Projects

Construct a new R.G. LeTourneau Welcome Center, a 24,000 sq.-ft., three-story building near LeTourneau’s main campus entrance dedicated to welcoming alumni and guests on campus by telling the ongoing story of R.G. LeTourneau’s legacy at LeTourneau University. The building will house the University Development and Alumni Relations offices, the Admissions office, a theater, and a permanent museum dedicated to R.G. and Evelyn LeTourneau, creating a vibrant point of connection between LeTourneau’s origins, identity, and future.

Establish a Center for Academic Ministry. LeTourneau University believes that all faculty and staff are ministers of the Gospel. The Center will be an arm of the School of Theology and Vocation dedicated to ensuring that all faculty and staff are charged, encouraged, and equipped to authentically integrate Christian faith with their work, teaching, scholarship, and the learning experience we provide. It will train and certify faculty and staff participants and partner with their churches to “commission” them as workplace ministers at LeTourneau. As an auxiliary benefit, the work of the Center will affirm the ministerial exception we claim for our employees as agents of the Gospel in our learning community, buttressing our prerogatives as a religious organization over against potential government intrusion.

Establish a Center for Faith, Science, and Technology. The Faith, Science, and Technology initiative is central to LeTourneau’s identity as the Christian Polytechnic University, a leader in integrating faith, technology, and polytechnic education. The fund will underwrite a director for the center, its programming, and its engagement with thought leaders.

Establish a Director of Discipleship and Church Life. As a parachurch organization, LeTourneau works alongside the Church to train its students in Christian virtue and to foster committed, long- term, productive engagement with their local churches. This fund will create a position within the Office of Spiritual Life both to foster meaningful church engagement and to advance the university’s student discipleship efforts.

Build a transformative, new Christian Polytechnic University Center, a 80,000 sq. ft., four-story interdisciplinary academic center housing the School of Engineering, School of Business, Department of Computer Science, Center for Academic Ministry Training, and other academic space. The center will offer top-quality, flexible lab spaces that will engage students in industry-ready, hands-on learning and allow them to participate with faculty in pioneering research. The Center’s design will encourage interdisciplinarity and innovation, placing academic areas in contact and making research and creative spaces visible to encourage and grow our community of learning.

Construct a new Athletic and Human Performance Air Dome, a 120,000 sq.-ft. multi-sport and multi-use athletic and academic facility. It will house a 200-m competition-level indoor track and other sports venues, athletic training and performance facilities, and will also serve as versatile lab space for current and future allied health and sports science programs. As the Christian Polytechnic University that prizes hands-on laboratory experiences for students, the air dome will serve as the prime venue for testing and developing athletic and human performance of our student-athletes. It will also enhance recreation and wellness options for all students and employees.

Renovate existing space in the current Glaske building to create a new Health and Sciences Ingenuity Complex. This will allow significant program expansion in Nursing by increasing laboratory and classroom spaces, and it will permit the development of additional allied health programs. The renovation will also refresh existing laboratory and classroom space in the sciences.

Essential to this project is the complete renovation and technological upgrade of roughly 8,200ft as Phase 1 of the project. This first phase will allow for upgraded lab experiences and program growth while permitting the construction of other crucial facilities. This phase is estimated to cost $2.5M and must be completed before other capital upgrades can begin.

Expand the Paul and Betty Abbott Aviation Center to accommodate increased student demand in aviation, enabling program expansion.

Renovate other academic spaces to ensure classrooms and labs remain well equipped educational spaces, furnished with the latest technology for student learning and success.

Endow a variety of academic programs or faculty positions in order to attract and retain faculty committed to LeTourneau’s Christ-serving educational mission. The criteria for endowed faculty positions will emphasize noteworthy Christian service as well as the integration of faith, teaching, and scholarship.

Endow a Christian Scholars Fund to provide academic and research support on an annual basis for faculty to grow as leading Christian academics. These funds will support their professional development and productivity in order to foster engagement in national, scholarly conversations in their disciplines.

Establish a range of Endowed Student Scholarships to remove financial barriers for current and future LeTourneau students. Dedicated scholarship funds will allow us to attract and support opportunities for students who would otherwise find a LeTourneau education unattainable. This significant expansion of LeTourneau’s scholarship endowment will also drive enrollment growth, contributing to the long-term financial health of the university.

Sustain the LeTourneau Annual Fund during the course of the campaign to support ongoing operations that undergird our exceptional learning community.

Establish an innovative Safeguarding the Mission Fund that will be an initial building block for providing a viable alternative to federal funding. This fund would create a pilot program to subsidize student borrowing from private financial partners by offering “mind the gap” grants to cover the difference in borrowing terms between governmental and private loan agreements. Any portion of the fund not required for loan subsidies would contribute to general student scholarships. This “mind the gap,” endowed fund will be one initial strategy for maintaining students’ access to a LeTourneau education, and ensuring the university can fulfill its mission despite any shift in government’s posture to Christian higher education.

Endow a Center for Counseling and Campus Wellness dedicated to supporting student mental health and campus-wide health and well-being. In the face of a pervasive mental health challenge across college campuses, it is incumbent upon the University to bolster our resources for students in need. Doing this effectively will ensure our students are able to engage fully with the learning community. This center would replace our current Counseling Center as a more robust and wholistic resource for counseling, health and wellness programing for the flourishing of all faculty, staff, and students.

Establish a President’s Excellence Fund, earmarked for unforeseen, one-time student experience needs as they arise.