TEXAS TIDBITS: Buckner receives gift for hurricane relief

Buckner receives gift for hurricane relief. Shell Exploration & Production donated $25,000 to Buckner International’s hurricane relief efforts in the Rio Grande Valley. The gift will purchase materials to repair houses destroyed by Hurricane Dolly—specifically the homes of colonia residents who do not qualify for aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said Jorge Zapata, director of Buckner International’s colonia program.

HBU awarded grant for expansion study. Houston Baptist University has received $850,000 from Houston Endowment for a civil engineering study to aid in expansion of the campus. The study funded by the Houston Endowment grant will help the university identify its architectural, civil, structural, mechanical and electrical needs. Houston Endowment is a private foundation established in 1937 by Jesse H. and Mary Gibbs Jones.  
 
Video highlights Wayland’s 100th. A video created by Wayland Baptist University in honor of its centennial highlights the school’s founding and heritage. The Wayland Story features president Paul Armes providing a brief background of founder James H. Wayland and the birth of his dream of a Christian college on the High Plains. Wayland’s granddaughter, Beulah McInnish, his oldest-living descendent at nearly 100, is featured. The video includes three segments: “Focus on Education,” “Servant Leadership” and “Into All the World.” To receive a free copy of the DVD, contact the development office at (806) 291-3430 or alumni development at (806) 291-3603 or log onto www.wbu.edu to view online.

Keisler estate benefits DBU. Dallas Baptist University has received more than $1.5 million in scholarship funds from the estate of Betty Keisler to establish the A.B. and Betty Keisler Church Matching Gift Endowed Scholarship.  The fund will allow churches to match scholarship aid they provide to members attending DBU up to $2,000. In addition to these scholarship funds, the Keisler estate also provided more than $240,000 for the Patty and Bo Pilgrim Chapel. Keisler, a longtime member of First Baptist Church in Grand Prairie, died earlier this year at age 78. She had been a member of the DBU Women’s Auxiliary board, receiving the Ruth Award from the auxiliary in 2003.  

Endowed scholarships benefits HSU students. Clarke Orr of Abilene has established an endowed scholarship at Hardin-Simmons University in memory of his wife, Fairy Orr. The scholarship benefits students in the Cynthia Ann Parker College of Liberal Arts, with preference given to an English major. Recipients for the scholarship must be professing Christians who demonstrate significant financial need. They must maintain a 3.0 grade point average and an active campus life. Another endowed scholarship at HSU, established in memory of Shaelly Beth Rausch by her family, benefits disabled students in the Irvin School of Education.  The recipient must be majoring in education and possess a disability—physical, learning or mental. If a qualified graduate or undergraduate student majoring in education is not available, the scholarship may be awarded to a student with a disability in any academic discipline. Recipients for the scholarship must be professing Christians who demonstrate significant financial need, maintain a 2.5 grade point average and be students in good standing, free from any disciplinary action.