“God Has Continued to Bless Generation After Generation”: Freed-Hardeman University Opens 156th Academic Year

“God has continued to bless generation after generation,” Freed-Hardeman University President David R. Shannon told the student body, faculty and staff, as the school officially opened the 156th academic year with the annual Tolling of the Bell ceremony Wednesday, August 20. The university tradition was particularly poignant this year, as it was Shannon’s final one as president before he returns to full-time ministry.

Before issuing his message, Shannon credited Freed-Hardeman’s administration for making the improvements and growth possible. “All of those accomplishments we did together and only by the blessings of God,” Shannon said. As Master of the Bell, Shannon’s message to the student body was inspired by Colossians 3:23, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.” He encouraged students to approach academics, athletics, work and their relationships with zeal and purpose. “God doesn’t want your passive all, he wants your passionate all.”

President Shannon rings the bell 15 times during the annual tolling of the bell. Shannon first acted as Master of the Bell during his inaugural year as president in 2017.

Student Government Association President Birdie Greene, a junior double majoring in law and politics and Bible, accepted the challenge on behalf of the student body. “I am reminded that everything we do, whether in the classroom, on the field, and in our daily relationships, must be done in whole devotion to the Lord,” she said.

Shannon rang the bell 15 times, once for every decade of the university’s existence, symbolizing the continuity of its legacy. The bell was first tolled by A.G. Freed, one of the school’s founders, in the late 1800s at a school he attended in Essary Springs.