Metro Roundup: Hobby Lobby family donates $20 million to Highlands College

Highlands College today announced it has received a $20 million donation from Hobby Lobby founder and CEO David Green and the Green family to fully fund one of two residence halls to be built on a 70-acre campus set to open later this year in the Grandview area off U.S. 280.

Highlands College is a Bible college that was founded in 2011. It prepares students who are led into full-time Christian ministry through a program of academic instruction, hands-on training, character formation and spiritual development. Its graduates serve and lead in churches and ministry organizations around the world. 

“Our family sees this gift as an investment paying dividends as each graduate fulfills their calling,” Green said in a news release. “Highlands College is like no other. It is a community of believers, leaders and learners who develop the whole person in spirit, mind and body.”

Chris Hodges, chancellor of Highlands College and the senior pastor for the Church of the Highlands, said college leaders envision the school as a world-class facility for training servant leaders of character and competence and the gift invested by the Green family goes a long way toward fulfilling that vision.

“We are so grateful for their confidence in our mission and the impact Highlands College can have in our world,” Hodges said. 

Highlands College officials plan to break ground for the new residence hall later this month. The plan is for a five-floor facility with more than 68,000 square feet with 126 rooms for 252 students. Completion is expected in late 2022, with students moving in soon afterward.

“A residential campus is essential to realizing the holistic, academy-style education and training approach that sets us apart,” said Mark Pettus, president of Highlands College. “The Green family is enabling us to activate and accelerate this key part of our vision.” 

Because of the Green family gift, Highlands College will construct the residence hall debt-free.

The private, two-year institution is scheduled to offer a four-year program within a few years. Its strategic plan calls for growth to 1,000 students by 2029 with a vision for all students to graduate debt-free. 

A new 70-acre campus located in the Grandview area off U.S. 280 is set to open later this year and features a student center, 19 learning studios, eight hands-on ministry training labs, multiple collaborative areas, dining facilities, café, library, fitness and recreation facilities, a multi-purpose auditorium and the latest in audio-visual technology.