Bo Pilgrim provides record gift to DBU

Posted: 7/12/06

Bo Pilgrim provides record gift to DBU

DALLAS—Dallas Baptist University took a major step toward construction of its first chapel building in 108 years, thanks to an $8 million contribution from Bo Pilgrim.

The gift from Pilgrim, co-founder and chairman of Pilgrim’s Pride, the second-largest poultry company in the United States and Mexico, represents half the total of DBU’s $16 million Chapel Campaign.

The 1,400-seat Patty and Bo Pilgrim Chapel will be located in the heart of the DBU campus in southwest Dallas.

“We are grateful beyond words for the generosity of Mr. Pilgrim,” DBU President Gary Cook said. “With this gift, we will be able to fulfill a dream for a chapel, which has been on the heart of members of the DBU family ever since we moved to Dallas in 1965.”

Originally established as Decatur Baptist College in 1898, Dallas Baptist College relocated to Dallas in 1965 and became Dallas Baptist University in 1985.

Chapel services have occupied a central role in DBU student life, but not always an ideal location. In To God Be the Glory, a history of DBU’s first 100 years, former DBU Vice President Fred White described the humble conditions inside the first chapel—a huge canvas tent. Male students lost the shine on their shoes, and the girls even lost their shoes sometimes as they waded through the mud to their assigned seats.

Now, the Chapel Campaign promises to redefine the landscape of DBU’s campus, university officials said. Plans call for a colonial-style sanctuary with a steeple that will be the tallest point on University Hill.

Pilgrim Chapel will accommodate DBU’s Monday, Wednesday and Friday student chapel services and host major campus events such as lectures, musical performances and weddings. Additional space will be allocated for DBU’s Alumni Association office, intercessory prayer ministry and the Cook Graduate School of Leadership.

Despite 18 years of continual enrollment increases, DBU remains one of only a few Christian colleges in the United States not to have a permanent chapel facility. Pilgrim Chapel not only will satisfy student-seating needs, but it also will emphasize DBU’s commitment to Christ-centered higher education, university leaders said.

“The Pilgrim Chapel will stand as a symbolic proclamation of our core purpose as an educational enterprise and will serve as a center for spiritual development where our students can worship, connect and grow,” said Adam Wright, DBU’s assistant to the president for advancement.

Pilgrim has been a frequent guest speaker at DBU chapel services held at the Burg Center, a multi-use facility that doubles as the school’s gymnasium. During a recent visit to campus, he presented DBU students, faculty and staff with copies of his biography, One Pilgrim’s Progress, describing his rise in business from humble beginnings to heading Pilgrim’s Pride. During the chapel service, Pilgrim pointed to God’s grace for every good fortune that has come his way.

Pilgrim is a former member of the DBU board of trustees and a recipient of the 1995 DBU Russell H. Perry Free Enterprise Award. In addition, he received an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree from DBU in 2002. Patty and Bo Pilgrim are members of First Baptist Church in Pittsburg. Their son, Ken, is a current member of the DBU board of trustees and executive vice president of Pilgrim’s Pride.

For information on the Patty and Bo Pilgrim Chapel Campaign, contact Adam Wright at (214) 333-5597 or by e-mail at adam@dbu.edu.