Lubbock Christian University (LCU) is a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

Christian university associated with the

Churches of Christ The Churches of Christ, also commonly known as the Church of Christ, is a loose association of autonomous Christian congregations located around the world. Typically, their distinguishing beliefs are that of the necessity of baptism for salvation ...

and located in

Lubbock, Texas Lubbock ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Lubbock County. With a population of 272,086 in 2024, Lubbock is the 10th-most populous city in Texas and the 84th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the ...

, United States. Chartered originally as part of a grade school called Lubbock Christian School in 1954, the institution branched off as a junior college – Lubbock Christian College – in 1957. On May 11th, 1970, the Lubbock Christian University was struck by an F5 tornado. LCC became a senior college in 1972, then advanced to university status in fall of 1987. LCU has 65 undergraduate degrees. A fall 2015 count showed 1,958 students enrolled at Lubbock Christian University, of which 462 were

graduate student Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of Academic degree, academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by higher education, post-secondary students who have ...

History

In 1954 the State of Texas approved the operation of a

private educational institution Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * Private (Ryōko Hirosue song), "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private ...

for students from

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...

through college. An elementary school was established that year, and a junior college was added in 1957. On May 11, 1970, the Lubbock Christian University was struck by an F5 tornado. F. W. Mattox was the founding president. LCU received accreditation as a senior college in 1972. Advancement to university status came in the fall of 1987. Presidents who have led Lubbock Christian University are F. W. Mattox (1957–1974), W. Joe Hacker (1974–1976), Harvie Pruitt (1976–1982), Steven S. Lemley (1982–1993), L. Ken Jones (1993–2012), L. Timothy Perrin (2012–2019), and Scott McDowell (2020–present).

Housing

Katie Rogers Hall is a women's residence for 250 students. It was built in the 1960s and underwent major renovation in 1999 and again in Summer 2017. The Katie Rogers Courtyard houses forty-eight upperclass women with private bedrooms and semi-private bathrooms. Johnson Hall is the men's residence and can house nearly two hundred men. It was renovated in Summer 2018. Mabee Hall has capacity to house 48 upperclassmen. Residents have private bedrooms and semi-private bathrooms. Rec Center apartments can hold up to 40 upperclassmen. Complete with private rooms and bathrooms. Gullo Hall is the upcoming residence hall specialized for upperclassmen, which is scheduled to open in the Spring of 2024. The university also offers university apartments for upperclassmen, married students with no children, and graduate students. Apartments are located on the west and east sides of campus.

Campus information

The Mabee Student Union Building (SUB) has a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

, student affairs office, student government office, the Chap Store, and a

snack bar A snack bar usually refers to an inexpensive food counter that is part of a permanent structure where snack foods and light meals are sold. Description A beach snack bar is often a small building situated high on the sand. Besides soft drink ...

. Built in 1961, the Betty Hancock Campus Center once served as the university's

cafeteria A cafeteria, called canteen outside the U.S., is a type of food service location in which there is little or no waiting staff table service, whether in a restaurant or within an institution such as a large office building or school; a scho ...

. A newer, more contemporary cafeteria, known as "the Caf", has since been added. A parlor is also available for receptions. The McDonald Moody Auditorium has a seating capacity of 1166 and serves as the venue for daily chapel assemblies. The Allison Music center is adjacent to the Moody auditorium. The center has rehearsal halls for bands and choruses, 12 practice rooms, and also houses the music professors' offices. The Rhodes–Perrin Recreation Center (previously known as "Field House") serves as the student recreation center and houses the Ramona Perrin Fitness Center. The building has a volleyball, basketball, futsal and badminton courts, along with a 60-foot free standing rock wall, renovated locker rooms, group fitness studio. The department of Exercise and Sport Sciences has its offices there. The Mabee American Heritage Center houses the department of history,

