Celebrating Twenty Years of Service
Assessing the Mission of Church-Related Higher Education
1976-1996


by Karen A. Longman, Ph.D.


The year was 1976: Nelson Rockefeller was vice president; gasoline cost 59 cents a gallon. It was the "Year of the Dragon" in China; George Gallup, Jr. had declared it to be the "Year of the Evangelical" in the United States. Christian higher education was coming of age; the Christian College Coalition was formed.



The Council's Roots

Until the 1950s there were few bonds transcending denominational lines within the world of Christian higher education. The Council for the Advancement of Small Colleges, now called the Council of Independent Colleges, was launched in 1955 to serve the needs of smaller and unaccredited schools, many of them Christian colleges and universities.

In the mid-1960s, recognizing the unique educational mission of Christ-centered colleges, the Commission of Higher Education of the National Association of Evangelicals proposed that an association for such institutions be created. Aided by a $300,000 grant from the Lilly Endowment and the active encouragement of Earl McGrath, director of the Temple University Higher Education Center and Carl F.H. Henry, editor of Christianity Today, the Christian College Consortium was founded on July 1, 1971 as the "first major cooperative venture" in this sector of American higher education. Ten institutions (Bethel/MN, Eastern Mennonite, Gordon, Greenville, Malone, Messiah, Seattle Pacific, Taylor, Westmont and Wheaton) banded together with the goals of more effectively integrating faith and learning, cooperatively promoting the cause of Christian higher education, developing domestic and international student programs, and continuing to explore "the possibility of a university system of Christian colleges"... the long-standing dream of Carl Henry and other Christian scholars. Dr. Ed Neteland, academic dean of Trinity College (IL), served as the first executive director of the Consortium.

The Consortium's membership fluctuated somewhat in the early 1970s as Christian colleges from across the country sought the benefits of collaboration on projects of common interest. In March of 1975 the Membership Committee of the Consortium accordingly recommended to President Gordon Werkema that a prospectus be developed for a more broadly based "Council for Christian Colleges."

The Executive Committee of the Consortium and Consortium presidents received Gordon Werkema's recommendation in October of 1975 that an organization be formed primarily to focuson three stated objectives:

  • The monitoring of legislation, judicial activity, and public opinion on matters which could affect the freedom of Christian colleges to function educationally and religiously.
  • The development of unified positions on critical issues for presentation to other organizations, governmental bodies and public policy formers.
  • The development of an offensive position on potential erosions of religious and educational freedom in the Christian college movement.


The Council's Founding

An informational mailing about the proposed emergence of the "Christian College Coalition" drew favorable response from 38 colleges and universities from across the United States. Presidents from 26 institutions joined together at the Capitol Hill Quality Inn on September 21-22, 1976 at the association's founding meeting. As part of that meeting each president articulated his perception of the need for "a group that would adequately represent the Christian college."

Emerging from the discussion was the specific rationale for the formation of the Council:

"... the fact that there is now no group which effectively and exclusively represents colleges seriously interested in preserving a permeation philosophy in education and religion;

... the fact that there is a need for study, research and promotion of the distinctives and rights which Christian colleges are not willing to give up to the government;

... the fact that in any power struggle between public and private education, "public" is going to win politically and therefore those who have the most reason to be private or independent should have a leadership position;

... the fact that legal counsel and representation can be effectively provided at a more reasonable cost for a group, i.e. a class action."

Elected to serve on the first board of the Council were: Richard Chase - later named Chairman (Biola); Robert Baptista (Taylor); David LeShana (George Fox); Robert Lucky (Marion); Carl Lundquist (Bethel/MN); and Dan Weiss (Eastern). Officers of the Council board were named at a meeting on November 17, 1976 in Indianapolis; dues were set at $700 per year. During that same time, since start-up funding from the Lilly Endowment had been expended, Consortium dues stood at $10,000 per year. The first official meeting of the Council board was held on February11, 1977 in conjunction with NAICU meetings in New Orleans.



