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HANNIBAL, MO. -- The following is a press release from Hannibal-LaGrange College:

On May 8, 2010, the HLG Trustee Board voted to recommend changing the name of the institution from Hannibal-LaGrange College to University of Hannibal and on July 13, the Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) Executive Board approved the recommendation unanimously (HLG is affiliated with the Missouri Baptist Convention, which elects the trustee board, and therefore required to gain the approval from the MBC for such decisions). Final approval is slated for the 2010 annual MBC convention held in Springfield, MO, October 25-27.

The College has been informally considering and researching the name change for several years.  Factors to support a name change included degree offerings, geographic location clarification and domestic and international student recruitment benefits.  In November 2009, the trustee board voted to form an ad hoc committee to officially investigate the process to change the school name to adequately represent the institution.  “We believe the name change will reposition the college to reflect the kind of institution we have become,” continued HLG President Woodrow W. Burt, Ph.D.  “We have advanced in our programs, our personnel and our facilities to the point where we think ‘University’ fits who we are.”  HLG moved from a two-year school to a four-year institution in 1975 and began offering master’s level courses in 2007.  The college has associate’s, bachelor’s and master’s degree programs, offers over 30 majors, sixteen intercollegiate athletic teams, an honors program, overseas study opportunities, and students from 27 states and 29 countries make HLG their home nine months out of the year. HLG employs approximately 250 full-time and part-time faculty, staff and administrators. The College consistently receives national honors and awards including America’s Best Christian Colleges, America’s Best College Scholarships, NAIA Champions of Character and the Courts Redford Award for Excellence in Student Missionary Deployment by the North American Mission Board.  The institution boasts a strong nursing program with plans for expansion in the fall 2010 semester, an education program that equips quality teachers for public and private school systems, and national championship berths for several intercollegiate athletic teams.

The final stage of approval is over three months away; however Burt is cautiously optimistic about the October 2010 convention vote.  "The journey to consider, research and realize the proposed name change is not over.  This process has reaffirmed our commitment to be careful and conscientious with such important institution decisions.  We still have some miles to go before this dream becomes a reality,” said Burt. “Regardless of the final decision, we will continue to provide an 'excellent liberal arts education in a distinctively Christian environment.'  That's what we do and that will never change."

If the convention votes to approve the name change to University of Hannibal at the October meeting, conversion procedures will begin immediately with the official launch date of January 1, 2011.