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

, and English, the Cardwell Lecture Hall, and administrative offices. Other administrative offices are housed in F. W. Mattox Administrative Building. Built in 1958, the Mattox Administrative building was the first permanent brick structure on campus. The 2nd floor of the building contains the offices of the department of Business. The Mabee Science Laboratory, built in 1970, was extensively renovated and rebuilt, and renamed the Dobbs Center for Business to house the College of Business. The Ling Science Center houses the department of Natural and Physical Sciences. The building also contains laboratories and equipment rooms. The Associates Behavioral Science Building was built in 1967 and houses the Department of Behavioral Sciences which include psychology and sociology. The Maddox-Pugh Educational Center houses the department of Education, a computer lab, several classrooms, and the West Texas Core Knowledge Center. The C.L. Kay Christian Development Center, built in 1974 (significantly renovated in recent years) houses the Al and Patricia Smith College of Biblical Studies, as well as the Honors College. The Diana Ling Center for Academic Achievement was completed in 2007 and houses the Communications, Fine Arts and Chap Radio. The Center for Student Success is also located in this facility. The Mabee Nursing Center opened in 1994, was recently renamed the Mabee Social Work & Criminal Justice Building. The Rip Griffin Center (aka "The Rip") houses the university's intercollegiate athletic teams. It can seat up to 1,925 with an additional 565 when floor seating is utilized. On the north end of campus is the Cardwell Welcome Center. Completed in 2010, the Welcome Center qualified for a Platinum Certification from the

U.S. Green Building Council The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), founded in 1993, is a private 501(c)(3), membership-based non-profit organization that promotes sustainability in building design, construction, and operation. USGBC is best known for its development of t ...

under its LEED,

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a Green building certification systems, green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating ...

Green Building Rating System. The Talkington Center for Nursing Excellence houses not only the LCU Department of Nursing, but the Covenant School of Nursing as well. In the west end of the building, the Collier Auditorium seats around 500.

Student life

Although the university is not host to affiliates of national fraternities and sororities, nonetheless Lubbock Christian University has gender-based social clubs. The women's social clubs are Christliche Damen, Kappa Phi Kappa, Lambda Omega Alpha, and Zeta Gamma. The men's social clubs are Koinonia, Kyodai, and Alpha Chi Delta. There is also one fraternity on campus, Sub T-16. The fraternity Sub T-16 has chapters at other churches of Christ-affiliated schools such as

Abilene Christian University Abilene Christian University (ACU) is a Private university, private Christian research university in Abilene, Texas, United States. It is classified by the Carnegie Foundation as an R2 (High Research Spending and Doctorate Production) institutio ...

and

Harding University Harding University is a Private university, private Christian university with its main campus in Searcy, Arkansas, United States. Established in 1924, the institution offers Undergraduate education, undergraduate, Postgraduate education, gradu ...

. Sub T-16 fraternity was founded on the campus by F. W. Mattox, who also served as the first president of Lubbock Christian. The university is also affiliated with several professional organizations including

Reserve Officer Training Corps The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC; or ) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces. While ROTC graduate officers serve in all branches o ...

(ROTC),

Students in Free Enterprise The Enactus World Cup, or Enactus, is an international social entrepreneurship project presentation competition for university students organized by Enactus, an international non-profit organization based in New York City. The championship former ...

, and the Student Education Association. The university's online newspaper is the ''DusterToday''. LCU also has an ''

a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

'' ensemble called Best Friends. They tour across the country and record studio albums. Several of their alumni have gone on to work for

The Acappella Company ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The' ...

, an established member of the ''a cappella '' community.

Athletics

The Lubbock Christian athletic teams are called the Chaparrals and Lady Chaps. The university is a member of the

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is the intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environment ...

ranks, primarily competing in the

Lone Star Conference The Lone Star Conference (LSC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Member institutions are located in the South Central states, with schools in Texas ...

(LSC) since the 2019–20 academic year. The Chaparrals and Lady Chaps previously had competed in the D-II

Heartland Conference The Heartland Conference was a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)'s Division II level, which was founded in 1999. The majority of members were in Texas, with additional members in ...

from 2013–14 to 2018–19; in the

Sooner Athletic Conference The Sooner Athletic Conference (SAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Originally developed as a five-team conference of Oklahoma-based schools, the SAC now boasts 13 ...

