Dallas Baptist University, formerly known as the Dallas Baptist College, is a Christian liberal arts university located in Dallas, Texas. This university was the modern successor of the Decatur Baptist College, originally known as the Northwest Texas Baptist College. Today, the Dallas Baptist University has three active campuses that are located in Hurst, Dallas, and Plano, Texas. In this article, we are going to learn more about the rich history of the Dallas Baptist University and get to know why it has three campuses in Texas.
History
When the Dallas Baptist University was founded in 1898, it was named Decatur Baptist College. Back then, the institution was the first two-year institution that offers higher education in Texas. In 1897, the Baptist General Convention of Texas decided to purchase the land from the Northwest Texas Baptist College. The institution enjoyed a rich and full history in Decatur, Texas, until it moved to Dallas after the Dallas Baptist Association’s invitation.
In October 1965, the Dallas Baptist College started to offer classes for the first class of about 900 students. The initial land where the campus stood was donated by Roland Pelt, John Stemmons, and associate; the location had an overlooking view of southwest Dallas’s Mountain Creek Lake. After that, a group of businessmen became interested in the institution. That is why they decided to donate additional acreage. In 1994, the Louis Hexter family donated 292 acres of land now known as the University Hill; this brought the current size of the DBU campus.
The Dallas Baptist College officially moved from junior-college to senior-collage status in 1968. Two years after that, the institution offered its first four-year bachelor’s degree. And in 1985, it changed its name to Dallas Baptist University. It added new structures such as the Mary C. Crowley College of Christian Faith, College of Arts and Sciences, College of Business, and the Dorothy M. Bush College Education.
In 1992, the first new building on the campus, called John G. Mahler Student Center, was added. The said building has a resemblance to the Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A chapel called the Patty, and Bo Pilgrim Chapel was dedicated in 2009. Today, the structure is used for different events like concerts and chapel services. Two years after that, DBU established the Joan and Andy Homer Hall, which houses the College of Fine Arts offices and the DBU communication department. Aside from that, the Joan and Andy Homer Hall also has a design lab, a recording studio, and a music business recording studio.
In 2001, the Dallas Baptist University opened the DBU-North, which is located in Carrollton, Texas. This served as DBU’s first regional academic center that serves the Collin County and North Dallas area. Four years after that, Dallas Baptist University opened the DBU-Hurst-Colleyville located at Hurst, Texas. In 2011, the owners of DBU decided to move its DBU-North campus from Carrollton to Plano, Texas.
