On Jan. 22, 2025, West Texas A&M University (WT) celebrated the grand opening of the Geneva Schaeffer Education Building (GSEB). The event hosted speakers, including Vice President of Philanthropy and External Affairs Dr. Todd Rasberry, Student Government President Mary Vivian Ivy, University President Dr. Walter V. Wendler, Texas Representative John Smithee, Provost and Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs Dr. Neil Terry, David Schaeffer, Pastor of First Baptist Church of Amarillo Dr. Howie Batson and Regents Professor of Music Dr. Robert Hansen.
The Education Building was originally opened in 1928 as a hands-on training facility for teachers until 1951. The facility was then used as a classroom building until 1988. In October 2021, Senate Bill 52 distributed $45 million to the university. That grant, along with a $2.5 million contribution from the Schaeffer family, funded the now Geneva Schaeffer Education Building.
The event began with introductions of the speakers and a brief statement about the building’s new purpose.
“May of 2024, we gathered on this very location to launch the construction for resurrecting the old education building,” Raspberry said. “By transforming it into a state-of-the-art digital education hub to meet future demands for extending the exceptional educational experience, which enables students to graduate and succeed. Today marks a new era for the building, for education at WT, and for the Schaeffer family legacy.”
Student Government President Mary Vivian Ivy spoke on behalf of the student body.
“[The Geneva Schaeffer Education Building] symbolizes boundless opportunity, innovation, and the relentless pursuit of knowledge,” Ivy said. “As student body president, I stand here before you, humbled and inspired by the profound impact this building will have on our learning community. The Geneva Schaeffer Education Building stands, literally and figuratively, as a gateway to the world of education, information, collaboration, and growth.”
Wendler then came to the podium with a word of thanks to the Schaeffer family.
“The Schaeffers have created a transformative legacy at West Texas A&M University through their engagement, persistence, and support over the past 50 years,” Wendler said. “I’ve told this story, but I’m going to tell it again. Shortly after I arrived, Stanley had a conversation with me and shared that if the opportunity ever arose, he would like to have Geneva’s name on the old education building, so it could fulfill new purposes at West Texas A&M University. Be careful what you say to a university president, [when] it involves a potential contribution. We’re here, and we’re so thankful for not just the commitment to this facility and Geneva’s name born on the side of it, but for a lifelong commitment to West Texas A&M University, to the Texas panhandle, and to the folks that call this place home.”
Following Wendler’s remarks, Smithee took the podium to address the process of raising funds for construction.
“So much of our campus has been constructed or rebuilt,” Smithee said. “We were very fortunate in 2015 and in 2021 to be able to pass legislation that brought a significant amount of money into this campus, and along Russell Long Boulevard. We’ve seen all those remarkable changes with our agricultural facilities, and I don’t think any of those projects would have been possible without a public-private partnership.”
Terry then took the stage to explain the new functions of the facility.
“The remodeled building supports two critical components of our academic mission,” Terry said. “The first is serving as home to graduate programs and research. The institution has 44 master’s degree programs and [is] expanding doctoral programs from two to as many as five within the next two years. In recent years, sponsored research has doubled from approximately 5 million to 10 million per year, and we hope to double that number again in the not-too-distant future.
Terry expounded upon the new purpose of the GSEB.
“The Geneva Schaeffer Education Building is one of the keys to the long-run expansion of graduate programs, sponsored research, and advancing economic development across the Texas Panhandle through research. [And] the second way the building makes the educational mission is by serving as a hub for instructional technology and academic innovation,” Terry said.
Son of Stanley and Geneva, David Schaeffer shared the significance of the new building’s name.
“My mother knew the ultimate value of a good education, and she wanted everyone she touched to gain as strong an education as possible,” Schaeffer said. “Both Mom and Dad’s expectations didn’t just stop with working to gain an education that allowed them, and by extension us, to succeed in life. They knew there was another piece of life that was just as important. That piece was sharing the blessings God gives us when He helps us succeed. Those blessings include our time and our talents. Mom and Dad taught each of us to share and to give back. Both of them knew success in life meant more than taking. It must include giving, passing along those blessings God so freely gives. With Mom and Dad’s philanthropic work at WT, they have shown us what a true legacy consists of.”
After Schaeffer spoke, Batson compared the new facility to bones coming to life.
“There’s something truly significant about building a new building,” Batson said. “But there’s something even more remarkable about raising the dead. Giving the bones, an old building’s new breath, a new purpose and [a] new vision. The building before us today is more beautiful than ever before. This building is part of our history at WT.”
The event concluded with Hansen singing a medley in honor of Geneva Schaeffer.
The GSEB is 3 floors, with the first floor primarily housing information technology (IT). Additional IT and the Education on Demand department are located on the second floor, and the graduate school is located on the third floor. For questions about the graduate school, call 806-651-2730 or email [email protected].
