The "Dellenback Years" from 1977 until 1988 were a time of expanding programs and building a solid membership base for this cooperative work in Christ-centered higher education.
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.
