Evangel to dedicate new administration building
Evangel University's new administration building will be
dedicated Friday, October 9, 2009. The public is invited.
By Evangel University’s Public Relations Office
Evangel University is celebrating the completion of the Ralph M. Riggs Administration Building.
Administrative personnel moved into the building in March, and the dedication ceremony will be held on Friday, October 9, 2009, during Evangel’s Homecoming celebration.
“The new administration building anchors our campus quadrangle and has become a welcoming face for Evangel’s campus,” said Paul K. Logsdon, public relations director for the university. “It contains the offices for the president, five vice presidents and their administrative support staff.”
The 69,000-square-foot facility is named in honor of the Rev. Ralph M. Riggs, general superintendent of the Assemblies of God 1953-59, who spearheaded the movement to establish Evangel University.
Dr. George O. Wood, current general superintendent and 1962 Evangel graduate, said that Riggs had the foresight and saw a need to have a college of arts and sciences.
“Ralph Riggs should be a hero to all of us,” Wood said.
The building houses approximately 100 staff who provide administrative support for students.
The offices for Admissions, Financial Aid, Records and Registration, Duplicating, Post Office, Security, Student Accounts, Housing and Information Technologies are readily available for students.
Riggs Hall was the concluding project in Evangel’s latest development phase — a series of nine major construction projects that extended over 14 years.
During that time, a series of capital campaigns provided more than $56 million for the new buildings, plus endowments and capital improvements.
“We have finished the transformation of the Evangel campus from the World War II-era barracks that initially housed the O’Reilly Army Hospital into a state-of-the-art campus,” said Evangel President Robert H. Spence.
“A master plan for campus development was adopted by Evangel’s Board of Directors in 1988, which provided direction for the various steps taken through the years,” he added.
Administrators have long said, “The students will be first, and we will be last.”
With that in mind, Evangel built two new, state-of-the art academic buildings, the student fitness center, a new cafeteria and student union, fine arts center and a baseball/softball complex, before erecting the administration building.
“I think students sense humility when they hear that it was the attitude of the administration to care about making Evangel a great place for the students first and them second,” said Bethany Bashioum, a senior journalism major from Independence, Missouri.
“The new building positively affects the image of Evangel to the public and prospective students just because it is so beautiful,” she added.
For more information, call the Public Relations Office at 417-865-2811 ext. 7292. Learn more about Evangel University at www.evangel.edu.