By Matthew Barnes
With all of the staff changes at Asbury recently, one of the vital vacancies was that of Resident Director (RD) of Trustees dormitory. That role was filled by Eric Harbin, a student at Asbury Theological Seminary. In addition to the new job, Harbin has stepped up to lead the Asbury Intramurals program, a position previously held by Johnson RD Evan Duszynski.
Harbin is two classes away from receiving a Masters of Arts (MA) degree in leadership at the seminary and heard about the job opening from Kaylyn Moran, the RD of Glide-Crawford. He felt that God wanted him and his wife, Rebecca, to stay in Wilmore longer than they were expecting.
“I feel led to sports ministry. I think that’s the field God has been calling me to. When Kaylyn told me about the job, I felt this would be the perfect fit,” Harbin said.
During the interview process, Harbin was told that the intramural coordinator job might be available, but it wasn’t until he was here on campus that he found out the job was his if he wanted it.
Sports are something Harbin knows quite well. In high school he played baseball and basketball for four years, along with two years of football and one year of cross country and tennis.
“I was going to play college basketball at a small Division III school in Michigan, but a week before I moved into that college, I felt the Lord wanted me at the school I ended up going to [Spring Arbor University], so I just decided not to pursue it after that,” Harbin said.
Although he did not graduate from Asbury and is not too familiar with the intramurals program (Harbin played only one game of flag football after battling injuries), he did play intramurals all through college.
Harbin is excited for this next chapter. When asked about potential changes he might implement to the program, he believes there might be some in the near future.
“My goal is to make intramurals the best it can possibly be here for the Asbury student body. And I think the best way to do that right now is to join them in what they are doing already so that I can have a first-hand look and see what’s working well and what might need change,” Harbin said.
Intramural leagues will start up this semester with leagues such as flag football and ultimate frisbee kicking off competition.
