Hendrix Alumni Blogazine

Community gathers to celebrate launch of the project

Students, faculty, staff and alumni packed The Burrow March 18 for the project launch of the Student Life and Technology Center. Dr. Joyce Hardin played an Oprah-style emcee for the event with her special guests: President J. Timothy Cloyd, Trustee Dan Peregrin ’80, Dr. Mark Schantz, professor of history and director of the Odyssey Program; B.J. Fogelman ’09, Student Senate president-elect, and Dr. Aubrey Hough ’66, speaking on behalf of Hendrix alumni. Congressman Vic Snyder even made an impromptu appearance during the event. 

The Student Life and Technology Center is under construction on the former site of Grove Gymnasium, and is expected to open in Spring 2010.

The Center will include a state of the art “Educational Technology Center” designed for interactive group work, offices and work space for student organizations, programming areas for the Hendrix community, a café, game and recreation space, and a post office on the first floor of the building. The second floor will house a new dining hall, kitchen, servery, and small dining rooms, as well as offices for Student Affairs and the Odyssey Program.

The Educational Technology Center or ETC will be a vibrant, open computer center for both work and play.  The plan includes computer workstations with space for several individuals to work together.  The stations will be configured in various ways from soft, comfortable seating with large flat panel displays mounted on the wall to more traditional desktop computers with widescreen monitors.  The software available will include creative suites for creating presentations and videos, and the workstations can also be used for electronic gaming. 

Technology will also be distributed throughout the building, so that small groups of students may gather for work or games in various locations on both floors.

The ETC will include a small seminar room housing the latest technology in a classroom designed so that students can create and practice presentations. The ETC Video conference room will be equipped with technology for video conferencing that will be used to link Hendrix faculty and students with their counterparts around the globe.

In addition, conference rooms and seminar rooms will be scattered throughout the building. Offices will be located on both floors and will include spaces for Academic Support Services, Career Services, Religious Life, and more.

Click here to see photos or listen to a podcast of the event.

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. To apply for the $1.5 million grant, Hendrix raised approximately half of the construction cost of the building. To receive the money, the College must raise an additional $11 million by January 1, 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 $23 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 helped Hendrix develop into a national leader in the engaged liberal arts.”

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. President 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.” 

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.

As a professor of English Dr. Walter Moffatt ’32 created a lasting legacy at Hendrix College during his lifetime. When he died on Christmas Day 2007 at the age of 96, he added to that legacy through a generous donation to the College in his will.

During his 29 years as a member of the Hendrix faculty, Dr. Moffatt had a strong presence in the Hendrix community. Current Hendrix professor Chuck Chappell said of his former professor “He was dapper ... and always a gentleman. He’d tip his hat, say 'hello' when he met you.”

In the classroom, Dr. Moffatt was tough but well-liked. As professor of English, chair of the English Department and Area Head for the Humanities, Dr. Moffatt helped the college become the nationally recognized institution it is today and strengthened the English department.

After retiring to his childhood home in Monticello in 1977, Dr. Moffat remained involved in the life of the College and with Hendrix alumni. He continued his strong love of music and traveling, supporting local music programs and leading tours all around the globe for 25 years.
With his broad interests and strong commitment to excellence, Dr. Moffatt lived the Hendrix motto of “unto the whole person.”

“He personified the ‘Hendrix way’,” Dr. Chappell said.  “He was a giant in the history of Hendrix, in my opinion. He was an inspiring teacher. Beloved would be a good word to describe him.”

With his gift to the new Students Life and Technology Center, the impact of his long and well-lived life will be felt by generations of Hendrix students who did not have the privilege of calling him “Professor.”