Cyndy and Dough Kennedy '69 gave two gifts to the Texas A&M Foundation for All Faiths Chapel - a cash gift for the renovation plus a planned gift to endow upgrades.
All Faiths Chapel serves to build another type of spirit at Texas A&M University—that of religious faith. With support from former students and a gift from Cynthia and Douglas Kennedy '69 of Saint Louis, Mo., the chapel received its first substantial facelift since opening its doors in 1957.
Closed in May for renovation, the chapel reopened in July.
Texas A&M’s growth, never imagined in the 1950s, took its toll on the chapel. As enrollment climbed from a few thousand students to more than 50,000, the chapel, generally quiet and intimate, could grow noisy and crowded. Since the 1980s, All Faiths Chapel has been in almost constant use by faith-based student groups that today comprise almost 10 percent of the more than 800 recognized student organizations. Prolonged wear diminished the interior’s look and functionality.
“We have wonderful academic and student facilities, but facilities for spiritual development were somewhat lacking,” said Neil Peltier, assistant director at University Center & Special Events, which oversees the chapel.
The Kennedys provided two gifts to the Texas A&M Foundation for All Faiths Chapel—a cash gift for the renovation plus a planned gift to endow support for chapel activities and upgrades. Their gifts expanded the project initially funded by The Association of Former Students. The Association’s support covered cosmetic repairs—repainting the interior, replacing seating and carpeting, and refinishing the woodwork. The Kennedys' gifts expanded the renovation to include replacing furnishings in the library and meditation rooms. A final task, upgrading the restrooms, will happen over the holiday break in December.
“To us, All Faiths Chapel stands as a reminder of our personal walk with the Lord and provides a place for spiritual growth, reflection and rest,” said Doug Kennedy. “It is a secure haven from the rigorous pressures of an academic and character building time for students and the staff of Texas A&M University.”
Keeping Faith in the "Other Education"
Cyndy and Doug Kennedy met during Doug’s junior year but didn’t marry in the chapel. Their 45-year marriage began shortly after he graduated from Texas A&M in 1969 with a degree in business management and administration. While Cyndy raised their children and worked various supportive jobs, Doug embarked on a successful career path: first as an Air Force F-IIIa pilot in Southeast Asia and then in both national and international business ventures. He retired in 2013 as a senior vice president from Equifax Workforce Solutions and recently formed Kennedy Advisors LLC.
Today the couple works with youth and international missions and invests in technology startups. They cherish their close-knit family that includes their son Carter and daughter-in-law Stephanie; two grandchildren, Franklin and Ford; daughter Stacy; and many nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews.
Their deep personal faith and love for Texas A&M led them to include All Faiths Chapel in their giving to the university. Besides the chapel renovation, their planned gift will fund endowments for students in the Mays Business School, the Corps of Cadets (including Squadron 2 and the Ross Volunteers) and Fish Camp along with contributions to the 12th Man Foundation.
“As a proud member of the Corps of Cadets, my faith was developing in those early years,” said Doug, who was a commanding officer in Squadron 2 and a platoon sergeant in the Ross Volunteers. “I went to All Faiths Chapel to find a place to get away. I experienced a closer walk with God that became foundational throughout my marriage, raising a family and how I approached my career.”
The Kennedys also honored Cyndy’s father, the late Col. Lohn Franklin Yoder Sr., by placing a church pew belonging to Yoder in the chapel’s foyer. The inscription on a nearby plaque is from Psalms 27:4: “One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.”
A Timeless Design for a Sacred Space
The Association of Former Students paid for the chapel’s original construction in the early 1950s. Its design was the result of a competition among Aggie architects. The winner, the late Richard D. “Dik” Vrooman '52, professor of architecture, incorporated nature with clean, simple lines and a thoughtful use of metal, stone, glass and wood. He designed the structure to fit among the existing trees on the selected site.
The U-shaped building covers about 9,000 square feet and houses a 175-seat sanctuary, walled garden, two meditation rooms, a small library, a foyer or reading area and a small office.
The late Richard D. "DIK" Vrooman '52, professor of architecture, designed All Faiths Chapel to incorporate nature with clean, simple lines and a thoughtful use of metal, stone, glass and wood.
Vrooman wanted the sanctuary to feel like a shelter in a garden. Exposed steel beams painted blue support a sloping copper roof. Native fossilated limestone and glass walls combine with extensive wood accents to create an open space bathed in natural light.
“Dik didn’t want the design to overwhelm the chapel’s purpose,” said David Woodcock, professor emeritus in architecture and a former colleague of Vrooman’s. “He wanted All Faiths Chapel to be a calm, peaceful oasis where students could go and contemplate their faith.”
The chapel is generally open 24 hours a day for students’ private use. It also is available for student group meetings, religious film screenings, small weddings, funerals and memorial services or other religious rites/ceremonies, as well as periodic holiday and music programs.
“I went there as a sophomore for meetings but would go back because it was peaceful,” said Kaitlyn Bingham '15 an English major from McKinney. “A prayer binder is kept in the chapel and you can read prayers and notes from people who have been there before.”
For a time at the chapel, weddings were popular. The first wedding happened on May 31, 1957, three weeks after the chapel opened. At its peak, from the late 1960s through the late 1970s, the chapel averaged 300 weddings per year. But over the next three-plus decades, its aging interior—along with the establishment of more local wedding venues—diminished its wedding use to about a dozen annually.
One thing not diminished is a memory built on love through faith. The late Don Powell '56 and his wife Mary Jo, former Texas A&M staff employees, married in All Faiths Chapel on Dec. 27, 1978. Mary Jo said they shared a special ritual during their 32-year marriage.
“On our 10th, 20th and 30th anniversaries, we went back to stand outside the chapel, look in and remember,” she said.
By Leanne South '94
This article was originally published in the fall 2014 issue of Spirit magazine.
Texas A&M Foundation
The Texas A&M Foundation is a nonprofit organization that solicits and manages investments in academics and leadership programs to enhance Texas A&M’s capability to be among the best universities.
