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 Founders Day keynote speaker, Mart Green.
Mart Green, founder of Hobby Lobby, Chairman of Bearing Fruit Communications and Executive Producer/CEO for Every Tribe Entertainment, was the keynote speaker at the chapel service.
Green opened his address by showing the trailer of his theatrical film End of the Spear released in theaters in January 2006. He then challenged students, faculty, staff and honored guests that in order to follow Christ, we should remember these four words: 1) Deny: everyone must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Him; 2) Discovery: seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be given to you and to do good works which God has prepared in advance for us to do; 3) Adventure: it may be uncomfortable and at times dangerous to be a Christian but our God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ will comfort us in all our troubles. Lastly, 4) Provision: when we are bearing fruit for the kingdom He will provide.
Mart Green began his retail career in the home of his parents as a youth. With $600 his family started Hobby Lobby in their living room, now a chain of over 385 hobby, arts and crafts stores. At 19, Green established Mardel, a chain of Christian and educational supply stores. Mardel, headquartered in Oklahoma City, has 26 stores in six states.
January 2005, Christian Retailing named Green one of the Top Fifty People who have most impacted and shaped Christian retailing in the last half century.
In addition to growing his business, Mart is Founder and Chairman of Bearing Fruit Communications, a non-profit media company charged with “making known the relevance of Bible Agencies. Bearing Fruit produced the award-winning documentary Beyond the Gates of Splendor.
Green premiered his new film, Miss HIV, to the student body on Tuesday evening which follows the journey of an HIV-positive woman who wants to prove that African nations are dying and break the stigma that keeps it hidden. Green also spoke to scholarship donors at a luncheon immediately following the chapel.
North Greenville University was founded in 1892 as a high school to provide educational opportunities for mountain area students. The State of South Carolina chartered the institution as North Greenville High School in 1904. It was renamed “North Greenville Academy” in 1915. In 1934, the charter was amended to create a junior college in addition to a high school. In 1972, the word “Junior” was deleted from the title of the school.
In 1991, the college reaffirmed its basic commitment to quality education, becoming a four-year liberal arts college in 1992. The college awarded its first bachelor degree in 1994. The school changed it’s name from “college” to “university” in 2005 as well as opened the T. Walter Brashier Graduate School to offer graduate degree programs.
The university currently offers over 40 undergraduate and graduate degree programs.
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