The Council's First Decade

From its founding in 1976 until 1982, the Council shared staff and office space with the Christian College Consortium, first at 1775 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, then at 11 Dupont Circle and finally -- until its move to permanent Council-owned facilities on Capitol Hill in 1990 -- at 1776 Massachusetts Avenue, NW. A noteworthy date in the history of the Council was its incorporation in January of 1982 as an entity independent from the work of the Consortium; Carl Lundquist, former president of Bethel College (MN) was named president of the Consortium with the office moving to St. Paul.

While the administrative offices remained in the vicinity of Dupont Circle, the center of higher education activity in Washington, D.C., an innovative new program for students from Christian colleges was created in 1976 and based on Capitol Hill by John Bernbaum, a young scholar on "temporary" leave from his position as historian and contributing editor of the Foreign Relations of the United States series for the U.S. Department of State. Bernbaum's dream of introducing the "best and brightest" Christian students to Washington's public policy arena -- and giving them a vision for their own involvement there -- has resulted in 1,500 American Studies Program students spending time in this internship/seminar program; nearly 200 alumni are currently working in the Greater Washington area.

Gordon Werkema served as president of the Consortium and Council until October of 1977 when he assumed the role of executive vice president of Seattle Pacific University (WA). He was succeeded November 1, 1977 by John Dellenback, former four-term Congressman from Oregon and director of the U.S. Peace Corps during the Ford Administration. Hired from outside the world of Christian higher education, Dellenback delighted in the story of first meeting with member college presidents and explaining that his wife Mary Jane was not available because of her regularly scheduled tap dancing lesson!

The Dellenback Years
The "Dellenback Years" from 1977 until 1988 were a time of expanding programs and building a solid membership base (a "critical mass," in Dellenback's words) for this cooperative work in Christ-centered higher education. Expanding the membership "to a possible 75 colleges" was a priority agenda item at the Council's Executive Committee meeting in October of 1978. After steady growth in the late 1970s and early 1980s, that goal was met in 1986 when Redeemer College (ONT) became the 75th member institution and the first Canadian liberal arts college to be accepted into membership. Such growth was tracked with keen interest by the Council staff-- the addition of every ten schools was celebrated with a dinner hosted by the Dellenbacks!

In 1978 Rich Gathro, now vice president for student programs, joined the Council staff as part-time director of internships for the American Studies Program, which expanded in scope from 30 to 40 students each semester that fall. He became full-time associate director in 1980. Karen Longman, currently vice president for professional development and research, joined the staff in 1980 as program director. Jerry Herbert, now director of the American Studies Program, joined the ASP faculty in 1981, which continued under John Bernbaum's direction.

In August of 1979 the first annual Faith/Learning/Living Institute, involving 13 faculty, was held at Trinity College (IL) to address "the transmission of Christian values and moral decision-making in the face of the knowledge explosion in many areas such as health, the family, communication,the environment and career planning." Two small faculty conferences had been coordinated by the Consortium prior to the development of the Institute concept.

These Institutes, hosted by Trinity College (IL) and coordinated by professor of history Ken Shipps, laid the groundwork for an expanding series of faculty development workshops andconferences planned by Shipps and Karen Longman. This important work of the Council, which has expanded to include almost 100 faculty workshops and conferences, began in 1983 with a $135,000 grant to the Council from the National Endowment for the Humanities for a project titled "Christianity and the Humanities" (upon notification of this Federal funding, the NEH program officer commented, "It's good to know that God hears the prayers of the Protestants!"). Funding for such faculty development work has subsequently been received from the Maclellan Foundation, the Murdock Charitable Trust and the Pew Charitable Trusts. In total, approximately 2,000 faculty have participated in five-day regional and national workshops focused on integration issues.

