Houston Baptist University

Infobox University
name = Houston Baptist University


established = 1960
type = Private University
president = Dr. Robert Sloan
city = Houston
state = Texas
country = USA
undergrad = 1,992
postgrad = 347
faculty = 154
endowment = US $85 million
campus = Urban, convert|100|acre|km2
mascot = Huskies
colors = Royal Blue and Orange
website = [http://www.hbu.edu www.hbu.edu]

Houston Baptist University (commonly abbreviated HBU) is a private Baptist institution founded in 1960. It is located in the southwest part of Houston, Texas near the Southwest Freeway.

History

Houston Baptist College was created by action of the Baptist General Convention of Texas on November 15, 1960 culminating many years of work and study. The aim of the College founders was the establishment of a Christian college of the highest order in the city of Houston that stressed quality of life as well as quality of learning.

In 1952, the Union Baptist Association authorized a committee to study the possibility of locating a Baptist college in Houston. With the assistance and encouragement of the Education Commission of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, the committee conducted a survey in 1955. Acting upon information obtained with the endorsement of the Education Commission, the Association approved the concept of establishing a new college. In 1956, the Executive Board of the Baptist General Convention of Texas approved a recommendation that Houston Baptists be given assurance that the Convention would support such a college when the College Committee of the Union Baptist Association had succeeded in acquiring both (1) a satisfactory site for a campus of at least one hundred acres, and (2) a minimum corpus of at least three million dollars. Of this sum, one and one-half million dollars would constitute a nucleus endowment fund; one and one-half million dollars would be designated for a physical plant. The Union Baptist Association accepted these conditions and endorsed the requirements set up by the state Baptist convention.

In 1957, a Houston land developer, Frank Sharp, offered to sell Union Baptist Association convert|390|acre|km2 in southwest Houston for the construction of a college. The Board of Governors of Rice University agreed to lend most of the money needed with the land as collateral. To complete the funding, twenty-five business men, since called "founders", pledged to be responsible for $10,000 each. Therefore, by 1958, a campus site of convert|196|acre|km2 was acquired in southwest Houston, and, in 1960, the initial financial goal of repaying the loan was reached as a result of a campaign among the churches. Much of the land was used to built many for-profit housing, much of which included the development that will later become the seeds for the Sharpstown community, and the Memorial-Herman southwest hospital, land that is still property of HBU.

In 1960, the Baptist General Convention of Texas in its annual session at Lubbock, Texas elected the first Board of Trustees. This board in session in Houston, Texas on November 15, 1960 approved and signed the College charter. The next day, this charter was ratified and recorded with the Secretary of State in Austin. The way was then cleared to select administrative officers, develop a suitable physical plant, and design an appropriate academic program. Dr. W. H. Hinton began service as the first President of the College on July 1, 1962.

The College opened in September 1963 with a freshman class of 193 students, a cluster of new buildings, and a teaching staff of thirty faculty. A new class was added each year until the College attained a four-year program in 1966-67. By then, the full- time faculty had grown to fifty-four members, serving an enrollment of approximately nine hundred undergraduate students.

Academics

HBU has been ranked in the top tier among the "Best Universities" offering master's degrees in the Western region by U.S.News & World Report (http://www.hbu.edu/Pages/best/) More than 50 undergraduate majors are offered and pre-professional programs range from Biblical Languages to Nursing. A streamlined double major program combines two areas of study, and is generally a requirement for the undergraduate college. All classes are faculty-taught and more than half the classes have fewer than 20 students. HBU has traditionally been on a quarter system but it will transition to semesters starting Fall 2008.

Campus housing

The Reuben & Rebecca Bates Philips Residence Colleges for Men and Women are two separate residence hall facilities, with each serving one gender. [" [http://www.hbu.edu/hbu/Residence_Colleges.asp?SnID=960346154 Residence Colleges] ", "Houston Baptist University"]

Husky Village serves as the apartment complex for upperclassmen. [" [http://www.hbu.edu/hbu/Husky_Village.asp?SnID=960346154 Husky Village Apartments] ", "Houston Baptist University"]

In fall 2008, the New Residence College will open and contain apartment and suite style housing for students of all years. [" [http://www.hbu.edu/hbu/New_Residence_College.asp?SnID=960346154 New Residence College] ", "Houston Baptist University"]

Community Life + Worship

80 Community Life + Worship Credits ("CLW Credits") are required for graduation from HBU. Up to 20 may be earned per semester. Transfer students are also alloted 0.75 CLW Credits for each credit hour transferred into the university. CLW Credits may be accrued from a variety of opportunities including but not limited to: campus service, a weekly traditional chapel service known as Convocation, a weekly student-led contemporary worship service known as Quest, small group Bible studies, lecture series and through the ACTS ("Assisting Communities Through Students") office which coordinates community service and volunteer work in the Houston community. The on-campus "Community Life and Worship" biyearly magazine lists the different opportunities through which students may earn CLW Credits. The spiritual life office also awards Credits for students who participate in church or university sponsored mission trips.

