WALNUT RIDGE, Ark. — Williams Baptist University broke ground Tuesday, Sept. 22, on a $7 million wellness center that will include basketball courts, fitness equipment and spaces for students to gather.
The university’s board of trustees joined the ceremony for the J.E. & L.E. Mabee Foundation Wellness Center, according to a WBU announcement.
The 26,000-square-foot facility will feature two basketball courts, weight and fitness equipment, an electronic gaming area, a student lounge and a screened-in porch. Ramsons Construction of Jonesboro will build it.
“We are thrilled to see construction commence on this facility,” WBU President Stan Norman said in the announcement. “The J.E. & L.E. Mabee Foundation Wellness Center marks a major step forward for WBU, our students and our entire campus community. This beautiful structure will provide enhanced opportunities for fitness and recreation, and it simply gives us a great place for friends to be together.”
The Mabee Foundation awarded WBU a $4 million grant in 2023 to help pay for construction. Norman said the university has since raised money from other supporters and is ready to begin work.
During its regular meeting Tuesday, the board also adopted a resolution affirming prayer as an institutional priority and approved a statement prioritizing prayer at Williams.
“It is our desire for WBU to be known as the ‘Campus of the Bowed Head,’” Norman said.
He said the university has devoted time and resources in recent months to making prayer part of its operations and expects those initiatives to expand during the school year.
The university also recognized four trustees whose terms ended after Tuesday’s meeting: Clint Emfinger of Searcy, Shane Knight of Alexander, Heather Moore of Cabot and Ben Rainwater of Little Rock.
“We thank these trustees for their support, their counsel and their friendship,” Norman said. “Their service to Williams through this Board of Trustees is sincerely appreciated.”
WBU trustees are appointed to three-year terms by the Arkansas Baptist State Convention. Williams is a private Christian university in Walnut Ridge.
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