Dr. Evan Allard Reiff

University President and Minister

Evan Allard Reiff was born in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, on December 4, 1907. The son of Fred Leighton and Sarah Lilly (May) Reiff, he was the oldest of three children. His father passed when he was seven and his mother opened a rooming house to support the family. In addition to taking on a paper route, Evan helped by going to the train station every day to invite passengers to stay at his house. His mother, also, counted on him to care for his younger brother and sister—a role they did not always appreciate.

Evan majored in English at Oklahoma Baptist University, where he graduated magna cum laude in 1930. He went on to earn an M.A. (1931) and a Ph.D. (1937) in English Literature and Philosophy from the State University of Iowa.

The deepest commitment in Evan’s life was to seek and follow the will of God. He prayed and followed God’s calling to be licensed and ordained at the First Baptist Church of Newport in 1929. He pastored churches in Oklahoma, Iowa, Kansas, and Pennsylvania.

Dr. Reiff taught at the State University of Iowa, Oklahoma Baptist University where he also served as director of debate, Ottawa University where he served as head of the English and Speech Department, and Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary. In 1950 the family moved to South Dakota, where Dr. Reiff became president of Sioux Falls College.

Dr. Reiff felt called by God to accept the presidency of HSU and became the ninth President (1953-1962). As president, his major goals were that the university excel in scholastic excellence, enlightened by Christian faith and values and that it be financially sound. He worked tirelessly to raise academic standards and inaugurated a program designed to bring leadership and cultural opportunities to the community at large, beginning an Artist Series with world-renowned artists. Enrollment increased and several building projects were initiated for dormitories and academic spaces for the growing student body.

Fund-raising intensified in 1957, when Behrens Chapel burned down and the University began raising $1.5 million for a new chapel and student center. Dr. Reiff was faced with a difficult decision involving the much-loved football program, which by the late 1950s was costing the university about $1 million dollars per year. He realized that the university did not have the funds to support high-quality education for all its students and a million-dollar football program, so he made the difficult decision to end the football program.

Dr. Reiff believed deeply in the value of education for every student. This conviction drove him to make HSU the first racially integrated private college in Texas. In the late 1950s he announced that because the Southern Baptist denomination supported mission schools throughout the world, HSU would accept any qualified graduate from those schools who wanted to attend college in the U.S. In 1961, he announced that HSU would accept any qualified applicant regardless of their race and that Fall the first Black American students began attending HSU. A cenotaph was erected at the Texas State Cemetery to memorialize this act of leadership.

In addition to his many administrative responsibilities as president, Dr. Reiff served as chairman of the Education Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention and the Southern Association of Baptist Colleges and Schools, as well as president of the Texas Council of Church-related Colleges and the Texas Baptist Schools Administrators Association. In recognition of his distinguished career, Dr. Reiff was honored with OBU’s first Alumni Achievement Award.

Evan’s relationship with his family was a vital aspect of his life, along with his Christian faith and commitment to Christian higher education. He met Velma Bennett, the woman who would become his life-long partner, while they were both students at OBU, and they married on June 5, 1934. The couple had three children: Evangeline (Vangie), Fred, and John. His children cherish memories of how he loved to get them involved with the outdoors, camping, and fishing trips on summer vacations in the Rocky Mountains, and bird hunting in the fall.

Dr. Reiff’s principled work on behalf of HSU came at a personal cost. In December 1961, he submitted his resignation to the Board of Trustees, saying that he was “dog-tired” and he passed away on March 11, 1962.

For his unwavering commitment to ministry, Christian higher education, and racial equality, Hardin-Simmons University proudly inducts Dr. Evan Allard Reiff into the HSU Hall of Leaders.