LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1975, Page 298

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298 HIGHER EDUCATION

3) An educational setting in which a large proportion of the
students are preparing for the pastoral ministry.

The Task Force Recommends

D1. That the Synod direct the Board for Higher Education to
phase out Concordia Senior College, Fort Wayne, as a separate
educational institution:

D2. That the Board for Higher Education immediately estab-
lish a new preministerial education program for the final 2
years of preseminary education on one existing campus which
includes (1) a curriculum directed specifically at preministerial
education and (2) a faculty pastorally trained, experienced, and
committed to the preparation of men for the pastoral ministry:

D3. That Concordia College, St. Paul, Minn,, be the campus
utilized for this purpose because it represents an educational
setting in which students preparing for the pastoral ministry
could be a large proportion of the entire student body: and

D4, That the Board for Higher Education be authorized to
arrange for the appropriate transfer of the necessary faculty,
library, and other personal property to Concordia College,
St.Paul, Minn., by Sept. 1, 1976, unless clearly compelling
reasons not recognized by the Task Force dictate an alternate
location.

E. Adaptation of Synodical Colleges to Change

Colleges in The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod must be
in step with the realities of American higher education as well
as with the educational needs of the Synod. At one point in
history most colleges were privately operated liberal arts insti-
tutions. This has changed to the point where the vast majority
of the junior colleges, 4-year colleges, and universities have
become publicly financed institutions offering all types of career-
oriented courses through tax support.

Despite this development. however. it does appear that
there is a place for private colleges that provide a Christian
environment in which students may receive an education. It
is to be noted, however, that in order for private colleges to
successfully compete. especially as a junior or community
college, they must offer a variety of programs and courses of
interest to a cross section of students. The limited programs
currently offered by most Missouri Synod junior colleges will
have a difficult time attracting a sufficient number of students
to make them educationally and financially viable.

As synodical colleges are forced to depend more heavily on
local resources and as they are attractive to sizable numbers
of general education students, for whom the Synod. because of
limited finances. cannot assume a fiscal responsibility. desires
of local support organizations and community needs must be
adequately recognized. Where such desires and needs are sup-
ported with adequate resources, colleges so affected must be
permitted to serve those functions.

Studies have been made by nearly every junior college in the
Synod to determine the feasibility of becoming a 4-year college.
These studies began in the expanding enrollment period of the
mid—1960s. The desire of status for the college and its faculty
were obviously involved in the studies. More importantly,
however, the studies appear to have resulted from sincere
efforts to serve the local community and to insure the economic
and educational viability of the college by retaining the students
and the related income being sent to 4-year colleges elsewhere
in the system.

The 1969 Denver convention passed Resolution 6-39, which in
principle endorsed the development of carefully defined 4-year
programs and authorized the Board for Higher Education with
the approval of the Board of Directors of the Synod, the Council
of Presidents, and the local Board of Control to grant approval
and permit development of carefully prepared 4-year programs
as would serve the purposes of the church and would be eco-
nomically defensible. Concordia, Bronxville, was authorized
to expand and registered its first senior class in September
1974. Milwaukee and Ann Arbor have developed such programs
and have submitted them for approval. Other colleges have also
expressed a desire to expand to 4-year programs. Approval
has been withheld from Milwaukee and Ann Arbor pending
further studies and clarification by the Synod as to the appro-
priate meaning of “serving the purposes of the church.” The
adoption of the 1969 resolution could conceivably permit ail
but two or three of the junior colleges to expand to 4-year
programs. Such steps would drastically further undercut the

synodical system as it has been known, especially the 4-year
colleges preparing Lutheran teachers and the preministerial
program of Concordia Senior College. The status of Christ
College, Irvine, Calif., is also a factor in resolving this matter.

The Task Force believes that carefully developed plans that
fully take into consideration the delicate relationships involved
in the success of the synodical system are vital to the future of
higher education in The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod.
The Task Force fully recognizes that the recommended change
in the method of distributing synodical support can result in a
serious financial loss to the college, which in turn could seriously
impact the ability of the college to serve the needs of the Synod.
Direction must be given to the colleges to determine the future
goals, programs, and the synodical relationship they anticipate.
The Task Force is very much concerned that this direction come
from Synod rather than as reaction to a particular crisis of the
moment.

The Task Force Recommends

El. That there be no additional synodically recognized 4-
year programs or colleges at this time:

E2. That colleges which by necessity or opportunity feel
they must move further in the direction of serving general
education needs develop such direction in consultation with
the Board for Higher Education and the congregations and
individuals of the Synod in their immediate area: and

E3. That any plans for expansion under a revised concept of
purpose be brought by each college to the Synod for convention
approval beginning in 1977.

F. Christ College. Irvine

Synod has expressed interest in the needs of the West Coast
for synodical higher education since 1959. At the six conventions
since, the Synod has adopted a number of resolutions in this
regard.

In 1962 it was determined that a junior college should be
established in southern California to be opened in 1965. The
initial capacity was to be for 350 to 400 students with a perma-
nent faculty of 14. Construction funds plus the cost of a suitable
site and faculty housing were to be made available in the amount
of $6,850,000.

The 1965 convention resolved to establish a junior college
at Irvine, Calif., in the pattern of Ann Arbor with the opening
date set for 1967.

By 1967 the site for the new college had been selected and
purchased. A number of studies on the need for synodical
education on the West Coast had been finalized, and a Board of
Control had been created and was functioning. The 1967 con-
vention resolved, however, to defer action to construct any
facilities on the site until the 1969 convention and in the interim
instructed the Board for Higher Education to make a final re-
study of the entire matter of synodical higher education on the
West Coast.

The 1969 convention resolved that the Board for Higher Edu-
cation continue its efforts to provide for the needs of higher
education on the West Coast and to report their findings to the
Board of Directors and the Council of Presidents with a recom-
mendation brought to the 1971 convention.

The Board for Higher Education study had reaffirmed the
need for a new 4-year school on the West Coast and had deter-
mined that the best possible place for such a college was on
the Irvine site. That report was approved by the Council of
Presidents and the Synod’s Board of Directors. Subsequently
the 1971 convention resolved that construction of a 4-year college
on the Irvine site be started immediately to enable the school
to be opened in September 1973 with minimal facilities con-
structed at an initial cost to the Synod of approximately
$2,000,000.

Concordia Junior College, Oakland, was closed June 30,
1973. The 1973 New Orleans convention directed the Board of
Directors of the Synod to respond to the educational needs of
the Western states by making available $1,000,000 immediately
out of capital funds or by borrowing money so that construction
of the first unit at Irvine could begin by Dec. 31, 1973. The Board
of Directors was also asked to release $2,000,000 of the 125th
Anniversary Thankoffering funds as soon as it was available for
the completion of the first phase of development on the Irvine
site.

Considering all the ramifications of the above history, the