FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 10/17/06

Greenville College to Dedicate Whitlock Music Center

Generous Donation Provides Funds to Finish Third Floor

GREENVILLE, ILL. – The college will dedicate the nearly $4 million Whitlock Music Center Saturday, October 21 at 11 am. A reception will be held following the ceremony in the courtyard. The public is welcome to attend.

A generous gift by the Whitlock family provided the necessary resources to complete the college’s Music Center, a three story facility that houses both contemporary and traditional music programs in a labyrinth of practice rooms, spacious faculty offices, high-tech classrooms and the James E. Wilson Recital Hall. In May of 2006, the board of trustees unanimously decided to name the Music Center after the Whitlock family.

Renovation of the facility began after the purchase of the building from the Free Methodist Church in early 2005. Since then, the transformation has turned a fellowship hall into soundproof practice rooms and Sunday school classrooms into faculty offices. The basement level houses 21 practice rooms, several faculty offices, and five recording studios. The main level, home to faculty offices and a conference room, also includes the James E. Wilson Recital Hall, the Simcoe Prayer Chapel, and the choral library. The third floor, renovated just this summer, houses the more traditional music program, including the band room, classrooms, and faculty offices. The facility is fully handicap accessible and equipped with a state of the art security system.

The Whitlock family has a long history with Greenville College beginning with Maxine Whitlock’s grandfather, Lawrence Z. Young. He attended G.C. from 1896-1898 earning a degree in art before becoming a teacher in Hillsboro public schools. Maxine’s parents Seth Young and Edna Taylor met at Greenville College and were married by president Hogue in his home, which is where the union sits now. The family also has a long tradition with the college choir, as the Whitlocks have sung under the guidance of the last three choral directors and both Maxine and Karen Whitlock hold degrees in music.

Since Lawrence Young studied art at the college, five generations of the family have attended the college, most recently Geoff Whitlock ’05. Jake and Mark Whitlock have served on the board of the college for a combined 37 years, and in 1998 Jake and Maxine Whitlock received the Minshall Servant Leadership Award from the college for their outstanding and sacrificial service to both the college and Free Methodist Church.

Greenville College is a four-year accredited Christian liberal arts school with more than 1400 traditional undergraduate, graduate, and adult degree completion students.  Founded in 1892 and affiliated with the Free Methodist Church, the college is located in Greenville, Illinois, 45 miles east of St. Louis.

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CONTACT:
Christy Grimes ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it )
Assistant Director of Public RelationsGreenville College
(618) 664-6515