Bob and Laura Beauchamp Make a Significant Gift to Create the Beauchamp Addiction Recovery Center
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WACO, Texas (Jan. 30, 2017) – Baylor University’s continued commitment to meeting the needs of students took another step forward today with the creation of the Beauchamp Addiction Recovery Center. Made possible by a $2.5 million gift from Bob and Laura Beauchamp of Houston, the multifaceted program will dramatically enhance Baylor’s efforts to foster the holistic well-being of its students in a manner that reflects the University’s values as a Christian community where wholeness, spiritual growth and academic success are priorities.
The Beauchamp Addiction Recovery Center, referred to on-campus as the BARC, is part of a broad effort at Baylor to advance the well-being of its students. The Beauchamps’ lead gift launches the first phase of Christian Character Initiative coordinated through the University Provost’s Office. With an initial $20 million fundraising goal, the Initiative reinforces Baylor’s long-standing commitment to a Christ-centered education, bringing together a range of programs and experiences in a coordinated and powerful endeavor to help students thrive and flourish.
“Laura and I strongly believe that young men and women who are struggling with addiction should be supported and treated with compassion and grace,” said Bob Beauchamp, chairman of BMC Software and member of the Baylor Board of Regents. “We believe Baylor as a Christian university should be the best in the world at supporting its students who are struggling. Removing the stigma of addiction is crucial to ensuring that students feel they can seek out resources to help them overcome their challenges and fully realize all that God is calling them to become. Our family is honored to help Baylor raise awareness about substance use disorders and support addiction recovery, and we hope others in the Baylor family will come alongside us in supporting this effort.”
Challenges of college life
On college campuses across the nation, young men and women are navigating a host of complex issues as they deal with the challenges and changing responsibilities of college life. For some, such challenges include alcohol and substance use disorders. Indeed, the nation’s college student population is disproportionately affected by this problem, as alcohol and illicit drug use is highest among 18-25 year olds compared to any other age group. Research indicates that 31.6 percent of college students across the country meet the criteria for substance use disorders. Baylor University’s students encounter the same challenges as their peers nationwide.
Recognized for its caring Christian community, Baylor has consistently sought to educate its nearly 17,000 students about the negative consequences of alcohol and drug use and to care for those in recovery from compulsive behavior and addiction. However, more needs to be done, both at Baylor and nationwide, to prevent substance use disorders and to provide support to students in recovery.
The Beauchamp Addiction Recovery Center will provide support services for students who are in the initial stages of identifying an addiction, including counseling and possible referral to off-campus rehabilitation, as well as continued support for students who have completed rehabilitation programs. The program also provides reintegration support for students who may have left school and for students who are already in recovery. Until now, Baylor’s continuum of care has included recovery support services through the Baylor Counseling Center and Wellness Office.
With the creation of the Beauchamp Addiction Recovery Center, Baylor is expanding that continuum to include a dynamic array of on-campus recovery services to support students and strengthen prevention education and intervention support.
“Bob and Laura Beauchamp’s compassion for students and their leadership in making possible the Beauchamp Addiction Recovery Center are truly remarkable,” said Baylor Interim President David E. Garland. “Our students desire well-being and possess a hope to flourish in life and a drive to become leaders in their communities and professions. For those in recovery from addiction, this will be an invaluable resource.”
The Beauchamps’ gift will fund the Addiction Recovery Center and an endowment to support the Center’s staff and operations. The Center, to be located in East Village Residential Community, will create a friendly recovery community culture for students to connect between classes, study, host community and recovery support events and hold meetings. The endowment will support increased staff and a wide array of programming, including weekly support and community recovery meetings, recovery coaching and conversations with mentors as well as campus-wide educational outreach efforts that identify social environmental influences, provide education on the support services that are available at Baylor and encourage peer-to-peer support. Future initiatives will include merit- and service-based scholarships awarded to students in recovery and the creation of housing space on or near campus that will allow Baylor to match students in recovery with others who are committed to supporting their success.
“Bob and Laura’s generous gift empowers us to develop a more comprehensive approach to helping students understand addiction in its varying forms and to seek assistance should they, or someone they know, be struggling with addiction,” said Kevin P. Jackson, Ph.D., vice president for student life. “It also creates a space and place for students in recovery to be supported and encouraged to live an addiction-free lifestyle. We are indebted to Bob and Laura for their vision to create the Center and generosity in funding it.”
‘Big picture’ approach
Baylor has long been committed to seeking to educate and care for the whole student – encompassing physical health, spiritual maturation, intellectual development and social life. The Christian Character Initiative will focus on intentionally designed programs that cultivate an environment in which programs directed at specific needs and goals are seamlessly and dynamically integrated into the whole of campus life. In addition the Initiative will continue to strengthen the infusion of issues foundational to Christian character into academic courses and student life initiatives across the University; work with campus leaders to build and strengthen co-curricular opportunities that enhance virtues and leadership capacities associated with character; and establish a Living-Learning Center focused on Spiritual Development and Character Formation.
“At Baylor, taking a ‘big picture’ approach has always been central to providing a transformational education,” said Greg Jones, Ph.D., executive vice president and provost. “Through the Christian Character Initiative, of which the Beauchamp Addiction Recovery Center is a critical component, we are marshaling resources aimed at tangibly fulfilling the historic mission of this University. By leading students to value a sense of purpose that underlies their sense of self, a motivation to persist and a responsibility to act for the common good, we will continue to create leaders and servants who will positively and immeasurably impact our world.”
A member of Baylor’s Board of Regents since 2009, Bob Beauchamp earned a B.B.A. from the University of Texas and an M.S. in management from Houston Baptist University, while Laura Beauchamp earned a B.B.A. from the University of Texas. They have four sons and two daughters-in-law, five of whom have been or currently are Baylor students: Jack Beauchamp, B.B.A. ’10, and his wife, Hayley Beauchamp, B.S. ’10; Tom Beauchamp, B.B.A. ’12, M.Acc. ’12, and his wife, Christina Beauchamp, B.S. ’12; George Beauchamp; and Jim Beauchamp.
The Beauchamps’ involvement with Baylor University grew out of their experience as Baylor parents, according to Laura Beauchamp. “Being a part of our sons’ education at Baylor has allowed us to increasingly appreciate what the University offers to its students and the difference it makes in the world,” she said. “As college students face transition from home life to independence, many get caught up in unhealthy decisions that they need help changing. If students want help, we want them to know where they can go for support to help find freedom from addiction. Our family deeply values Baylor’s Christian mission and compassion for students.”
Bob and Laura Beauchamp served on the Steering Committee for the $100-million President’s Scholarship Initiative at Baylor, and in 2007, they established the Bob and Laura Beauchamp Endowed Scholarship Fund at Baylor. In addition, in 2013, they made a gift of $3 million to create the Beauchamp Athletics Nutrition Center.
ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY
Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked research institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 16,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 80 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions.