Carlee Ammons, of Richmond, helps organize prayer walk at Howard Payne University

BROWNWOOD , TX (10/11/2011)(readMedia)-- Howard Payne University students recently spent a week "prayer walking" around campus, asking God to guide and bless the university. Carlee Ammons, junior, student body president and communication major from Richmond, was one of the event organizers.

Students met at 7 a.m. each morning to walk around campus one time while praying for the school. On Sunday, the seventh day, the group walked around the campus seven times.

"Students, HPU staff and faculty and community members joined us every day," Ammons said. "We talked to many of those involved in the prayer walk who said they grew closer to God from participating."

Hannah Pippen, a junior social work major from Del Rio, co-organized the event. Pippen's responsibilities as chaplain include leading weekly devotionals for the Student Government Association and talking and praying with any students who are looking for encouragement.

"One of the main ways that I seek to set a firm foundation as chaplain this year is to instill the importance of a prayer life," she said.

Founded in 1889, Howard Payne University is a Christ-centered academic community dedicated to excellence by developing and equipping the whole person for intellectual inquiry, personal and professional integrity, and service to God and humanity.

Located in Brownwood, Texas, HPU offers a full array of undergraduate programs and a limited number of graduate programs in a traditional residential academic community. The university also offers selected undergraduate and graduate course work by electronic means and at extended learning centers responsive to the academic needs of the communities served. HPU maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio, which contributes to the university's reputation of being "a place where everybody is somebody."