1. One College Ave. ● Mechanicsburg, PA 17055 ● Phone (717) 766-2511
NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
Contact: Kim Phipps
President of Messiah College
Phone: (717) 766-2511
Messiah College to host a public memorial service for Dr. D. Ray Hostetter
April 8, 2016. Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. Messiah College’s 6th
president Dr. D. Ray Hostetter will be
honored and remembered on Saturday, April, 16, 2016 at 11:00 a.m. at the Grantham Church, 421
Grantham Road, Mechanicsburg, Pa. Immediately after the service all guests will be invited to attend a
luncheon with the Hostetter family. The luncheon will be hosted by Messiah College in the Martin Dining
Commons located in the Eisenhower Campus Center. Visitors can park in the visitor lot located between
the Campus Center and Old Main. For more information send an email to president@messiah.edu or call
(717) 766-2511.
Dr. D. Ray Hostetter came from a long line of Messiah College faculty and administrators. Both his father
and grandfather served as presidents while his mother was a student and teacher at Messiah. He taught
history and physical education classes and in 1964 he became the college’s 6th
president a position he
held for 30 years.
During his presidency Dr. D. Ray Hostetter led Messiah College to great growth and progress. Under his
leadership many new buildings were constructed. Some of these are the Hess, Sollenberger, and Miller
residence halls as well as the Fry apartments. These additions also included the Eisenhower Campus
Center, Climenhaga Fine Arts Center, and the Sollenberger Sports Center. During this time he formed
the partnership with Temple University the first ever between a private religious and public institution.
Under Hostetter students formed the Inner City Committee a group that focused on the Harrisburg area.
They donated blood to hemophiliacs and built houses for the homeless and worked with ex-convicts. He
also added the Special Olympics to Messiah services. Under him the college’s first radio station, WVMM,
was created and began broadcasting.
Hostetter’s contributions to Messiah College are noteworthy. He helped to grow the college both
physically and spiritually during his 30 year presidency.
Messiah College is a private Christian college of the liberal arts and applied arts and sciences located in
Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. Messiah's mission is to "educate men and women toward maturity of intellect,
character, and Christian faith in preparation for lives of service, leadership, and reconciliation in church and
society."
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