Bullock Hall ushers in start to Freshman Village project
For many who gathered to celebrate the grand opening of Bullock Hall on Aug. 20, 2021, the evening was all about family. For April (Bullock ’89) Anthony, ACU’s board chair, the event was an opportunity to honor her parents and her brothers and their wives, for whom the new residence hall is named.
For the McDonald family, it represented an opportunity to remember A.F. and Cornelia McDonald – ACU pioneers and the namesakes of McDonald Hall, an original building on the ACU campus that was demolished in 2020 to make way for Bullock Hall.
It was also an opportunity to welcome new members into a family.
“For the freshmen who moved into Bullock Hall,” said Anthony, who was the top donor for the project along with her husband, Mark (’86), “they too are becoming part of a wonderful family – the ACU family. A family that will love them, and nourish them, and challenge them, and support them.”
The four-story, 72,000-square-foot hall features 128 double rooms, eight single rooms, two apartments, nine study spaces and a lobby on each floor. It houses freshman men and women, each in their respective wings. Its construction marked Phase I of ACU’s new Freshman Village, a series of new and renovated residence halls that will house all freshmen along East North 16th Street and a key component of the university’s Higher Ground campaign. Phase II of the project began in February 2022 with a groundbreaking for Wessel Hall.
“Today’s grand opening represents the culmination of two years of dedicated work and the realization of many years of strategy, generosity and commitment,” said ACU president Dr. Phil Schubert.
Bullock Hall is named in honor of Anthony’s parents, JoLynn (Calk ’59) and the late Joe Bullock.
“My brothers and I were so blessed to grow up in a Christian home,” Anthony said. “We were raised by hard-working, middle-class parents who saved and stretched to make sure all three of us could attend Abilene Christian.”
The two wings of the new hall are named for Anthony’s brothers and their wives. Bullock West Wing is named for Robert (’81) and Melanie (Evans ’82) Bullock, and Bullock East Wing is named for Joe Dell (’80), who died in March 2021 of the effects of COVID-19, and Emily (Mahon ’81) Bullock.
The grand opening ceremony also paid tribute to the McDonalds. In 1906, A.F. McDonald was a founding board member of Childers Classical Institute, which would later become ACU, and support provided by him and his wife, Cornelia, helped the school grow in its early years.
“We’re here now because committed and generous people such as A.F. and Cornelia recognized the importance of a Christ-centered education right here in Abilene,” Schubert said. “We’re proud to carry on the legacy pioneered by the McDonalds.”
Students lived in McDonald Hall nearly every year since 1929. The opening of Bullock Hall ensures that legacy lives on.
“Within these walls, generations of future Wildcats will live in community together, learn together, pray together and grow together,” Schubert said. “Lives will change because of relationships formed here.”
