Hobby Lobby and the Green Family Donate St. Gregory’s University Former Campus to Oklahoma Baptist University

Hobby Lobby and the Green Family formally announced their donation of the former St. Gregory’s University campus to Oklahoma Baptist University during a special event Wednesday, Dec. 11. The event took place at the Rockwood Center on the campus of the former SGU, now the OBU Green Campus.

Hobby Lobby purchased the property last year following SGU’s bankruptcy proceedings, after St. Gregory’s closed its doors in December 2017.

At that time, OBU offered a teach-out agreement to current SGU students, with many of them transferring to OBU to complete their degrees.

The donated property is approximately 72 acres, with 286,600 square feet contained in seven major buildings.

The donation deed for the property was filed earlier in the week, officially transferring ownership to OBU. St. Gregory’s Abbey and Monastery will continue to occupy its current property, as will the Mabee-Gerrer Museum, as they operate as separate entities from the university.

The event included comments by Les Miller, real estate analyst for Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.; Dr. Pat Taylor, OBU interim president; Dr. Heath Thomas, OBU president-elect; Dr. David Whitlock, former OBU president and chancellor; and Dr. Will Smallwood, OBU senior vice president for advancement and university relations.

Miller, a 1981 OBU graduate, offered remarks on behalf of Hobby Lobby and the Green family, who founded and owns the corporation.

“It is with great joy that God has extended to the Green family the opportunity to invest in the future of Oklahoma Baptist University and her students, through the donation of this beautiful property, now affectionately referred to as the Green Campus,” Miller said. “OBU’s history is one of steadfast faithfulness to God’s Word, something that must remain the highest priority as a University devoted to impacting the world for Christ and His kingdom.”

“OBU is known for providing the highest in quality, Christian liberal arts education,” Miller continued. “OBU functions as a means of God’s grace to the students who come here to be educated. Yet they receive far more as they step into her care – they are given the rare and unique opportunity where rigorous scholarship, together with a Christian world view, prepare the whole person for success, but also for the many challenges of life. In a time when Christian faith is viewed by the world as something to be tolerated, OBU embraces the understanding that a deeply meaningful and fulfilling university education includes a firm foundation established in Christ.”

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Source: Baptist Press