$1.5 Million Grant

CONWAY, Ark. – (Jan. 17, 2008) Hendrix College has been awarded a $1.5 million challenge grant from the J.E. and L.E. Mabee Foundation of Tulsa, Okla., to help fund the college’s new $22.8 million Student Life and Technology Center, proposed to be one of the most interactive and tech-savvy college facilities in the country. Hendrix expects to break ground on the new facility this spring, with a completion date expected in December 2009.

The grant marks the continuation of a long-standing relationship between the Mabee Foundation and Hendrix College, beginning in 1972 when Hendrix received $300,000 from the foundation to help construct the Wilbur D. Mills Center for Social Sciences. Since then, The Mabee Foundation has contributed more than $5 million to five additional building projects at Hendrix, including a $2 million grant in 2004 to help fund the college’s recently-constructed $24 million Wellness and Athletics Center.

“For more than 25 years, the Mabee Foundation has played a vital role in the development of facilities at Hendrix College that enhance the academic and co-curricular programs, and student life on our campus,” Hendrix president J. Timothy Cloyd said. “Their gifts have also helped Hendrix develop into a national leader in the engaged liberal arts. Beyond just bricks and mortar, the Mabee Foundation has helped Hendrix change the lives of those who will go on to change the world.”

Raising the funds necessary to construct the Student Life and Technology Center is part of the college’s current $100 million comprehensive campaign. Hendrix has already raised more than $74 million toward its overall goal and more than $11 million in gifts and pledges toward the new facility.

ABOUT THE STUDENT LIFE AND TECHNOLOGY CENTER: The new 80,000 square-foot Student Life and Technology Center will be constructed on the former site of Hendrix’s Grove Gymnasium, adjacent to Harkrider Avenue on the east side of the college’s campus. Cloyd said the new facility will be “designed to reflect our students’ keen enthusiasm for engaging in active learning and life experiences outside of class.”

Along with a dining hall, café, game room and post office, the center will include a 5,000 square-foot centralized programming space with state-of-the-art lighting and sound equipment and two 21-foot projection screens. The facility will also include offices for student affairs and academic support services, along with offices for student organizations and student media.

A distinguishing feature of the Student Life and Technology Center will be the Educational Technology Center (ETC), accessible 24 hours a day to students and faculty. The ETC will weave state-of-the-art teaching, learning, and social technology into Hendrix’s campus, enhancing the educational experience with advanced technological features, Cloyd said. The ETC will include:

• Computer workstations with large flat-panel SMART Board interactive whiteboards to facilitate group projects as well as more traditional individual computer desks with widescreen monitors.
• Software for preparing video and digital media presentations.
• A video conference room linking students and faculty with their peers around the world for coursework and Odysseys.
• A practice classroom where students can create audio and video recordings of rehearsal presentations using the most current instructional technology.
• Distributed technology providing strategically located flat-panel SMART Board displays that accept student laptop and hand-held connections for collaboration in designated areas throughout the building.

ABOUT THE MABEE FOUNDATION: The Mabee Foundation, a Delaware non-profit corporation, was formed in 1948 by Mr. John E. Mabee and his wife, Lottie E. Mabee, with its office in Tulsa, Okla.  As stated in its charter, the purposes of the foundation are to aid Christian religious organizations, charitable organizations, institutions of higher learning, hospitals and other organizations of a general charitable nature. 

Mr. Mabee died in 1961 and Mrs. Mabee died in 1965, leaving a substantial portion of their personal estates to the foundation.  The foundation continues to carry on its purposes – under the guidance of its Board of Trustees – as a monument to the generosity of Mr. and Mrs. Mabee. 

Since its inception, the foundation has awarded more than $790 million in grants, including more than $281 million to educational institutions. At Hendrix, along with the grants for the Mills Center and the Wellness and Athletics Center, the Foundation has previously contributed $500,000 to construct the college’s Mabee Center in 1978, $750,000 for the renovations of Martin Hall in 1980, $500,000 for the construction of Couch Hall in 1985, $1 million for the construction of Bailey Library in 1992, and $1.3 million for the renovation of Reynolds Hall in 1999. 

The activities and affairs of the foundation are managed by a Board of Trustees consisting of Thomas R. Brett, John H. Conway, Jr., James L. Houghton, Joe Mabee, Joseph Guy Mabee, Jr., Ed Jones and Raymond L. Tullius, Jr. The geographical area of interest of the Foundation includes the states of Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. 

ABOUT HENRIX: Hendrix, founded in 1876, is a selective, residential, undergraduate liberal arts college emphasizing experiential learning in a demanding yet supportive environment. The college is among 165 colleges featured in the 2008 edition of the Princeton Review America’s Best Value Colleges. Hendrix has been affiliated with the United Methodist Church since 1884. For more information, contact Mark Scott at scottm@hendrix.edu or 501-450-1462.