$1 million pledge for Hendrix needs match

CONWAY -- An Oklahoma-based charitable foundation has offered Hendrix College a $1 million challenge grant to help build a welcome center on the campus.

The J.E. and L.E. Mabee Foundation of Tulsa will award Hendrix $1 million to complete the project if the college raises an additional $2 million in new gifts and pledges by September 2016, the school announced Friday.

The college said in a news release that it already has raised $4 million in gifts and pledges toward the center's projected cost of $7 million.

"We are so grateful to the Mabee Foundation for their longstanding support of capital projects at Hendrix, from the Student Life and Technology Center to the Wellness and Athletics Center," Hendrix President Bill Tsutsui said in the release. "Our growth and strength as an institution is a direct result of the Mabee Foundation's generosity and commitment to the residential college experience."

Hendrix recently announced that it plans to build the Mary Ann and David Dawkins Welcome Center at the northeast entrance to the campus. The center will house the college's admission and financial aid offices, now in Ellis Hall, a 101-year-old building on the south side of the campus.

Mary Ann Dawkins' estate gave Hendrix $26 million earlier this fall to help with scholarships, college affordability and a fundraising effort for the welcome center.

Hendrix also plans to refurbish and upgrade the metal pedestrian bridge crossing the busy Harkrider Street to complement the historic architecture of the campus.

The remodeled bridge will better connect academic, residential, student life, and wellness and athletics facilities between the east and west sides of campus, Tsutsui added in the release.

Hendrix hopes to begin the project in late 2016.

"We hope the new center will be complete sometime in the spring semester of 2017," Hendrix spokesman Rob O'Connor said in an email.

O'Connor said the center would total about 16,800 square feet in space.

The Mabee foundation's mission is to "aid Christian religious organizations, charitable organizations, institutions of higher learning, hospitals and other organizations of a general charitable nature," according to its website.

Hendrix College is affiliated with the United Methodist Church.

NW News on 11/01/2015

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