Council for Christian Colleges and Universities
The Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU) is a higher education association of more than 180 Christian institutions, primarily in the United States and Canada. Founded in the 1970s to advance the interests of church-related colleges through government lobbying and public relations, the council also provides professional development for employees of member schools and runs off-campus study programs for students through CCCU GlobalEd.
History
In 1976, presidents of colleges in the Christian College Consortium called a meeting in Washington, D.C. to organize a Coalition for Christian Colleges that could expand the objectives of the consortium. Representatives from 38 colleges participated in the founding meeting to establish a new organization to provide a unified voice representing the interests and concerns of Christian colleges to government decision makers and the general public.[1] The Coalition and the Consortium shared facilities in Washington, D.C. until 1982, when the Consortium relocated to St. Paul, Minnesota and the Coalition formally incorporated as an independent organization. In 1995, the organization changed its name to the Coalition for Christian Colleges and Universities; in 1999 it changed again to the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities.[1]
Location
The CCCU is headquartered in the historic district of Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. The Council also owns facilities in Oxford, England, for its Oxford student programmes and San Jose, Costa Rica, for its Latin American Studies Program. The CCCU leases spaces for the remaining CCCU GlobalEd programs around the world (see below). In 1989, the Council purchased the townhouse adjacent to The Dellenback Center for guest housing in its Capitol Hill location. In 1999, the Council purchased and renovated an existing townhouse to use as its main headquarters. The original two-story townhouse was constructed in the 1850s and is one of the few remaining wooden clapboard structures on Capitol Hill.[2]
Leadership
In September 2014, Shirley V. Hoogstra, J.D., was named the Council's seventh president.[3] Before that, she was the vice president for student life at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, after having served for four years on Calvin's Board of Trustees. While at Calvin, Hoogstra also served as a cabinet member who became familiar with team building, campus-wide planning and communications. She was also the co-host of Inner Compass, a nationally televised show on PBS.[4] She has served in a variety of volunteer leadership roles for CCCU institutes and commissions, and is the Council's first female president.[5] The previous president, Edward O. Blews Jr., served from January 1, 2013, to October 22, 2013.[6][7] William P. Robinson, former president of Whitworth University, was named the interim president[6] before Hoogstra was appointed.
The council has a 17-member board of directors, most of whom are presidents of member institutions.[8] The chair is Shirley A. Mullen, president of Houghton College.[9]
Activities
Advocacy
The CCCU seeks to provide a unified voice for faith-based institutions of higher learning on policy matters that affect its constituency and to equip members to engage in effective advocacy on the state and local level. The advocacy agenda as of 2019 included concerns about religious liberty, institutional autonomy, student financial aid, immigration, environmental stewardship, and government regulation affecting higher education.[10]
Services
The CCCU provides programs and services for presidents and administrators, trustees, faculty, and students of member institutions. These include many professional development opportunities, such as annual gatherings for its college and university presidents, and annual conferences for member Chief Institutional Development Officers; Communication, Marketing and Media Officers; Chief Enrollment Officers; Chief Financial Officers; Campus Ministry Directions, and other leadership development programs. Other member services include webinars, grant-making opportunities for scholarship and research, discipline specific forums, networking communities, a tuition waver exchange program, and an online career center.[11] Members also receive access to the Council's biannual magazine called CCCU ADVANCE, as well as regular news updates, website resources on scholarship, and information related to Christian higher education policy and issues. In 2019 the Council launched an online consortium to allow participating schools to share online courses.[12]
CCCU GlobalEd
The CCCU administers a number of student study programs around the world through CCCU GlobalEd (formerly called BestSemester). Its first off-campus program, the American Studies Program, was established in Washington, D.C. in the 1970s. It then added a contemporary music program in Nashville and a film studies program in Los Angeles, as well as study abroad programs in Australia, Latin America, the Middle East, Northern Ireland, Oxford, England, and Uganda. More than 13,000 students have benefitted from these academically rigorous, Christ-centered experiential education programs for the past 40 years. A program in Russia operated from 1994 to 2010.