Increasing the credibility and visibility of Christ-centered higher education was another major thrust of the Council's work during the Dellenback years. In 1982, and subsequently in 1984and 1986, the Council released A Guide to Christian Colleges, published by William B. Eerdmans. Beginning in 1988 the Council opted to partner with Peterson's Guides of Princeton on a volume called Consider a Christian College (1988, 1990 and 1992) and Choose A Christian College (1994). In total, more than 125,000 copies of these Council guides have reached the hands of college-bound students and those advising students on college choices.

Admissions-related efforts included the National Marketing Initiative supported by a $125,000grant from the Maclellan Foundation and the Consortium for the Advancement of Private HigherEducation (CAPHE). Included in the project was the carefully targeted distribution of 30,000 copies of Consider A Christian College, a $50,000 research project released in 1986 which analyzed how college-bound students perceive Christian liberal arts colleges, and five-day Enrollment Management Seminars involving 31 member institutions in 1988 and 1989.

Publications became a major component of the Council's focus on the integration of faith, learning and living with contracts for two book series in the mid 1980s. John Bernbaum worked with Baker Book House to coordinate a series including Economic Justice and the State, Salt and Light: Evangelical Political Thought in Modern America and Why Work? In 1986 the Council entered into a contract with HarperCollins for an eight-volume "Supplemental Textbook Series." A Series Advisory Board chaired by Nicholas Wolterstorff of Yale Divinity School and disciplinary task forces have guided the preparation of paperback volumes offering a biblical worldview in seven fields: psychology, biology, literature, history, business, sociology and music. Major five-day national conferences in each discipline have allowed faculty from across theCouncil colleges to critique the draft manuscripts and interact with colleagues about the contents prior to publication of each volume in this "Through the Eyes of Faith" series. The project has attracted considerable international interest with foreign rights purchased by InterVarsity Press-England and InterVarsity Press-Korea; various volumes have also been translated into Russian, Danish, Dutch and French.

During the Dellenback Years the student program work also expanded with the addition of theLatin American Studies Program in 1986. Under the guidance of John Bernbaum, the "LASP" was designed with input from more than 35 Council faculty members from 24 member institutions. Dr. Roland Hoksbergen of Calvin College (MI) directed the program for its first three years. In total, 478 students from 56 member institutions have participated in the LASP; Anthony Chamberlain has served as director since August of 1990.

In the mid-1980s various new cooperative programs were initiated, including the participation of more than 50 colleges in a Faculty Exchange Program and in the Council's Tuition Waiver Exchange Program. A January Term Exchange Program was begun, allowing students from Council colleges on the 4-1-4 calendar to study on another campus or overseas under the auspices of a sister institution. Council presidents, academic deans, student deans, chaplains and coaches were meeting on an annual basis, sometimes in conjunction with other professional associations. A new "Fellows" program was launched, bringing a series of faculty and administrators on sabbatical leave to serve with the Council's Washington office and student programs. Numerous study tours for faculty and administrators to visit Latin America and the Middle East have been well-received.

The Council's tenth anniversary, celebrated at the 1986 Annual Meeting, featured U. S.Secretary of Education William Bennett, U.S. Senator Mark Hatfield and Don North, president of the Burlington Northern Foundation. Also on the program were reflections by President Richard Chase of Wheaton College (IL), who reviewed the history of the Council's first ten years and Council board chairman Dan Chamberlain of Houghton College (NY), who presented "A View of the Future," including the need to increase the vitality, visibility and viability of Christian higher education. Affirming the good work already underway, he called for expansion in the areas of faculty development, internationalizing the curriculum, student programs ("We must begin programs in Asia and in Africa") and efforts to make our internal administrative organization "less secular, more Christian, more human, and more humane."

At the 1986 Annual Meeting Gene Habecker, president of Huntington College (IN) and chairmanof the board's Development Committee, announced the board's decision to launch a $2 million campaign intended to "develop an endowment fund and acquire a physical facility" as a permanent base for Council operations in Washington, D.C.



The Second Decade

The last few years of the Dellenback era were a time of laying the foundation for the Council interms of its strengthened national image and for the "National Capital Campaign" that emerged into a $3.1 million initiative. In February of 1987 the board of directors voted to approve the new logo of the Council, which had shared the logo design of the Consortium since its founding. The new "C" image connoted the concept of centeredness and was intended to project an impression naturally linked to the words Christian College Coalition. All publications received a facelift as part of a unifying image for the organization.

In November of 1987 the board approved the purchase of two facilities on Capitol Hill: $1.375 million for a new condominium complex being developed at 327 Eighth Street, NE and $300,000 for the adjacent townhouse at 329 Eighth Street, N.E. Even in making the decision to develop a permanent presence for the Council, the board was aware that Dellenback would be leaving his position the following year and that a major fund raising effort would fall to the incoming president. "The Dellenback Years" concluded with membership at 77 institutions as well as the inauguration of numerous student and faculty programs. "JD" has continued to chair World Vision's U.S. board of directors following his departure from the Council.

The Augsburger Years
In February of 1988 the announcement was made to presidents at the Annual Meeting of theappointment of Myron Augsburger as incoming president of the Council. As a former president and professor of theology at Eastern Mennonite College and Seminary (VA), Augsburger had moved to Washington in 1981 where he helped to found Washington Community Fellowship, an interdenominational church on Capitol Hill.

A man of great vision and passion, Augsburger built upon the foundation that had been laid and sought to use the "instrument" of the Council both responsively to address the stated needs of the campuses and prophetically in providing leadership to Christian higher education. Encouraging faculty and students to develop global understanding and a commitment to racial/ethnic diversity were two of Augsburger's driving themes. Early in his presidency the Supplemental Textbook Series picked up momentum, with national conferences for the business and history books held in May and June of 1988. By the conclusion of the Augsburger era, seven books in the "Through the Eyes of Faith" series had been released: psychology, biology, literature, business, history, sociology and music.

Work on the building project consumed enormous amounts of time; Rich Gathro had assumed responsibility for the location and development of the facility while many others focused on the fund-raising need. Solid groundwork was laid by the co-chairs of the Council's "National Capital Campaign," Senator Mark Hatfield and Ken Wessner, chairman of the board of The ServiceMaster Company, with staff support from Nancy Goodrich, who was hired to direct this effort. That effort culminated in the January 1989 decision of the board to name the condominium facility "The Dellenback Center." Students in the American Studies Program began living in the Center in the fall semester of 1988; the entire Council staff moved into the adjacent townhouse facilities in March of 1990.

Fund raising effectiveness was a concern not only for the Council but came to the fore in the late1980s through a major project funded by the Lilly Endowment. A $30,000 grant in the spring of 1989 allowed the Council to conduct an assessment of fund raising efforts among the Council's 78 member institutions. The resulting publication, Friends, Funds and Freshmen, was edited byWesley Willmer of Biola University (CA) and printed in 1990. That study led in November of 1990 to a $510,000 three-year project funded by Lilly on "Increasing Fund Raising Effectiveness"and directed by Rebekah Basinger, formerly of Messiah College (PA). At the project's conclusion in June of 1994, fully 100% of the member institutions had participated in at least one grant activity; one-third had requested development office audits under the project.

In December of 1989 the Council brought together representatives of nine member institutions plus various parachurch groups to discuss Christian higher education's response to "the breakthtaking changes occurring in the Soviet Union and eastern Europe." Under the guidance of John Bernbaum, such gatherings led to the visit of 16 Soviet academic leaders in the fall of 1990and the subsequent formation of "The Russian Initiative," a multi-faceted project involving 18 member colleges that included coordination of student and faculty exchanges, feasibility research on a possible Russian Studies Program and an MBA project that linked Russian and American business professors. Also included was a feasibility study of a Christian university in Russia, a vision which eventually led John Bernbaum in the summer of 1995 to leave the Council and devote full-time work to this facet of the original Russian Initiative. His wife, Marge, continues as student program manager.

