January 28, 2002
PARTICIPANTS read from a litany as part of the service.
Aggie Baptist Student Ministry dedicates new home
___By Ferrell Foster
___Texas Baptist Communications
___COLLEGE STATION--Baptist students at Texas A&M University no longer are homeless.
___More than 400 people, including students and former students, dedicated the new Baptist Student Center just north of the College Station campus Saturday, Jan. 19.
THE AGGIE Baptist Student Ministry praise team performs during the dedication service for the new Baptist Student Center at Texas A&M University in College Station.
___For many students, the center is a "home away from home," said Bob Mayfield, director of Baptist Student Ministry at A&M.
___"This is the only place I go to besides school and church on Sunday," affirmed Nikki Hummadi, a freshman from Carthage and member of First Baptist Church in Clayton.
___For about a year and a half, the BSM did not have a building of its own to call home. The old building had to be demolished to make way for construction of the new one.
___The doors to the new center opened after Thanksgiving, but formal dedication ceremonies were delayed until after the Christmas break.
___A 1999 study determined it would be best to tear down the student center that had been built in 1951, said Don Cramer, former vice president of the Texas Baptist Missions Foundation of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. The old building was in "real poor shape," he said, with a leaking roof and cracked foundation.
___The project to build a new center on the same site became a collaborative effort of the BGCT Center for Collegiate Ministry, Creath-Brazos Baptist Association and the Aggie BSM Alumni Association. It was called "Operation Northgate," borrowing the name of the neighborhood.
___The campaign committee set an initial goal of $1.5 million. Most of that was for the cost of demolition, site work, construction and furnishings. An endowment of $200,000 wasplanned to pay for continued maintenance.
VISITORS to the new Baptist Student Center stroll through the second-floor commons area.
___An additional $200,000 was added to the goal due to expenses for soil work, room dividers and furnishings.
___To date, $1.38 million has been given or pledged to the project, said Tom Ruane, associate coordinator of the BGCT's institutional ministries section. That means $239,000 still is needed.
___"We haven't finished paying the bills yet," Ruane said during the dedication. "We need some help."
___"Our first commitment is to finish this," said David Jones, representing the alumni association.
___With 13,000 square feet of space, the new center is about 65 percent larger than its predecessor, Cramer said.
___While the building is new, the land on which it sits has a rich history. Ruane called it "hallowed ground" because of "all the prayers and the devotion of God's people that have been expressed in this place."
___Ray and Dorothy Galvin are among the major contributors to the project, donating money in memory of her father, Cliff Bates, who for years taught a student Sunday School class at First Baptist Church of College Station.
___"We're very interested in support for the university," said Galvin, a 1953 A&M graduate. "It would be inconsistent to support the university getting better without supporting this (BSM) getting better."
___A lot of alumni, he said, "know this is important."
___The Aggie Baptist Student Ministry praise team (above) performs during the dedication service for the new Baptist Student Center at Texas A&M University in College Station. Inset: Participants read from a litany as part of the service. Left: Visitors to the new Baptist Student Center stroll through the second-floor commons area.
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