Baylor Announces Gift For Brooks Village Chapel

Contact: Cindy Dougherty, University Development, (254) 710-2561

Baylor University has announced a gift from William and Mary Jo Robbins of Houston, Texas, to construct The Robbins Chapel in Brooks Village. Mr. and Mrs. Robbins are longtime supporters of Baylor. The new Chapel will provide students a place for everyday prayer, meditation and worship.

"Mary Jo and I are happy to make this contribution," Robbins said. "We believe building a place for private prayer and small group worship at the heart of a living-learning community is a meaningful way to encourage faithfulness to Christ in the daily life of students, and is integral to the Baylor 2012 vision."

"I'm deeply appreciative of the Robbins' understanding our vision for creating the type of community we're trying to create for our students," said Dr. Dub Oliver, vice president for student life at Baylor. "We're grateful that they are willing to sacrifice of themselves so that we can not only have a beautiful place but a place that honors God. I just think of the literally thousands and thousands of students who will be encouraged and benefit from this gift."

The Robbins Chapel supports the second imperative of Baylor 2012: to create a truly residential campus, and the sixth imperative: to guide all Baylor students through academic and student life programming to understand life as a stewardship and work as a vocation.

"We understand better that our lives can be used to give glory to God if we can find places of sanctuary in our daily lives," Oliver said. "At Baylor we try to be very thoughtful about the sense of place in students' lives, and The Robbins Chapel is going to be a beautiful place, a place of reflection, meditation and prayer. As students walk by the chapel each day, they'll be reminded of God's love for them."

The Robbins Chapel will be part of Brooks Village, the newest residential community currently under construction at Baylor. At 252,000 square feet, Brooks Village will accommodate 700 students in two new residential quadrangles:
? Brooks College - a traditional residential college that will offer 384 students across all disciplines and classifications the opportunity to live and learn in a community that is faculty-led, and
? Brooks Flats - a group of residential flats similar to Baylor's North Village layout providing 316 beds for upper-division students.

The architecture of the new Brooks Village will incorporate many of the external features of Baylor's historic Brooks Hall, including the landmark Brooks Arch. In addition to The Robbins Chapel, the new residential community also will feature a great hall, dining room, library and resource center, group study rooms and classrooms. The $42.8 million project is expected to be completed in the Fall of 2007.

The project architect is Hanbury, Evans, Wright, Vlattas and Co., which also designed Baylor's award-winning North Village. The construction firm for Brooks Village is Whiting-Turner.