Boniface Hardin

Although he planned to write several books following his 2007 retirement, Father Hardin was troubled by turmoil that ensued at Martin University with the advent of his successor, who made rapid changes. He suffered a stroke in September, 2011, and died on March 24, 2012. He is buried at St. Meinrad Archabbey in southern Indiana.

Over the course of Father Hardin’s presidency, enrollment went from a handful of students to almost 1,000. By the time of his retirement in December 2007, 1,370 bachelor's and master's degrees had been awarded by Martin. The student body consisted of primarily African American students, a large proportion of which were women, with an average student age hovering around 38 years old.

Father Hardin experienced a number of health challenges during his life, the most serious of which was prostate cancer in 2002. He became an outspoken advocate for cancer awareness, diabetes, and other health issues.

2002 International Citizen of the Year by the International Center of Indianapolis

2002 "Living Legend" by the Indiana Historical Society

2002 Living Legends in Black by the Hoosier Minority Black Chamber of Commerce.

2001 NUVO Cultural Vision Award for Lifetime Achievement

1997 Distinguished Alumnus Award from Saint Meinrad Seminary

As Martin Center College increased in size and reputation and moved in 1987 to a larger campus on the east side of Indianapolis, Father Hardin was recognized as a key educational leader. He was a frequent speaker and received many awards. He became known for his ecumenism, social justice orientation, and humility. He continued to perform priestly responsibilities at local area churches on a regular basis. Thought by many to resemble orator and abolitionist, Frederick Douglass, Father Hardin was closely identified with Douglass through his popular reenactments of incidents in Douglass’s life. These were offered annually at the University and at other locales in the community.

As President, Father Hardin was successful in gaining significant external funding for the institution, primarily from the Lilly Endowment. The college became a separate entity from Martin Center in 1979 and, with the addition of two master’s degrees, became Martin University in 1989. The Lady Elizabeth program, located in the nearby women’s prison, was established in 1988 and ran until 2003 when prisoners were moved from Indianapolis to Rockville, Indiana. In 2000, the Martin University Education Center, the first newly constructed building, was opened.

As Father Hardin became increasingly concerned about the lack of good higher educational options for African-American adults in the community, he developed plans to establish a university. In 1977, Martin Center College was established and given state accreditation. It was formally accredited in 1987 by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. The educational philosophy of the institution, championed by Sister Jane Schilling, rested on Paulo Freire's ideas of emancipatory education, the adult learning principles of Malcolm Knowles, and credit for prior life experience as promoted by the Council for Advancement and Evaluation of Learning. These approaches, tailored to the adult learner who had not completed college earlier in life, earned Martin the nickname, “the Second Chance School.”

In 1971, Father Hardin and Dr. Raymond Pierce received a grant to establish the Sickle Cell Center to test for the disease and to educate families. The grant enabled them to purchase another building on College Avenue. A third building was added when Martin Center opened the Afro-American Institute, devoted to research and education about African history and African American culture. The Institute maintained a library of resources and offered leadership and educational programs.

Father Hardin and Sister Jane used a variety of media to disseminate their educational programs. They produced and co-hosted a weekly radio program, The Afro-American in Indiana, which ran from 1971 to 1991 on WIAN, the local public schools station, eventually affiliated with National Public Radio; served as editors of a journal, The Afro-American Journal, begun in 1973; produced and co-hosted the television program, Afro-American, for public television station WFYI from 1974–79; and narrated two full-length TV documentaries, The Kingdom Builders, and For Love of Freedom, for WRTV, the local NBC affiliate.

With the help of a sympathetic priest, Father Bernard Strange, of St. Rita’s parish in Indianapolis, as well as Holy Angels parishioners and other supporters, Father Hardin bought a property on College Avenue in Indianapolis and founded the Martin Center. Named for Martin Luther King and St. Martin de Porres, the center was described in 1970 brochure as a “biracial and ecumenical effort to overcome the polarization brought about by ignorance, injustice and hostility between blacks and whites in the metropolitan area of Indianapolis.”

By the mid-1960s, Holy Angels Parish was one of three African American majority Catholic churches in Indianapolis. From the onset of his time there, Father Hardin was attuned to racism in the Catholic Church as well as in the broader society. He quickly became involved in protests opposing police brutality, segregation, poverty, and the construction of a highway, Interstate 65, that threatened to cut the neighborhood surrounding Holy Angels in two. He became increasingly radical, calling public officials to task, and exchanging his Roman collar and close cropped hair for a dashiki and Afro. When the existing prelate of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, Archbishop Paul Schulte, was pressured to silence Father Hardin, he ordered him to return to St. Meinrad. Holy Angels parishioners and other supporters responded by staging a walkout during the Easter Sunday services conducted by Archbishop Schulte in Saints Peter & Paul Cathedral on April 6, 1969. The Archbishop subsequently rescinded his order, but Father Hardin decided that he could no longer serve effectively and resigned his post at Holy Angels in December 1969 to found the Martin Center.

Hardin's first assignment as a priest was as assistant treasurer at St. Meinrad; he completed studies in business at the University of Notre Dame to prepare him for this role. After six years, he became increasingly restless, feeling isolated and unable to use his talents and knowledge. In 1965, he responded to the invitation of Father Albert Ajamie of Holy Angels Church in Indianapolis to serve as his associate pastor.

During his time at St. Meinrad, Hardin decided to become a monk rather than a diocesan priest, and was given the name Boniface. He was ordained in 1959, on what he called, "the most important day of my life."

Boniface Hardin, OSB (born James Dwight Randolph "Randy" Hardin; November 18, 1933 – March 24, 2012), was a Benedictine monk, social activist and founding president of Martin University in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Born James Randolph Hardin on November 18, 1933 in the Louisville, Kentucky General Hospital, Hardin was the oldest surviving son of Elizabeth Hansbro Hardin and Albert Augustin Hardin; an older brother, Albert Arthur, died in infancy. His parents were both graduates of the normal school at Kentucky State Industrial College for Colored Persons, which eventually became Kentucky State University. Although his mother remained a teacher in New Haven, Kentucky for her whole career, his father turned to jobs that brought more income, including waiter, shopkeeper, and shipyard laborer.