Lee University to Celebrate ‘Find Us Faithful’ Campaign
Lee University will celebrate the last four years of blessings and progress on the Cleveland, Tennessee campus on Friday, September 19 when they host hundreds of guests, alumni, and community leaders for Celebration 2014.
The event is being touted as a “festive and colorful day” commemorating the opening of Lee’s new Communication Arts building, the highlight of the $25 million “Find Us Faithful” campaign.
Lee University Communication Arts Building (click photo to enlarge)
“It’s a marvelous building. We could have barely dreamed of it ten years ago,” stated Lee University President Dr. Paul Conn. “It offers our bright, ambitious students a terrific opportunity to learn their craft on the best equipment available. It gives our faculty tools to work with that they’ve never had before.” The Comm Arts Building sits prominently at the corner of Ocoee Street and Central Avenue and serves as the showpiece building when emerging from downtown Cleveland.
With the acquisition of the former First Baptist Church property several years ago, the Lee campus now officially connects with the downtown. Development of the additional acres of land is a cornerstone of the Find Us Faithful campaign. Other projects of the campaign include construction of a 300-seat Chapel, construction of the 126-bed New Hughes Hall, development of the ten-acre South campus area, and increasing endowed scholarships by $2 million.
On Friday a service of celebration begins at 10:30 a.m. in the Conn Center and will include dedication of the new Communication Arts building, a $10 million, 41,000 square foot structure that was completed in August. During Celebration, several portions of the building, as well as other buildings on campus, are being named in honor of donors and prominent figures locally and in the life of Lee University. Among those being recognized is former Church of God General Overseer Dr. Paul L. Walker, Sacramento, California developer, the late Marvin “Buzz” Oates, Cleveland entrepreneur Allan and Janie Jones, Bank of Cleveland founder Bobby and Nancy Taylor, founder and president of Life Care Centers of America, Forrest Preston, Cleveland restaurateur Doris Johnson, West Virginia business persons Lynn Gilbert and her husband Jim Morris, and the Church of God’s Donald and Winona Aultman.
In addition to the above, Lee University will use the occasion to recognize and honor Richard and Helen DeVos, Ray and Joan Conn, and Bill and Janie Higginbotham. All three couples have been consistent major donors to multiple Lee capital campaigns, including Finding Us Faithful.
A 300-voice choir will highlight the morning’s festivities, along with an orchestra composed of Lee students. The event will begin with a processional of Lee faculty in academic regalia. An alumni representative from each of the 68 years of Lee’s history on the Cleveland campus, will wear caps and gowns to march alongside the faculty and Board of Directors.
Morning classes will be cancelled Friday so that students may join other guests for one of 40 special Celebration Seminars conducted simultaneously across campus. Seminars will feature lectures from alumni, faculty, and other guest speakers on a variety of topics from advertising to sculpture to nursing.
—Cameron Fisher, Church of God Communications
