
Tabor College ushered in the next chapter for its newest academic space, breaking ground April 30 for the Business & Entrepreneurship Center and setting the course for the remodel of the former Mary J. Regier Building (MJR) and its attached atrium and north expansion.
Over 200 community members attended the afternoon ceremony to celebrate the academic and business impact the Business & Entrepreneurship Center will have at Tabor, in the City of Hillsboro and the state of Kansas. The event was livestreamed and is available for replay via www.tabor.edu/bec.
Speakers at the afternoon ceremony included (in order):
Ron Braun, Vice President of Philanthropy, Tabor College
David Janzen, President, Tabor College
Susan Franz Koslowsky, Chair, Tabor College Board of Directors
Melinda Rangel, , Marvin Sellberg Professor of Business & Entrepreneurship
Porsha Zweifel, Student Senate President, Tabor College
Matt Stiles, City Administrator, City of Hillsboro, Kan.
Fran Oleen, District Director, Congressman Derek Schmidt
Tom Byford, Pastor, Parkview MB Church, Hillsboro
Nearly $9 million has been raised toward the $11 million project. Additionally, less than $500,000 remains to meet the challenge grant issued by the Mabee Foundation in January.
The building is also part of the Next Century Campaign, Tabor’s $90 million initiative to build on the rich legacy of the college’s first century and secure a thriving future for generations.
The event was held on Tabor Day, a major milestone in the college’s 117-year history. On April 30, 1918, the college’s first building burned down. Hope arose from that tragic day as the generosity of the greater campus community and God’s faithfulness led to the construction of the MJR and the H.W. Lohrenz Administration Building. Those two buildings were commissioned April 30, 1920, and one year later, the date was officially recognized as Tabor Day, celebrating perseverance through tragedy and what God has and will do through the college community.
To learn more about the Next Century Campaign, visit www.tabor.edu/nextcentury.

Tabor College is the Mennonite Brethren college located in Hillsboro, Kansas. The mission of Tabor College, founded in 1908, is to prepare people for a life of learning, work and service for Christ and his kingdom.