[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 142 (Tuesday, September 9, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1739-E1740]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  TRIBUTE TO HANNIBAL LaGRANGE COLLEGE

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. KENNY C. HULSHOF

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, September 9, 2008

  Mr. HULSHOF. Madam Speaker, I rise today to mark a significant date 
in higher education in northeast Missouri. My congressional district is 
privileged to be home to many honorable and successful institutions of 
higher learning. Among them, Hannibal-LaGrange College this very month 
celebrates its sesquicentennial. For 150 years, Hannibal-LaGrange has 
provided quality Christian education to untold thousands of students 
while remaining true to its God-given principles and beliefs.
  The humble journey began in LaGrange, MO, about 30 miles north of the 
college's current campus. The college opened its doors on September 15, 
1858, as the LaGrange Male and Female Seminary, founded by the Wyaconda 
Baptist Association. Steering this ship on the first leg of its journey 
was William Ellis. Ellis was the college's first president and just 24 
years old when classes started in September 1858. The school's young 
journey was derailed just 4 years later when Union troops commandeered 
the college's facilities for use during the Civil War.
  Once the college reopened in 1866, Dr. Joshua Flood Cook, the new 
president, faced the awesome tasks of replacing equipment, textbooks, 
faculty and staff, as well as rebuilding campus facilities, community 
support and confidence. Cook successfully fought these battles and 
served as president for 30 years, advancing the institution perhaps 
more than any other single individual in its history.
  After 70 years in its LaGrange home, college leadership accepted an 
overture to move the campus south to the northeast edge of Hannibal. In 
1927, Hannibal-LaGrange College opened the doors to its Hannibal 
campus, which still sits today on those 110 acres of scenic hills and 
woods on the bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River.
  The college continued to grow and serve the community through the 
middle part of the 20th century. In 1973, however, the college faced 
its first real test since the move to Hannibal. Inflation and other 
financial strains put the college's very future in jeopardy. Community 
leaders, area residents and HLG personnel forcefully answered in one 
voice, raising $85,000 to keep the college's doors open

[[Page E1740]]

and averting what would have been the college's immediate closure.
  While 1973 marked the college's first test in Hannibal, it wasn't the 
last or most severe. Sixteen years later, on June 22, 1989, a small 
fire that started in the college's cafeteria area soon grew to a raging 
inferno, swallowing many of the college's vital facilities, including 
the campus' administration building, auditorium and gymnasium. Black 
smoke billowed into the air, visible from miles away. Emergency 
responders worked through the night to douse the fire. But doused with 
the fire were hopes and dreams for the coming fall semester and the 
collective futures of incoming students. By daylight, as only charred 
remains of the structures stood, any thoughts of a successful future 
vanished into the air with the remnants of the previous night's smoke.
  However, President Dr. Paul Brown began the next morning with a 
pledge to hold classes on campus that very fall. Dr. Brown led college 
trustees and personnel on a massive effort to rebuild and expand the 
campus. A large burlap tent was erected on campus for chapel services 
that fall, classes were held in dormitory basements and trailers on 
campus and a massive reconstruction program began in an effort to 
rebuild what had been lost.
  Just 3 years later, following the construction of a new sports 
complex, computer center and cafeteria, the college dedicated its new 
administration building under the leadership of Dr. Brown and current 
President Dr. Woodrow Burt. On the cornerstone of this building, built 
on the site of the administration building lost in the 1989 fire, is a 
passage from Isaiah 61:3, ``A crown of beauty instead of ashes.'' This 
building was later renamed for Dr. Burt, who became president of the 
college in 1995 and still proudly yet humbly serves in that position 
today.
  But the journey for HLG is not complete. The vision for the college's 
growth and service continued forward over the past decade, as the 
college constructed a new dormitory and the Roland Fine Arts Center, 
the centerpiece of the college's recent expansions. The college is also 
in the midst of a $30-million campaign, ``Building for the Future,'' 
which calls for the construction of a new library, allied health and 
science center and dormitory renovations, as well as enhancing the 
college's endowment.
  Throughout this journey, beating in the heart of HLG is a desire to 
serve Christ, embodied in the college's motto, ``Knowledge for 
Service.'' HLG strengthened this commitment over the last 4 years 
through its implementation of missions programs that serve both 
domestic and international missions opportunities year-round. HLG is a 
multiple recipient of the Courts Redford Award, the top award among 
U.S. colleges and universities for mobilizing students for missions 
with the North American Mission Board. In May of this year, HLG was 
named number one among 314 colleges and universities that send students 
to work with the NAMB.
  Madam Speaker, I was honored to stand before this Chamber 10 years 
ago to commend HLG's commitment to excellence and its use of knowledge 
for service during their 140th anniversary. I am again privileged to 
stand before this body and congratulate my friends at HLG for 150 years 
of quality Christian education. May God continue to bless this fine 
institution for many years to come.

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