Membership
The CCCU's membership includes more than 150 in the U.S. and Canada and nearly 30 more from an additional 18 countries. All members self-identify as having a Christian identity and mission. Most institutions are accredited, comprehensive colleges and universities with curricula rooted in the arts and sciences. Member institutions are divided into four major categories depending on type of institution, agreement the council's defining commitments, and geographical location.
Following a dispute in 2015 about same-sex marriage that led to eight institutions withdrawing from the council, the CCCU adopted a new membership policy that was announced in 2016 and went into effect in July 2017.[13] The policy defined six criteria according to which affiliated schools would be designated as governing members, associate members, or collaborative partners.[14] Schools located outside of the United States or Canada are classified as International Affiliates.
Governing Member Institutions
Governing (voting) members must fulfill all six criteria:
- Christian mission
- Institutional type and accreditation (must offer a "comprehensive undergraduate curricula rooted in the arts and sciences")
- Cooperation and participation (dues)
- Institutional integrity (financial ethics)
- Employment policies (full-time faculty and administrators must be professing Christians), and
- Christian distinctions and advocacy (must support the advocacy agenda determined by the Board of Directors, including a sexual ethic committed to heterosexual marriage, care for the marginalized and suffering, and environmental stewardship).[13][14]
Associate Member Institutions
Associate members must meet all the same criteria as governing members except institutional type and accreditation. Thus, institutions that do not offer a comprehensive undergraduate program (including Bible colleges or seminaries) can be associate members.
Collaborative Partner Institutions
Collaborative partners must meet the first four criteria set for governing members (Christian mission, institutional type and accreditation, cooperation and participation, and institutional integrity), but may depart from last two: employment policies and Christian distinctions and advocacy. Institutions that do not require all of their faculty to be professing Christians and/or do not agree with all elements of the CCCU's advocacy agenda, but nevertheless wish to take part in the council's programs and partnerships, may be collaborative partners.[14]
International Affiliates
The CCCU has more than 30 colleges and universities in countries outside the U.S. and Canada.
Former Members
The following institutions have withdrawn from the Council.
| Institution | Location | Denominational affiliation | Year Joined | Year Left |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Union University | Jackson, Tennessee | Baptist | 2015[21] | |
| Oklahoma Wesleyan University | Bartlesville, Oklahoma | Wesleyan Church | 2015[22] | |
| Goshen College | Goshen, Indiana | Mennonite Church USA | 2015[23] | |
| Eastern Mennonite University | Harrisonburg, Virginia | Mennonite Church USA | 2015[23] | |
| Bluffton University | Bluffton, Ohio | Mennonite Church USA | 2015[24] | |
| The Master's College | Santa Clarita, California | 2015[25] | ||
| Cedarville University | Cedarville, Ohio | Baptist | 2016[26] | |
| Shorter University | Rome, Georgia | Baptist | 2016[26] | |
| Louisiana College | Pineville, Louisiana | Baptist | 2019[27] |
Controversies
In 2015, Union University[21] and Oklahoma Wesleyan University[22] withdrew from membership in the CCCU because of a policy change by two member institutions to hire same-sex couples. A potential split within the CCCU was avoided with the announcement on September 21, 2015 that both Goshen College and Eastern Mennonite University, the two colleges that changed their policies to hire same-sex couples, had withdrawn from the council. The council issued a statement affirming the traditional Christian view of marriage as between a man and a woman.[23] A task force was appointed to examine the rationale for the existing associational categories plus address how to remain rooted in traditional Christianity, leading to the announcement of a new membership policy in 2016.[28] Bluffton University also withdrew its membership in the council in December 2015 when it announced a policy change to allow hiring gay and lesbian employees.[24]
On November 3, 2015, The Master's College announced their withdrawal from the CCCU due to the college's "concerns about the direction of the CCCU" on issues such as Creation and Evolution and same-sex marriage, stating that "the vast majority of [CCCU] member schools do not accept the Genesis account of creation or the inerrancy of Scripture".[25] Cedarville University and Shorter University also withdrew from the council over concerns that the council's rejection of same-sex marriage was not swift or complete enough.[26]
References
- Balmer, Randall (2002). "Council for Christian Colleges and Universities". Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism. Louisville: Westminster John Knox.
