BMCU Center for Grace and Healing Opens in Blue Mountain
Blue Mountain Christian University opened its new BMCU Center for Grace and Healing on Friday, Nov. 6, with a ribbon-cutting at 11:30 a.m. Guided tours started at noon. The $15 million building on the Blue Mountain campus in Tippah County will be the new home of the School of Nursing and will also house the sciences and mathematics.
The ceremony was part of BMCU’s Founders Day and Homecoming weekend. The university invited alumni, donors, students, faculty, staff and the wider community to attend and tour the building afterward.
What the BMCU Center for Grace and Healing Offers Students
In its announcement, the university said the building was planned to meet the growing needs of students heading into health care, the sciences and mathematics. For years, BMCU said, students and faculty made do in older facilities that “faithfully served” the school. Now they have spaces and technology built for the purpose.
According to the university, the building’s main features include:
- High-fidelity nursing simulation laboratories
- Modern equipment for the sciences and mathematics
- Study and collaboration spaces
- Classrooms built for interactive learning
BMCU said the simulation labs and other spaces will give students hands-on practice in settings that look more like the hospitals, clinics and labs where they will work after graduation. Earlier project details listed eight classrooms, 16 faculty and staff offices, a lecture hall and a conference room. There is also an outdoor classroom with a scripture wall.
“Competence and Compassion”
“The Center for Grace and Healing represents far more than a new building,” BMCU President Dr. Barbara C. McMillin said in the university’s announcement. “It is a reflection of our commitment to preparing students to serve with both competence and compassion.”
The university said the opening celebrates more than a finished building. In its words, it also marks “the collective faith, vision, and generosity of a community that believes in the transformative power of Christian education.”
After the ceremony, a School of Education faculty member posted on Facebook that the university had “dedicated the McMillin Center for Grace and Healing.” That name appears to honor Dr. McMillin, who announced in September that she will retire in June 2027. As of Friday afternoon, BMCU had not published its own announcement of the building’s formal name, so Tippah News will update this story when the university confirms it.
A Long-Planned Project for Blue Mountain
BMCU broke ground on the health science building on May 2, 2025. It is the first new academic building on the campus since Fisher Washburn opened in 2005. Worsham Brothers of Corinth served as general contractor, working with Oxford Architecture of Nashville and Stamps Design Group of Knoxville. USDA Rural Development supported the project.
Construction updates on the university’s Facebook page this fall followed the final push: elevator installation, lab casework, lecture hall seating, masonry, an ADA ramp, landscaping and the outdoor classroom’s scripture stone.
Homecoming weekend continues on campus with alumni events, games and activities. Anyone who missed Friday’s tours can contact the university at (662) 685-4771 for information about seeing the building.
Related: BMCU Center for Grace and Healing Ribbon-Cutting Set for Nov. 6 | BMCU President Dr. Barbara McMillin to Retire in June 2027
Source: Blue Mountain Christian University (Facebook)
