Howard Payne University publicly announced a campaign to help raise funds for new building projects and increased endowments that will propel the university into the future.
The “A Call to Send” campaign — a 10-year, $65 million campaign will empower the university to continue to fulfill its mission of providing a quality, Christ-centered education.
Phase I of the campaign seeks to raise $18 million for the construction of a Welcome Center and Academy of Freedom (honors program) building, a new academic building for the School of Education and increasing the university’s endowment funds for student scholarships and academic program support.
Dr. Bill Ellis, HPU president, shared the university’s vision for Phase I of the campaign at a luncheon on Monday and outlined the effect it will have on the community.
“The relationship between Howard Payne and Brownwood goes back to the earliest days of the community’s history,” he said. “There are very few universities that are more intimately connected with the communities that surround them than Howard Payne. These projects we are showing you today are going to impact this community in very significant ways.”
Dr. Ellis spoke briefly on the many students who graduate from HPU and return to Brownwood to rear their families and continue their careers.
“This entire campaign is about attracting students to this university,” he said. “It is about giving them the funds and resources they need to come to this school, so we can send them into the world to make a difference.”
The proposed Welcome Center and Academy of Freedom building will cost an estimated $9.8 million and will be constructed near the corner of Austin Avenue and Center Avenue near the original site of Old Main.
The two-story building will serve as a key focal point of the campus, where visitors, prospective students and parents are greeted. Encompassing 26,964 square feet, the building will consist of two distinct areas that will house the Welcome Center and the Academy of Freedom. It will feature a grand entry/ lobby with welcome desk, offices and interview rooms for admissions and enrollment services, president’s office suite, gallery to exhibit historic memorabilia and artifacts, mini-theatre for group orientations, meeting rooms for special events and receptions, several offices, and a special events plaza with a view of the campus mall.
The second building included in Phase I will be a new centralized education building located on Main Street in the northwestern part of the campus. It will be constructed in a portion of the current parking lot on the south side of the Thompson Academic Complex, opposite of the J. Howard Hodge Memorial Bell Towers. This Education Center will cost an estimated $5 million and it will centralize the School of Education in one building instead of being spread out around campus, as it is presently. This new building will consist of 14,842 square feet, designed to enhance the students’ learning experience.
Campaign co-chair Leonard Underwood, well known for being a philanthropist in the community and a supporter of the university, spoke about the importance of investing in such a campaign.
“Working closely with the faculty and the students over the years, I’ve learned what a special place this university is,” he said. “It’s a place that has the ability to change the lives of those who pass through here. I’ve discovered the joy of giving to something that’s worthwhile and makes a difference in the lives of so many people.”
Honorary campaign chair Putter Jarvis, described as a great advocate for Howard Payne, Brownwood and Brown County, outlined other significant moments in Brownwood’s history that greatly improved the community and urged those at the luncheon to continue on that same path.
“It’s up to us to see Howard Payne rise to its destiny,” he said. “Will we play our part? We can and we will.”
Campaign Co-Chairs are Leonard Underwood, retired, of Underwood’s Bar-B-Q, and Walter C. “Dub” Wilson, business executive. Honorary Chair of the campaign is Putter Jarvis of Landmark Life Insurance. Keith Clark of Citizens National Bank and Bart Johnson, of Painter & Johnson Financial, serve as the Heart of Texas co-chairs.
Additional Heart of Texas committee members introduced to the community during the luncheon included Dwain Bruner of Bruner Auto Family; Chip Camp of Brownwood Regional Medical Center; Steve Fryar of PF & E Oil Company; Dennis Graham of Airgas; Iva Hamilton, retired from El Paso Natural Gas Company; John Harkey of Ag-Mart; Brownwood Mayor Stephen Haynes of Haynes Law Firm; Draco Miller of Draco Janitorial and Auto Detailing; Tom Munson of Landmark Life Insurance; J. Fred Perry, retired from PF & E Oil Company; and Robert Porter of Porter Insurance Agency (pictured below with Dr. Bill Ellis).
To contribute to the campaign, or for more information, contact HPU’s Office of Institutional Advancement at (325) 649-8006 or 1-800-950-8465.
Pictured at top, Putter Jarvis and Dr. Bill Ellis speak to each other after Monday’s presentation luncheon.
A slide of a what the proposed Welcome Center and the Academy of Freedom will look like.
