have made such a positive difference in their community and in our state.

Buck and June were childhood sweethearts who married on February 25, 1939. Last year they celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary, shortly before June's death on April 27. Buck and June grew up in Mingo County during the Great Depression of the 1930s, and without question that was a period in our nation's history that greatly influenced the lives and values of everyone who lived through it. Undoubtedly, those hard times helped to shape Buck and June's love for each other and instilled in them the importance of family, of family values, of friendship, of loyalty, and of a sense of community. For 60 years Buck and June were not only husband and wife, they were also partners in supporting the causes they believed in. The success that they enjoyed as a result of their business activities did not cause them to lose sight of the core values they learned to appreciate in their earlier years. If anything, their business successes increased their commitment of stewardship and their commitment to use their resources to benefit others.

My friendship with Mr. Harless began the weekend of September 11, 1982 -- that was the date that West Virginia University defeated the University of Oklahoma by a score of 41-27. Buck at that time was chair of both the West Virginia University Foundation Board and the Board of Advisors and had invited Gordon Gee and his wife, Elizabeth, to accompany him to Norman, Oklahoma to see the football game. On Thursday, their daughter, Rebecca, got sick and Elizabeth decided she should not go to Oklahoma, so Gordon advised me that I could go in Elizabeth's place. Buck, as Presbyterians we can conclude that we were predestined to make that trip together.

The friendship which began that weekend has grown both stronger and deeper in the years that followed, and in that process I have come to know the Harlesses as two of the most thoughtful, caring, good, and decent persons I have ever been privileged to know. With Mr. Harless, his word is his bond, and if all businessmen operated like Mr. Harless there would be far less work for us lawyers.

Buck's hard work, integrity, and good business judgment have made him one of the most successful businessmen in our state's history. In 1993, he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Entrepreneur of the Year Award. This award recognizes, in a summary way, his achievement in business. What that award does not adequately reflect is how Buck has used his success to improve the lives of West Virginians in so many ways. Buck believes and practices that each of us has a duty to give back to the community in which we live and work, and the greater one's wealth, the greater the opportunity and obligation. I would like to share with you just a few examples of how the Harless' have followed this creed.

When the bids for the new Gilbert High School came in above budget and it appeared that the planned auditorium would not be built, Mr. and Mrs. Harless provided the money for the auditorium and asked that it be named for a former principal. As another example, last summer, they celebrated the opening of the Larry Joe Harless Community Center in Gilbert. It is named after their son who died in 1995. The center contains a gymnasium, two racquetball courts, an indoor Olympic swimming pool, and indoor walkway, a weight room, a three screen first-run movie theater, meeting rooms, a distance learning center, a cafeteria, dance studio, outdoor tennis courts, and more. The ten million dollar facility would be the envy of any community in West Virginia, and the construction of it was essentially paid for by Buck and June. The money raised by the community and other friends is being used to help with the operational costs. Not only has this community center made a difference in the lives of the people of Mingo County, and particularly the youth, it has also made a difference in the quality of life for those who live in the neighboring counties. Buck is also very active in his church, in support of Boy Scouts, and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes because he realizes the many pressures that the youth of our country faces today and sees the importance of effective ways in helping our young people to deal with these many challenges.

While Buck did not have the opportunity to attend college, I venture to say there has never been a stronger supporter of higher education in the State of West Virginia. In addition to his support of West Virginia University, he supports Marshall University; Stillman College in Tuscaloosa, Alabama; Pikeville College in Pikeville, Kentucky; and the United Negro College Fund. His support of education includes his time, talent, and leadership, as well as his resources.

These are examples of the Harless' generosities that have touched the lives of so many others through various charitable organizations. Equally important is that a day does not go by that Buck does not help some individual in some way that is extremely important to that person. It may be that he gives sound fatherly advice to a young person, helps an acquaintance who has fallen on hard times, visits with a friend who is sick, or, as he did several years ago, assist a former teacher, who in her eighties wanted to pursue her dream of obtaining her Ph.D. He is truly a person who cares about others and who so often helps others in unexpected and quiet ways.

There are two stories that will provide an insight into the character of my good friend. While Mr. Harless has worked extremely hard all his life, both as a business man and in giving his time and talents to the many organizations he supports, he also recognizes and appreciates that his success in business reflects the work and contributions of his many employees. While he has treated his employees with fairness and generosity as he built his businesses, he has also worried about the future of his employees and their families in the years ahead. While Mr. Harless had a variety of options concerning his business assets and holdings, in 1997 Buck initiated an ESOP plan which is enabling his employees to buy the companies, thus assuring an economic future for the communities in which those businesses are located and employment security for those who helped make his businesses a success.

The other story comes from the late Ned Chilton, the publisher of The Charleston Gazette. As Ned explained to Gordon, not only did Buck Harless' name keep coming up in conjunction with his support of the University and in politics, it also kept coming up in conjunction with so many other activities. While I have never understood the exact reason, Ned decided he wanted to find out more about this "coal baron" from southern West Virginia whose name kept popping up in so many different places. By the time the Gazette finished finding out more about Buck, they decided to name James H. "Buck" Harless the 1983 Charleston Gazette West Virginian of the Year.

Like so many others, the editorial board of the Charleston Gazette discovered that the more one knows about Buck the more one respects him, likes him, and appreciates the many good things and causes that he has supported. It also helps to explain why those of us fortunate to be his friend cherish our friendship with him so very much.