(SAC) of the

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for higher education, colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic schola ...

(NAIA) from 1994–95 to 2012–13; and in the

Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association The Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association (TIAA) was a college sports association that operated from 1909 to 1932. All of its members were located in the US state of Texas. History Founded in 1909 by Southwestern University, Austin Colle ...

(TIAA) of the

NCAA Division III NCAA Division III (D-III) is the lowest division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that do not offer athletic scholarships to student- ...

ranks from 1979–80 to 1981–82. Lubbock Christian competes in 17 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

, cross country, golf,

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

, tennis and track & field; while women's sports include

, cross country, golf,

softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

, tennis, track & field and volleyball; and co-ed sports include cheerleading and eSports. On April 4, 2016, the Lady Chaps defeated the Seawolves of the University of Alaska-Anchorage in

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

78–73 to cap an undefeated season and win the NCAA Division II women's basketball championship. The win happened in the first year the Lady Chaps were eligible for NCAA Division II post-season play after more than 30 years of playing in the NAIA.

Notable alumni

* R. Gerald Turner, President of

Southern Methodist University Southern Methodist University (SMU) is a Private university, private research university in Dallas, Texas, United States, with a satellite campus in Taos County, New Mexico. SMU was founded on April 17, 1911, by the Methodist Episcopal Church, ...

Larry Hays Larry Hays is an American college baseball, basketball, and softball coach. He was the head baseball coach at Lubbock Christian University (LCU) (1971–1986) and Texas Tech University (1987–2008). He was also the head coach of the LCU Chap ...

, retired

Texas Tech Red Raiders baseball The Texas Tech Red Raiders baseball team represents Texas Tech University in NCAA Division I college baseball. The team competes in the Big 12 Conference and plays at Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park. Their head coach is Tim Tadlock and is ente ...

coach * Matt Martin, baseball coach with the Detroit Tigers *

The Otwell Twins The Otwell Twins are an American singing duo made up of identical twin brothers Roger and David, born August 2, 1956, in Tulia, Texas. They are best known as members of ''The Lawrence Welk Show'' from 1977 to 1982. Singing and playing the guit ...

, singers on ''

The Lawrence Welk Show ''The Lawrence Welk Show'' is an American televised musical variety show hosted by big band leader Lawrence Welk. The series aired locally in Los Angeles for four years, from 1951 to 1955, then nationally for another 16 years on ABC from 1955 t ...

'', Amarillo businessmen * Britt Bonneau, college baseball coach at Abilene Christian *

Randy Velarde Randy Lee Velarde (born November 24, 1962) is an American former baseball infielder and utility player who played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played the majority of his career for the New York Yankees, and also played for the ...

, Retired

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

player * Rob Evans, former head men's basketball coach,

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (Epithet, byname Ole Miss) is a Public university, public research university in University, near Oxford, Mississippi, United States, with a University of Mississippi Medical Center, medical center in Jackson, Miss ...

, and

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...

* Brad Rogers, Football Official with the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

Marvin Lee Aday Michael Lee Aday (born Marvin Lee Aday; September 27, 1947 – January 20, 2022), known professionally by his stage name Meat Loaf, was an American singer and actor. He was known for his powerful, wide-ranging voice and theatrical live shows. ...

, musician and actor – attended briefly in 1965 then transferred to North Texas State College * L. Timothy Perrin, attorney and sixth LCU president * Dr. John Delony, author, co-host of the nationally syndicated radio program ''

The Ramsey Show ''The Ramsey Show'' (formerly known as ''The Dave Ramsey Show'' and ''The Money Game'') is an American self-syndicated radio program hosted by finance author Dave Ramsey and a rotating group of co-hosts, that airs Monday through Friday from 2:0 ...

,'' and host ''The Dr. John Delony Show'' podcast.

References

External links

*
Official athletics website
{{Coord, 33, 34, 25, N, 101, 56, 1, W, region:US, display=title 1957 establishments in Texas Council for Christian Colleges and Universities Universities and colleges affiliated with the Churches of Christ