Please click here for a photo gallery of today’s unveiling.

 Missouri Baptist University unveiled an eight foot bronze statue Sept. 20, adding a finishing touch to the University’s new Sports and Recreation Complex.

The cast bronze Spartan stands in front of the Carl and Deloris Petty Sports and Recreation Complex, a 47,000-square-foot facility that includes a suspended track, an innovative fitness center and the University’s Health and Sports Sciences Division.

“The Spartan will be an icon for our campus,” said Dr. Alton Lacey, MBU president, during the unveiling. “It will become a meeting place and a symbol of pride for many years to come.”

Fort Collins, Colo., resident Robert Work commissioned the Spartan bronze, which was paid for by private donors.  Work, a faculty member at Colorado State University, said the University’s Christ-centered mission was the impetus behind the Spartan’s design.

“As I searched for influence, I researched Roman history and those Spartans who converted to Christianity,” Work said.  “It made me think about a Roman foot soldier out in battle, looking to the sky and realizing that there was one true God.”

Missouri Baptist University is a Christ-centered university located in Saint Louis. MBU offers more than 40 undergraduate degrees, graduate degrees in education, business and religion and its new terminal degree, the Doctor of Education. In addition to its 66-acre West St. Louis County campus, MBU offers degree programs at 10 regional learning centers throughout Saint Louis, in Southern Illinois and online. For more information, go to www.mobap.edu or call 1-877-434-1115.