# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_2013_S96
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

96

SYNOD REPORTS
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MA in Special Education with emphasis in Emotional/Behavioral
Disorders
MA in Special Education with emphasis in Learning Disabilities
Education Specialist with credentialing for principals and/or
superintendents
Doctorate in Education (in approval process)
Doctorate in Physical Therapy (in approval process)

• Concordia students were instrumental in the passage of the Kyle
Herman Bill of 2010. The state legislation, which received strong
bipartisan support, paved the way for parental notification of child
abuse when it occurs in a school facility. Concordia students submitted the proposal to selected legislators and saw the process
through to final enactment.
• Seventy-one Concordia students visited the State Capitol in 2012
to personally thank legislators for supporting the Minnesota State
Scholarship and Grant Program, which benefits students at both
public and private Minnesota colleges and universities.
• Concordia expanded the footprint of its campus by adding a 2.68
acre commercial property contiguous to the campus.
• CSP’s women’s volleyball team, led by Head Coach Brady Starke,
won an astonishing sixth straight NCAA Division II National
Championship in 2012. In addition to volleyball, Concordia captured three other Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC)
titles and qualified for eight NCAA Division II Tournaments, reaching the “Sweet 16” five times. Twenty Concordia athletes were
named All-American. Four were named Academic All-Americans,
including Brian Lippincott (’12), who was named for two consecutive years as the Capital One NCAA Division II Academic
All-American of the Year for baseball and for all Division II sports
in his senior year.
• Market value of Concordia’s endowment grew by 33.6 percent and
permanently restricted net assets grew by 19.5 percent during the
three most recent fiscal years.
Concordia College Alabama, Selma, AL
Tilahun M. Mendedo, President
Concordia College Alabama was founded in 1922 as Alabama
Lutheran Academy and Junior College. Since its founding, Concordia
College Alabama has embraced its mission “to prepare students
through a Christ-centered education for lives of responsible service to the Church, community, and the world.” Concordia College
Alabama aspires “to be a diverse, global institution of excellence,
and a leader in developing intellectual, spiritual, and moral leaders
of Christ-centered justice.”
• Concordia College Alabama (CCA) expanded from approximately
22 acres to more than 59 acres with the acquisition of property
fronting the east campus in 2010. The purchase almost triples the
size of the campus and adds seventeen additional structures. The
purchase positions the college for unprecedented growth as is
detailed in its 2025 Master Plan and its strategic plan, “Vision for
the Future: Concordia College Alabama 2011–2016.”
• Concordia hosted “Dare to Dream Awards Ceremony,” sponsored
by Alumni and Friends in the spring of 2010. Dr. Robert Bentley,
the Governor of the State of Alabama, was the keynote speaker at
the event. The occasion marked the first time in the history of the
institution that a sitting governor visited the campus.
• Concordia rebranded as Concordia College Alabama (CCA) in
the spring of 2011. This completed the first phase of the college’s
branding initiative. A new logo was adopted featuring a white cross
inlaid with Dr. Martin Luther’s seal that declares that the Good
News of Christ goes into the entire world, never being restricted to
one time or place. The design expresses the evangelical nature of
the college and its ongoing mission to prepare students through a
2013 Convention Workbook

“Christ-centered education for lives of responsible service in the
church, the community, and the world.”
The swirl around the cross communicates the ever expanding aspect
of the kingdom of God and, therefore, the ever-expansive work of
Concordia College Alabama. The swirl and cross together communicate dynamic movement and ageless stability through the past,
present, and future as the changeless truth is expressed in contemporary ways.
• Concordia’s accreditation was reaffirmed by the Southern
Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges in
June 2011.
• Phase One of the Master Plan, the capital campaign “A Time to
Build,” was implemented. Revenues from the capital campaign will
be used to renovate existing facilities, construct new facilities, and
provide scholarships for students. Renovations included the repurposing of Peay Hall into an interactive student learning center and
cafe, “The Hornet’s Nest,” that opened January 2013, the first such
center on campus. Ten brick cottages on the west campus were renovated for student housing.
• Sunday worship services are held in Christ Chapel, since February
2011, in addition to campus chapel worship services during the
week in Bakke Hall. This service has attracted the Selma community and is actively raising lay servant leaders through informal
education. Beginning Fall 2012, catechism classes are offered on
campus for all interested students, faculty, and staff. Praise Worship
services are held twice a month, attracting a wide student audience,
and Bible studies are offered in each dorm.
• Outreach activities enable Concordia’s Christ-centered mission to
serve as a beacon to others as the Gospel of Jesus Christ is shared
in the community and the church. The Spiritual Life Team members
mentored students at Edgewood Elementary School and visited and
interacted with residents of the Lighthouse Senior Citizens Nursing
Home. The Concordia choir traveled throughout the Southern
District proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ through song and
music. The students from the Spiritual Life Committee and the Men
and Women Centers donated food to the local food pantry in Fall
2011 and Fall 2012. The campus community rallied around a student and her family whose home was destroyed in Hurricane Isaac.
• Concordia’s staff and students partnered with the City of Selma for
a “Kaboom” playground for children in a poor neighborhood. Staff
and students helped build it.
• Concordia’s faculty and staff symposiums are held monthly. The
symposiums encourage the sharing of pedagogy and research on
campus and in the community. Faculty and staff members as well
as invited guests serve as facilitators.
• In 2012, Concordia celebrated its 90th Founder’s Day celebration.
Founded in 1922 by Dr. Rosa Young, Concordia’s origins identify
it in the annals of American history as a Historically Black College/
University (HBCU). Rev. James Wiggins Jr., a second generation
graduate of our school, was keynote speaker.
• Beginning Fall 2013, the Department of Education will offer a baccalaureate program in Preschool Education.
• The Concordia Women’s Basketball team won the USCAA 2012
National Championship.
• The 2012 Concordia Soccer Team participated in the United States
Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) National Championship
playoffs. More than eleven nations are represented in the soccer
team.
• Four Hornet football team members were selected to play in the
USA Football Holiday Bowl in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The
Bowl features top players from the NCCAA, NAIA, USCAA, and
Independents.
• Concordia’s football coach, Don Lee, was named the 2012 United
States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) Coach of the Year.