Harms says Armstrong kept him in college

He recalled that he was “scared to death and didn’t know if I belonged” when he enrolled at Chadron State as a freshman in the fall of 1958.

“My stomach churned when I went to class and I was sweating when I took my first exams,” Harms said. “My parents said I needed to go to college so I’d have a better life than they did. They chose Chadron State for me. But I struggled for a while.”

Harms said his academic adviser was Ross Armstrong, the long-time CSC coach and administrator and the person for whom the Armstrong Building, where commencement took place, is named.

“He was a wonderful man and he cared for me. He wouldn’t let me quit,” Harms related.

Even after Harms had been at Chadron State two years and had been elected the president of his class both years, he said he nearly dropped out.

“My friends back home had cars and were having fun,” Harms said. “I had to save all the money I earned during the summers to pay the bills the following year. At the end of my sophomore year, I told Ross Armstrong I wasn’t coming back the next fall. I had no intention of coming back.

“But during the summer, Ross called my parents and he even made a visit to our home (in Morrill.) He said I needed to come back. About two weeks before classes were to begin, he called again. He asked me if I was coming back and I told him I was.”

In the fall of 1960, Harms was again elected the class president. The following year he was chosen the Student Senate president. He graduated with honors in May 1962 and once held the CSC shot put record.

After teaching and coaching three years in Gering, Harms returned to CSC to earn his masters degree. He then was director of housing and financial aid at the college two years. He spent the last 30 years as president of Western Nebraska Community College in Scottsbluff for one of the longest tenures by any college or university president.

“I shudder to think what would have happened to me if Ross Armstrong hadn’t reached out and touched me,” said Harms. “I don’t know what I would have done and what I would have amounted to. He was the difference-maker in my life.”

Later in his talk, Harms asked the graduates, “How many of you will be another Ross Armstrong and reach out and touch others lives? Will you make a difference?”