Shenandoah University and Mount Carmel Baptist Church in Winchester have announced a partnership through which the university will fund significant upgrades to the recreational facility at Mount Carmel Family Life Center.

Under the Ministries Service Agreement (MSA), which begins July 1 and has an initial seven-year term, Shenandoah University will renovate the church’s auxiliary gymnasium, which includes the installation of a new hardwood gym floor. These renovations will allow Shenandoah to use the facility as additional space for its athletic teams and other university activities while collaborating with Mount Carmel to enhance youth sports programming and other opportunities and services the church provides for the Winchester community.

Shenandoah University and Mount Carmel celebrated the signing of the MSA with a gathering at the Family Life Center on Thursday, April 9.

This isn’t just a win for Shenandoah as an institution or Mount Carmel Baptist Church as a congregation. This is a win for all those that are involved. It means we can allow the community more access to Wilkins Athletics and Events Center, because our basketball teams and our volleyball teams will now have a secondary place to practice if they can’t have access there. This is a win for the youth of Mount Carmel Baptist Church, because they will have access to Shenandoah programs that they possibly didn’t have access to before. And this gives us that opportunity to collaborate also on behalf of the community.”

Tracy Fitzsimmons, Ph.D., Shenandoah University President

The new partnership grants Shenandoah the ability to use the Mount Carmel Family Life Center as practice space for its athletic teams as well as for recreational competitions, training and other related academic programming. Likewise, Shenandoah will provide Mount Carmel access to its main campus facilities, as needed.

Conversations around a formal partnership began when Shenandoah Vice President for Student Affairs, Enrollment Management and Athletics Yolanda Barbier Gibson, D.A., who is a member of Mount Carmel Baptist Church, explored ways to address the university’s need for more space as its enrollment continues to rise.

“We are running out of space because we are growing at unbelievable rates, and that’s a testament not only SU, but to the community in Winchester as a whole, because this is a place that individuals want to be at,” said DeShon Foxx, Ph.D., Shenandoah University’s assistant vice president for student affairs and director of athletics. “We want to continuously give the best experiences to those who come to Shenandoah – not just students, but community members. And this allows us to do more in the community. This allows for us to open doors at the Wilkins Athletics and Events Center. It allows for us to bring more youth into the camps, into the programming that we run. And on the educational side, it allows us to educate, at a higher level, more individuals, which has a far-extending societal impact. I’m extremely excited to see what happens through this partnership and through this relationship.”

Shenandoah will work with Mount Carmel to develop and support community programming at the facility, including youth sports leagues, clinics, summer sports camps, health and wellness programs, and other community enrichment activities. To support such programs, Shenandoah will provide resources such as coaching expertise, training for volunteers, event staff, or access to university athletic personnel or students.

Members of Mount Carmel’s youth programs will receive discounted prices to youth camps run by Shenandoah’s basketball and volleyball teams.

Mount Carmel retains ownership of the Family Life Center under the new agreement, and Shenandoah will collaborate with Mount Carmel to ensure that the church’s ministries, programs and other community initiatives continue uninterrupted.

Rev. Dr. Gilbert Mack, Jr., senior pastor at Mount Carmel, stated that the church and Shenandoah University have had a decades-long informal partnership. He noted that Shenandoah students played a central role in starting the church’s first cultural arts program for at-risk youth, and the university welcomed the congregation to worship in the Bowman Building in downtown Winchester after the church’s roof collapsed in 1999. 

“We’re excited about what is happening. We’re excited about right now. We’re excited about the future,” Mack said. “And this is only the beginning, because not only did we partner on programs, but we’re building families. We’re not only making a difference individually, but we’re helping build a whole community, and that’s what it’s all about.”

During the term of the agreement, Shenandoah will maintain the new gym floor and any SU-installed equipment, including refinishing and repairing the gym floor due to normal wear. It will make any future upgrades or replacements required to maintain a safe and high-quality facility for all users.

The agreement also allows Shenandoah to use the facility as a family assistance center during emergencies.

“This opens up a new partnership for ways we can together serve the community – people who have nothing to do with Mount Carmel or Shenandoah, but they are our neighbors in this community,” Dr. Fitzsimmons said. “This is a partnership that is about recognizing what it means to great neighbors, and not just to each other, but to all those other people that have needs who we can lift up together.”