- "Council for Christian Colleges & Universities - Location". Cccu.org. Archived from the original on 2016-02-23. Retrieved 2016-02-01.
- "Council for Christian Colleges & Universities - President-Elect". Council for Christian Colleges & Universities. Archived from the original on June 19, 2015. Retrieved 2015-09-25.
- "Calvin College - Inner Compass - Television Interview Show". Calvin College.
- "CCCU Names First Woman as President Following Controversial Firing of Previous Leader". Christian Post.
- Goldie Blumenstyk (24 October 2013). "Christian-College Group Dismisses Its New President Without Explanation". The Chronicle of Higher Education. Archived from the original on 2018-01-24.
- Jeremy Weber (22 October 2013). "After 'Careful Investigation,' Council for Christian Colleges and Universities Ousts President". Christianity Today. Retrieved 2015-09-25.
- "Council for Christian Colleges & Universities - Board Of Directors". www.cccu.org. Retrieved 2017-05-30.
- "CCCU Leadership | CCCU". CCCU. Retrieved 2018-03-02.
- "Advocacy". CCCU. 2016-07-26. Retrieved 2019-04-23.
- "Office of Professional Development & Research". Cccu.org. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2016-02-01.
- "CCCU Launches Innovative Online Consortium". CCCU. 2019-02-27. Retrieved 2019-08-29.
- Derrick, J.C. (October 3, 2016). "CCCU adopts new membership policy". www.bpnews.net. Archived from the original on 2016-10-18. Retrieved 2018-01-17.
- "Our Institutions | CCCU". CCCU. Retrieved 2018-01-17.
- Archived October 18, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- "Two New Colleges Join the CCCU". the way of improvement leads home. 2015-08-19. Retrieved 2018-01-16.
- "Three New Institutions Join CCCU". CCCU. August 29, 2017. Retrieved 2017-12-23.
- "CCCU Welcomes Three New Institutions". CCCU. 2019-08-21. Retrieved 2019-08-29.
- "CCCU Welcomes Four New Institutions". CCCU. 2019-03-25. Archived from the original on 2019-04-13. Retrieved 2019-04-13.
- "CCCU Adds Two New Affiliates". CCCU. February 24, 2017. Retrieved 2018-02-01.
- "CCCU loses Union University". World Magazine. 12 August 2015. Archived from the original on 2015-08-13. Retrieved 2015-08-14.
- J.C. Derrick (31 August 2015). "Second school leaves the CCCU". WORLD Magazine. Archived from the original on 2015-09-02. Retrieved 2015-09-06.
- "Statement by the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) Board of Directors re: Membership Consultation Process and Ongoing Commitment to Mission". Council for Christian Colleges and Universities. September 21, 2015. Archived from the original on October 25, 2015. Retrieved October 18, 2017.
- Jaschik, Scott (December 8, 2015). "Another Christian College Will Hire Gay People | Inside Higher Ed". Retrieved 2018-01-17.
- "Master's Moment: TMC Withdraws from CCCU". Us9.campaign-archive1.com. 2015-11-03. Retrieved 2016-02-01.
- Derrick, J.C. (July 29, 2016). "CCCU board considers membership requirements". www.bpnews.net. Archived from the original on 2016-07-30. Retrieved 2018-01-17.
- Smith, Samuel (February 14, 2019). "Louisiana College leaves CCCU over support for 'Fairness for All' LGBT compromise". www.christianpost.com. Retrieved 2019-08-29.
- J.C. Derrick (21 September 2015). "EMU, Goshen voluntarily leave CCCU". WORLD. Archived from the original on 2015-09-22. Retrieved 2015-09-25.
External links
Authority control  |
|---|