Video by LaTerra Wair and Miranda Day

Right around 12:15 p.m. on Tuesday, junior political science pre-law major Damon “DJ” Moore got on one knee on the foundation of the Nick and Lou Martin University Center, Sharpie in hand, to leave behind this message:

“C.T.R.T. Conquer Today Rule Tomorrow.”

Moore said he composed this phrase when he was 18 years old and he even has it tattooed on his shoulders.

“It’s about furthering your dreams and doing what you want to accomplish,” he said. “So, within each day that you want to do something it’s just important to make sure that you stay productive and execute each task that is presented before you.”

Moore was one of around 150 students, faculty, staff, and alumni who gathered in the rain during free period to leave their mark on the center, which is scheduled to open in the fall and which is being advertised as the “Heart of the Campus.”

As church bells rang out, Texas Wesleyan University President Frederick Slabach welcomed everyone and gave a brief message about the center’s mission.

“This building is here for all of you,” Slabach said. “It’s going be a place where students gather to study and to socialize, a place for student organizations, leadership development, and a place where faculty and staff can meet and grab a cup of coffee before class or schedule meetings of co-curricular academic student organizations. It’s a place for alumni to come home to.”

After Slabach’s remarks, Dr. Gladys Childs, dean of the School of Arts and Letters, gave a blessing:

“We pray for this building that it will be a beacon to staff, faculty, administrators, students, and alumni,” she said. “That it can be a place where we can all gather and share with one another and learn from one another.”

Following the blessing, students were led into the center by SGA President Alyssa Hutchinson.

Lisamarie Barnes, president of the education honor society Kappa Delta Pi, also left behind an inspirational quote; hers promoted the purpose of the organization.

“KDP: Creating teachers with heart!”

Barnes explained what KDP is doing for both Wesleyan and the community.

“Our goal is to actually take those who are in the education department and do more for them and the kids,” she said. “Our former president got the ball rolling and we started doing more. We started doing the bone marrow drive and we’re getting ready to host one this semester. It’s going to be a massive event.”

She also talked about the organization reaching out to Fort Worth.

“We’re trying to get more in the community,” she said. “We’ve been giving back to The Boys and Girls Club just last semester which was something new that we’ve never done before.”