Augsburger's commitment to global understanding and justice issues was reflected not only in his strong support of the emerging work in Russia but also in a variety of new Council initiatives. His dream of regular "Think Tanks" led to the first such gathering in Zurich, Switzerland in thesummer of 1990. Representatives from eight countries met with Council faculty and administrators to discuss the issues raised in the United Nations' statement Our Common Future. Subsequent "Think Tanks" housed in The Dellenback Center included topics of racial diversity and speakers such as Carl F. H. Henry, Os Guinness, Lesslie Newbigin and Stanley Hauerwas.

In the fall of 1989 work began on issues of racial diversity. A Minority Concerns Task Force was convened in the spring of 1990 in Philadelphia; a subsequent meeting was held at The DellenbackCenter. These conversations led to the formation of the Office of Racial/Ethnic Diversity, a project involving 14 "model site" campuses that provided financial support to cooperative work this area under the direction of Deborah Bailey and Rhonda Roorda. Released in 1991, Ethnic-Minorities and Evangelical Christian Colleges, a book co-published by the Council and edited by D. John Lee of Calvin College (MI), offered an "unflattering study" urging attention to diversity issues on Christian campuses. For 2.5 years the "ORED" assisted with various faculty development efforts and the annual Multicultural Congress on Access and Equity as well as developing a quarterly newsletter called "The Open Door."

In the fall of 1990 Augsburger announced the formation of a cooperative summer program withthe Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at Oxford that has allowed Council students to spend six weeks in England each summer since 1991. In January of 1991 the Council opened the first semester of the new Los Angeles Film Studies Center, the culmination of a six-month feasibility study which focused on the goal of equipping Christian students to work within the established film industry structure. Directed by Doug Briggs (formerly of Bethel College, MN) since its inception, the LAFSC has served 162 students from 48 member institutions. The Center's long-range vision is to bring a significant Christian presence to the 1,000 "thoughtmakers" who shape the film industry.

Seeking to equip Christians for work in selected "strategic career paths" where Christians are typically under-represented was also the goal of the Harvey Fellows Program, launched in 1991and fully funded by the Mustard Seed Foundation. The fellowships, in the form of $12,000 scholarships renewable for up to two additional years, are awarded to college graduates who are enrolled in the best graduate programs in their field. An annual Harvey Fellows' week-long summer institute is hosted at the Council's headquarters.

Adding further to the global dimensions of Augsburger's contributions to the Council was the establishment in the fall of 1993 of the Middle East Studies Program (MESP) in Cairo. Emerging from four years of discussion and collaboration, including a 1991 faculty workshop on "The Muslim World in the Christian College Classroom," the MESP has been directed since its inception by Cliff Gardner, formerly with the American University of Cairo. In total, 89 students from 34 member institutions have participated in the MESP.

Similarly, in January of 1994 the new Russian Studies Program was launched as an outgrowth of the Russian Initiative. Director Harley Wagler oversees the program, which is based in Nizhni Novgorod but also allows students to spend time in Moscow and St. Petersburg. A total of 62 students from 29 institutions have participated in the RSP thus far.

In September of 1993, Augsburger announced his decision to conclude his Council leadership and turn his attention to a new phase of ministry effective June 30, 1994. The Search Committee's work was completed by the 1994 Annual Meeting, where Robert Andringa was announced as the incoming president of the Council. Founder and president of CEO Dialogues, Andringa brought strong non-profit experience and an extensive knowledge of higher education policy and government relations, having served on the House Committee on Education and Labor and as the executive director of the Education Commission of the States.

The Andringa Years...
Stressing "quality, relevance and unity," Andringa began work at the Council on July 1 of 1994. His immediate goals were to strengthen the infrastructure of the Council and to build a wider base of awareness, political support and financial support within the evangelical community for Christian higher education. Working with the board of directors, a new Standing Policies Manual was developed and a system of advisory "councils" and board "committees" was implemented to provide clarity to the Council's organizational structure.

