The Baptist Collegiate Ministry at Northwestern State University broke ground Thursday for its new home on the NSU campus.
NATCHITOCHES
– The Baptist Collegiate Ministry at NorthwesternState
University broke ground
Thursday for its new home on the NSU campus. The BCM is the first campus group
at Northwestern to begin construction on the new Organizational Row located at
the corner of
Caspari Street
andSouth Jefferson Street.
The Baptist
Collegiate Ministry, formerly the Baptist Student Union, has been at
Northwestern since 1926. At one time, the University had a building for all
campus ministries, but organizations gradually began getting separate
facilities. The BCM has been located on
Second Streetand on two locations onCollege Avenue. For
the past two years, they have been on the first floor of the Friedman Student
Union. Plans are to have the new BCM home complete by this fall.
“The new 8,000
square foot facility will reflect current campus architecture,” said Rev. Bill
Collins the BCM advisor. “This facility will be very student friendly and will
allow us more opportunities to reach students.”
Collins thanked
Northwestern’s administration for the opportunity to have a building on campus
and singled out former Vice President for Student Affairs Dr. Dan Seymour for
his role in keeping the concept of Organizational Row moving forward.
“The BCM has a
long, storied history at Northwestern and it has had a tremendous, positive
impact on a number of people,” said Northwestern President Dr. Randall J. Webb.
“Baptist Collegiate Ministry is an integral part of student life at the
university. Campus ministries are an important part of our effort to recruit
and retain students because they serve as an anchor for students.”
The
organizational row project has been on the drawing board for two decades and
was expanded to allow all campus organizations to participate, not just
fraternities and sororities. Several other organizations are exploring the
possibility of joining Organizational Row, according to Director of Student
Activities and Organizations Jeff Mathews.
Prospective
organizations have a number of steps to comply with before construction could
start, Matthews said.