SENATE APPROVES RESOLUTION COMMEMORATING 150th ANNIVERSARY OF BLUE MOUNTAIN CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY
Hyde-Smith, Wicker Introduced Measure Honoring Tippah County-based Institution
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Senate has approved a resolution introduced by U.S. Senators Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Blue Mountain Christian University.
The resolution (S.Res.538), which recognizes the university for its academic, faith-based, and athletic excellence, was approved by unanimous consent this week.
“For 150 years, Blue Mountain Christian University has afforded so many the opportunity to complete their studies, as well as grow in their faith,” Hyde-Smith said. “This resolution honors the huge impact this small-but-mighty college has on students, staff, and the surrounding community.”
“Blue Mountain Christian University has dedicated itself to ministry, service, and academic excellence. This resolution is a small way to honor their legacy. I wish them the best on the next 150 years,” Wicker said.
The resolution honors the launching of Blue Mountain Christian University in September 1873 as a women’s institution with a four-member faculty offering a liberal arts curriculum to 50 students. Today, the university is a coeducational institution that offers a wide range of baccalaureate and graduate degrees.
The measure charts the university’s rise and reputation as being “renowned for academic excellence in education and ministry, producing both excellent ‘teachers and preachers’ in particular and outstanding graduates broadly who are all academically and spiritually prepared to assume places of leadership in their professions and in the faith community.”
Read the text of the commemorative resolution here or below.
RESOLUTION
Commending Blue Mountain Christian University for 150 years of service to the State of Mississippi and the United States.
Whereas Blue Mountain Christian University began its first session as a women’s institution on September 12, 1873, with a four-member faculty offering a liberal arts curriculum to 50 students;
Whereas Blue Mountain Christian University was chartered as a college in 1877 and managed by the Lowrey family until 1920, when the Mississippi Baptist Convention assumed ownership;
Whereas, in 1956, the Mississippi Baptist Convention voted to add a coordinated academic program for men preparing for church-related vocations;
Whereas, in 2005, the Board of Trustees voted to make Blue Mountain Christian University a fully co-educational institution;
Whereas, on October 7, 2022, the Board of Trustees approved changing the name of the institution from Blue Mountain College to Blue Mountain Christian University;
Whereas, Blue Mountain Christian University has grown from 50 students to host more than 600 students participating in nine programs of study, including establishing graduate programs in education in 2006, business administration in 2019, and kinesiology in 2023, as well as a School of Nursing in 2022;
Whereas Blue Mountain Christian University has played a significant role in meeting the needs of its constituents for 150 years by educating women in the 1870s following a devastating war, by educating ministers in the mid-1950s when bi-vocational pastors were unable to travel to pursue higher education, by converting to co-educational status in 2005 when the education of both men and women became expedient to enhance community advancement and service, and by establishing a nursing program in the 2020s to address a critical shortage of trained personnel in the medical field;
Whereas the inaugural Southern Literary Festival was established at Blue Mountain Christian University in 1937 to foster creative writing and to provide exposure to successful authors;
Whereas Blue Mountain Christian University is renowned for academic excellence in education and ministry, producing both excellent “teachers and preachers” in particular and outstanding graduates broadly who are all academically and spiritually prepared to assume places of leadership in their professions and in the faith community;
Whereas Blue Mountain Christian University was a pioneer in women’s college athletics on the state and national levels, first by joining the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women and later the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics;
Whereas the athletic program of the Blue Mountain Christian University Toppers is now composed of 18 men’s and women’s intercollegiate varsity athletic teams that represent Blue Mountain Christian University in the Southern States Athletic Conference;
Whereas Blue Mountain Christian University is dedicated to supporting the academic success of student athletes while striving for on-field success; and
Whereas hundreds of students of all races, creeds, backgrounds, and beliefs receive a world-class, Christ-centered education at Blue Mountain Christian University: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate—
(1) commends Blue Mountain Christian University for its 150 years of service to the State of Mississippi and the United States;
(2) recognizes Blue Mountain Christian University for its academic, faith-based, athletic excellence; and
(3) respectfully requests that the Secretary of the Senate transmit an enrolled copy of this resolution to—
(A) the President of Blue Mountain Christian University, Dr. Barbara Childers McMillin;
(B) the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs of Blue Mountain Christian University, Dr. Sharon Ball Enzor; and
(C) the Director of Intercollegiate Athletics of Blue Mountain Christian University, Mr. Will Lowrey.
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