Within the early months of Andringa's presidency, two significant new projects received grant support. A three-year project entitled "Taking Values Seriously: Assessing the Mission of Church-Related Higher Education" was supported by a $222,000 award from the Fund for theImprovement of Postsecondary Education; 50 member institutions began collaborative work on a study of freshmen, seniors, faculty and alumni. Supportive funding was also included for a series of national and regional assessment conferences over the grant period. Also launched in his first year was a $200,000 Pew-supported "Global Stewardship Project" that involves 17 member institutions in a series of conferences and interdisciplinary projects.

Fall of 1994 saw not only the release of the fourth edition of Choose A Christian College byPeterson's but also the first edition of a new resource, Research on Christian Higher Education,a venture co-sponsored by the Council and Messiah College (PA). In addition, work began in 1995 on a summer institute funded by Fieldstead, "Capstone in the Capital," which involved a dozen student newspaper editors in a month-long program of interaction with top journalists from Washington, D.C. and across the country. An Executive Leadership Development Project also received grant support in the summer of 1995. Designed to strengthen and equip new presidents, chief academic officers and potential academic leaders, the project involves summer institutes for those new to academic leadership and a two-year mentoring process.

Council membership reached 90 member institutions at the 1995 Annual Meeting, with the addition of Southwest Baptist University (MO). Also breaking new ground at the meeting was the decision of the board to change the organization's name to the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities to more accurately reflect the organization's membership and purpose. In addition, a new category was created for "non-member Affiliate" institutions from around theworld that share a similar commitment to offering Christ-centered higher education.

Technology, with all of its complexity and potential, emerged in 1995 as one of the major priorities of the Council. A survey of member institutions in April of 1995 for a cover story in Christianity Today concluded that the majority of colleges were already linked to the Internet and that others would soon be coming "on line." A co-sponsored conference in October of 1995 at Cedarville College (OH) on the topic of "Campus Networking" drew 125 participants from 52 colleges. A pre-conference meeting at Cedarville led to the decision to develop a Council Web site through Gospel Communications Network, thus opening the opportunity for a collective presence for the 90 member colleges on the Web and for various "discussion groups" among administrative and faculty colleagues.

The consummate networker, Andringa has encouraged the Council to partner wherever win-win relationships can be established. The Cedarville technology conference, the Eastern College (PA) co-sponsorship of activities through the Center for Christian Women in Leadership, and other similar initiatives are focused on tapping expertise within the Body of Christ for the benefit of all member institutions. The first two Presidents' Dialogues, informal opportunities for presidents and spouses to share concerns over the period of a few days together, proved to be enormously successful; two additional Dialogues are planned for the summer of 1996.

Using expertise and contacts made during his years of working for Congress and governors,Andringa increased the Council's involvement in the D.C. higher education community and its work to protect student aid appropriations, sort out accreditation issues, etc. The Council soldits adjacent townhouse and nearby DeArmond House as part of its consolidation efforts and to solidify its financial health.

At the commissioning service for Andringa in July of 1994, Senate Chaplain Richard C. Halverson affirmed the work of the Council as an organization that "stands clearly in honoring Christ." Perhaps never in history has there been a more opportune time for Christian higher education to bear witness in the midst of cultural malaise. According to Halverson, "This is your moment in human history." All those involved with the Council's first twenty years are grateful to God for the privilege of serving in this corner of the vineyard. Looking back, much has already been accomplished:

  • Close to 100 colleges and universities have joined together around the common commitment to Christ-centered higher education, achieving what no individual institution could accomplish alone;
  • In total, 2,388 students have benefitted from participation in the Council's semester programs. Many others have participated in various student exchange programs and cooperative programs;
  • Annual conferences for administrative and faculty development have served approximately 3,000 participants;
  • Several million dollars in grant support from foundations and corporations has been directed through the Council toward our member institutions as various projects have focused on equipping the next generation for service and for leadership. This is missions, in the highest sense of missions. Helping students to catch a vision of being "the presence of Christ" wherever their lives may take them.
To God be the glory! Great things He has done...

Jan 1997
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