ETBU Celebrates Record Student Enrollment Despite COVID-19 Crisis Despite the uncertainties of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, East Texas Baptist University is celebrating the highest recorded student enrollment in the University’s 108year history with 1,714 total students, reflecting an 8% increase over Fall 2019. The semester also marks the highest graduate enrollment in University history, up by 22% from last year. With the worldwide health crisis altering the typical higher education experience at many colleges, ETBU’s enrollment is the product of the University’s commitment to provide an in-person, Christ-centered educational experience. These record-breaking numbers are a reflection of God's provision and protection, as well as East Texas Baptist students’ desire to have the traditional college experience offered on-campus at ETBU. Read more.
Great Commission Center Building Campaign Prayer Partners Needed God continues to call more and more students to pursue Christ-centered education at ETBU. Our enrollment necessitated the building of additional housing options in recent years, and now additional educational space is needed to accommodate our growing student body. The University launched a $7,500,000 fundraising campaign to construct a 23,000 square feet facility that will be the future home to the Fred Hale School of Business, the Great Commission Center, and the Office of Career Development. Called the Great Commission Center, the building will be the physical manifestation of ETBU’s core mission of developing Christian servant leaders and encouraging all believers to fulfill the Great Commission from Matthew 28:18-20. The new facility will be the first new building construction of academic space on the main campus since the completion of the Murphy Science Building in 1991. To learn more about this project click here. More than $3,000,000 has already been committed to the Great Commission Center Building Campaign. In response to our initial fundraising success, the J.E. and L.E. Mabee Foundation issued a $1,500,000 challenge grant to further support the project. If ETBU secures an additional $3,000,000 in gifts and pledges for this project by July 2021, the Mabee Foundation will award a grant of $1,500,000 to enable us to achieve our building campaign goal of $7,500,000. We are asking ETBU Alumni and friends to serve as prayer partners to cover the vision for the Great Commission Center in prayer. Members of the GCC Building Prayer Team will receive periodic updates with specific prayer requests throughout the campaign. Will you commit to faithfully pray for this important project for the present and future needs of ETBU students and faculty? If you are interested in becoming a member of the GCC Building Prayer Team click here.
Show your Tiger Pride Show your Tiger Pride this fall by purchasing a mask for yourself, fellow alumni, or a Tiger student for the Fall 2020 Semester. Masks are $10 each. Be like Kendall Westbrook, a senior Business Administration major from Hemphill, Texas, and show your Tiger Pride to promote health and safety for others.
Purchase an ETBU Mask
Get to Know Alumna Dr. Brandi Buchanan ('01) When Dr. Brandi Buchanan transferred to ETBU her junior year, she found a place to heal and wrestle with God's Word. "Growing up, I always wanted to work in medicine, but my freshman year in high school I felt called to ministry," Dr. Buchanan said. "I didn't know how my previous desires and this new calling would work itself out. I grew up in a very conservative church and the options that were put before me didn't seem viable. Then as a freshman at LSU, my biology professor told me I cared too much about people to be a physician and should consider psychology. I felt lost." Dr. Buchanan began searching for mentors to help her navigate what she felt called to do, but was met with opposition. It was during this season, Brandi decided to transfer to ETBU. "I loved my previous institution, but I chose to come to ETBU so I could minor in religion and learn more about the Bible from professors who could teach me regardless of my gender or background," Dr. Buchanan said. According to Dr. Buchanan, it was the professors she had while at ETBU that helped her to navigate scripture and heal spiritually. "The first year I attended ETBU, I met Dr. John Harris," Dr. Buchanan said. "We met periodically during his office hours to discuss the topics and ideas I had struggled with most of my life. Dr. Harris and Dr. Bob Utley helped me to see that God values men and women the same while also embracing how we are equally yet uniquely representative of the same God. These two professors changed the course of my education while encouraging me to trust God to lead my vocational pursuits." After graduating from ETBU, Dr. Buchanan attended seminary and served as a college pastor and young adult minister in local churches. After her time in ministry came to an end, she felt called to her current profession of neuropsychology. Today, she is the owner and president of Dallas Neuropsychology, with clinics in Rockwall and Greenville. "I now work in a hospital acute rehabilitation unit and have two outpatient clinics where I diagnose and treat adults and geriatric individuals with neurocognitive injuries and illness," Dr. Buchanan said. "I have been told I have a unique approach to my practice, and I believe it is due to the fact that I address the emotional, cognitive, physical, and spiritual components of my patients due to my unique training, education, and experience."
Join ETBU Cub Club and Tiger Club Enrollment is open for ETBU's Cub Club and Tiger Club programs for children and grandchildren of ETBU family members. These programs nurture and develop participants' connection with ETBU in hopes that one day they decide to become an ETBU Tiger. Through encouraging birthday cards and age-appropriate ETBU gifts on select birthdays, the ETBU Alumni Office will encourage Cub Club members (infant to age seven) and Tiger Club members (children and teens between 8 and 18) to embrace the Christ-centered mission and servant-hearted attributes that are embodied in the ETBU educational experience. Enroll your Cub and/or Tiger today for a one time fee of $25. We look forward to bringing joy through your alma mater to your son, daughter, or grandchild.
Enroll Your Cub or Tiger
Stay Connected The easiest way to stay up to date with everything happening on the Hill is to update your information. This ensures that you will receive all of the latest news from ETBU including Hilltop Magazine. Click the button below to make sure we have your most recent information.
Update Your Information
ETBU in the News East Texas colleges reopen Monday with new COVID-19 restrictions in place After schools across the country responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by shutting down campuses and moving classes online, many are now adapting their policies to accommodate students return to class this fall. Read more.
ETBU Celebrates Historic Enrollment - Despite COVID-19 President J. Blair Blackburn recently joined Shreveport CBS affiliate KSLA to discuss how the safety and health measures implemented in preparation for the fall academic year helped lead to historic enrollment numbers at ETBU. Watch now.
Dr. David Maltsberger ('81) | Planting seeds that grow into greater messages David Maltsberger has been a professor in the School of Christian Studies for Wayland Baptist University in San Antonio for seven years. From deep in the heart of one Texan, he shares his background and thoughts on Christian higher education. Read more.
Jessica Sullens ('00) receives 2020 Baptist Educators Serving Texans (BEST) Award from Texas Baptists Congratulations to Jessica Sullens ('00) for being chosen by Texas Baptist as one of nine BEST Award recipients. Awardees are chosen because they are exemplary representatives of their profession, their alma maters, and primarily, our Lord. Read more.
For more information please call: Dr. Scott Bryant Vice President for Advancement 903.923.2069 | sbryant@etbu.edu Emily Roberson Director of Alumni Relations and Advancement Communication 903.923.2043 | eroberson@etbu.edu Reid Adams ('19) Advancement Officer 903.923.2070 | reida@etbu.edu
Stay in touch and share your news with your ETBU Family. Send your career accomplishments and family updates to alumni@etbu.edu or click here to update your information.
Our mailing address is: One Tiger Drive Marshall, TX 75670 www.etbu.edu Copyright Š 2020 East Texas Baptist University, All rights reserved.