Athletics

As of the 2008-2009 athletic season, Houston Baptist will be competing as a member of the Great West Conference. The Great West, previously a football only conference, expanded on July 10, 2008 to become an all-sports conference. HBU accepted an invitation to join the newly expanded conference along with New Jersey Tech, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas-Pan American and Utah Valley.

HBU, which was a member of NCAA Division I until 1989, began its transition back to Division I in 2007-08. The Huskies will field 14 sports beginning in 2007-08, adding a 15th (men's golf) in 2008-09.

MEN: Basketball, Baseball, Soccer, Indoor Track and Field, Outdoor Track and Field, Cross-Country

WOMEN: Basketball, Softball, Volleyball, Soccer, Indoor Track and Field, Outdoor Track and Field, Cross Country, Golf

The athletics department boasts an 80% graduation rate amongst its student-athletes.

Notable NCAA D-1 Athletic Achievements:
*1982 NCAA high-jump champion, Ricky Thompson; t-32nd place in the 1983 Track & Field Championships
*alma mater of PGA professional Colin Montgomerie
*1983-84 Men's basketball team participated in the NCAA tournament in the play-in game vs. Alcorn State; 1983-84 Men's basketball team led the entire NCAA in team field-goal percentage, shooting 55.2%, this is also 10th all-time in NCAA history [http://www.ncaa.org/library/records/basketball/m_basketball_records_book/2007/2007_m_basketball_records.pdf]
*Participants in the NCAA men's golf championships in 1984, 1987 (5th place), and 1988
*Participants in the NCAA men's gymnastics championships in 1982 (10th place) and 1987 (7th place); 1987 men's gymnastics (Rings) champion, Paul O'Neill.
*1982, 83, 84, 85 Trans-America (now Atlantic-Sun) Men's soccer Champions, and conference tournament champions in 82, 84, and 85. [http://www.ncaa.org/library/records/soccer/soccer_records_book/2007/2007_soccer_records.pdf]

Notable NAIA D-1 Athletic Achievements:
*2007 NAIA Baseball World Series, 3rd place; 2007 Baseball Region VI Champions;
*Participants in NAIA Men's Basketball Tournament ten straight seasons from 1997-2007. [http://naia.cstv.com/auto_pdf/p_hotos/s_chools/naia/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/mensd1champhistory]
*Dwight Jones II, son of Dwight Jones Sr. who played on the 1972 USA Olympic Silver medal basketball team in Munich, was drafted by the Tulsa 66ers of the NBA Developmental League as well as the East Kentucky Miners in the CBA draft. [http://hbuhuskies.athleticsite.com/article.asp?articleID=140]

List of Notable Clubs and Activities

* African Student Association (ASA)
*The Accounting Society (TAS)
* Alpha Chi
* Alpha Chi Omega
* Alpha Epsilon Delta (Pre-Med)
* Alpha Kappa Alpha
* Alpha Mu Gamma (Foreign Language)
* Alpha Phi Omega
* Alpha Pi Kappa
* Alpha Tau Omega
* Art Guild
* ASDA (American Student Dental Association)
* Black Student Fellowship (BSF)
* Beta Upsilon Chi (Brothers Under Christ)
* Christian Medical Fellowship
* The Collegian
*Finance Society
* Focus/Refuge
*South Asian Student Association
*Intrafraternity Council
*Kappa Alpha Order
*Nursing Students Association (NSA)
*Phi Mu
*Phi Kappa Psi
*POPS (Pre-Optometry Professional Society)
*SPS (Society of Physics Students)
*Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE)
*Student Government Association
*Student Programming Board (SPB)
*Vietnamese Student Association (VSA)
*Filipino Student Association (FSA)

References

External links

* [http://www.talkhuskies.com/ HBU Sports Discussion]
* [http://www.hbu.edu/ Houston Baptist University]
* [http://www.hbuhuskies.com/ HBU Athletics]