HGTV’s Ben and Erin Napier Announce Exciting New Addition to Their Hometown
Ben and Erin Napier
Ben and Erin Napier revealed an exciting development for their hometown during the latest episode of their HGTV show Home Town.
The Napiers returned to Jones College, the Ellisville, Miss., community college where they met, in an episode that aired earlier this week. In one heartwarming moment, the Napiers were told that one of Jones College’s schools will be named after them, an announcement that had both Ben and Erin tearing up on camera.
The Erin and Ben Napier School of Design and Building Arts will focus on addressing the “workforce gap of skilled building designers, carpenters, and craftspeople that are needed to restore and preserve small towns across Mississippi,” according to the school’s website. The school’s program offerings will range from building basics, like carpentry and plumbing, to interior and graphic design.
“It’s kind of unbelievable that they would consider naming a school after us,” Erin said in the episode, a clip of which HGTV shared on Instagram. Her husband said it was an “honor” for them, their parents, and their grandparents, all of whom he said attended the college. Erin added that she hopes their two daughters will also “go to school here one day.”
Though the exciting development delivered an emotional moment for the show, the episode began with a focus on a building that Erin and Ben were restoring for newlyweds Ginny and Jon Ryan, who also attended Jones College years after the Napiers did. The show introduced Jon as the chief of staff for Jones College President Jesse Smith. The Napiers were called in to restore the Old President’s Home, an on-campus building used for faculty housing that Ginny and Jon plan to live in.
Before the Napiers’ new school name was announced, the couple reflected on their time at Jones College, which they pointed out is “just about 13 minutes” from their home in Laurel, Miss.
“This is where we met,” Erin reminded Home Town fans. "We had our first date in the student union. Everyone on both sides of our family went to school here."
Ben later called their on-campus restoration project his “favorite and most fun project that we have done so far,” adding on Instagram that it was “an honor” and “a dream come true” to tackle a project at the couple’s old stomping grounds.
Next: HGTV’s Erin & Ben Napier’s Heartwarming Love Story Will Make You Melt
