Designed in the Cherokee Gothic style of the University of Oklahoma’s historic buildings, Headington Hall, which houses 380 students, will be dedicated in a public ceremony Saturday, Nov. 16, on the University of Oklahoma’s Norman campus.
The ceremony begins at 8:30 a.m. in the outside courtyard at the residence hall, 100 E. Lindsey Street. Speakers will include OU President David L. Boren, Director of Athletics Joe Castiglione, Chairman of the OU Board of Regents Richard Dunning and Tim Headington, for whom the hall is named.
Of the 380 students housed in Headington Hall, 180 are student-athletes. Located on the corner of Jenkins Avenue and Lindsey Street, southeast and across the street from Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, the 230,000-square-foot, six-story residence hall features apartment-style accommodations in two- and four-bedroom units. The building includes central dining, computer labs, study rooms, a theater and a faculty-in-residence unit. The $75 million facility replaces the former Sooner Housing Center comprised of Bud Wilkinson Hall, Jefferson and Jones Halls.
“Headington Hall is the finest residential facility of its kind in the country. We are very grateful to Tim Headington and other generous donors for making it possible,” said President Boren.
Headington, an OU alumnus, gave the lead gift of $10 million toward the student housing center. He is president and founder of the Dallas-headquartered Headington Resources Inc., an independent exploration and production operator in south Texas. The company also has interests in real estate and hotel development, film production, private equity and entertainment. He serves on the board of directors of the Mike Modano Foundation, an organization that raises funds to improve the quality of life for underserved and at-risk youth in the Dallas area, and is a major supporter of The Heroes Foundation, which provides programs for disadvantaged youth to participate in a select baseball program.
He is also co-founder of the nonprofit Headington Institute, headquartered in Pasadena, Calif., the mission of which is to care for caregivers worldwide by determining the best ways to promote the physical hardiness, emotional resilience and spiritual vitality of humanitarian relief and development personnel.
Headington earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in history from OU, where he was a member of the tennis team. He went on to earn graduate degrees in theology and psychology from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena. He serves on the OU Athletics Director’s Executive Advisory Council and in 2005, he was honored with the OU Regents’ Alumni Award.
Other major donors whose gifts supported Headington Hall are the Andrews Family Foundation of Oklahoma City; Sam Bradford, 2008 Heisman Trophy winner from OU who now is St. Louis Rams quarterback; Chesapeake Energy of Oklahoma City; the Chickasaw Nation; the Ty T. Hartwig Family of Edmond; the Greathouse Foundation of Abilene, Texas; the J.D. Lewis Family of Healdton; Aubrey McClendon of Oklahoma City; former OU player Adrian Peterson, now Minnesota Vikings running back; the Rippeto Family Foundation of Dallas; the Touchdown Club of Oklahoma; and the late Cy Wagner and Lissa Wagner of Midland, Texas. More than 35 other donors also have contributed in support of Headington Hall.
For more information about the dedication ceremony or for accommodations on the basis of disability, please call the Sooner Club at (405) 325-8000.
