The Secularization(s) of Christian Higher Education

On the eve of the decision of Goshen College and Eastern Mennonite University to withdraw from the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU), historian William Ringenberg told WORLD Magazine that the debate over those schools’ decision to hire LGBT faculty was “traumatic” for Christian higher ed. In his judgment, only one other crisis had been more significant: … More The Secularization(s) of Christian Higher Education

“Crisis Averted”: Christianity Today on the CCCU Debate over Sexuality

If you’ve been reading this blog in recent months, you probably are familiar with the debate within evangelical higher education over the decision of Goshen College and Eastern Mennonite to hire LGBT faculty — and then those schools’ late September decision to withdraw from the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU) rather than cause more of … More “Crisis Averted”: Christianity Today on the CCCU Debate over Sexuality

How Peacemaking Helps Frame the Context of Anabaptism, Sexuality, and Higher Education

The first of two guest posts this week comes from our friend Jared Burkholder, chair of the History and Political Science Department at Grace College. The rhetoric that has surrounded the recent controversy in the CCCU and the departure of Goshen College and Eastern Mennonite University has underscored, at least for me, the way Anabaptist … More How Peacemaking Helps Frame the Context of Anabaptism, Sexuality, and Higher Education

Myron Augsburger on Same-Sex Marriage and the CCCU

Recently, Devin Manzullo-Thomas guest-blogged about Myron Augsburger, who as president of what’s now Eastern Mennonite University (EMU) and then as president of what’s now the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU), brought an Anabaptist perspective to evangelical higher education. Augsburger retired from the CCCU just over twenty years ago, but just weighed in at Mennonite World Review on Eastern Mennonite’s decision … More Myron Augsburger on Same-Sex Marriage and the CCCU

More Details (and Some Lingering Questions) about the CCCU Announcement

Already I’ve read a couple of commentaries on yesterday’s announcement that Eastern Mennonite and Goshen had left the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU) rather than continue on as affiliate members, a step that was opposed by 25% of CCCU member presidents. I’ll withhold my own reflections until I’ve had a chance to post my interview … More More Details (and Some Lingering Questions) about the CCCU Announcement

Goshen and Eastern Mennonite Leave the CCCU

In a statement just posted on the website of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU), it was announced that while 75% of CCCU presidents agreed with the board’s recommendation that Goshen College and Eastern Mennonite University be moved to affiliate status within the consortium, the two Mennonite schools decided to leave the CCCU voluntarily: While EMU and Goshen … More Goshen and Eastern Mennonite Leave the CCCU

That Was The Week That Was

Here… • Devin Manzullo-Thomas returned with a second CCCU-inspired post on the relationship between Anabaptists and Evangelicals, this one featuring former Eastern Mennonite and CCCU president Myron Augsburger. (Thanks to both Real Clear Religion and Mennonite World Review for reposting this one!) • Thanks in part to some Anabaptist studies of my own, I felt led to wrestle aloud … More That Was The Week That Was

Why I Hope Goshen and Eastern Mennonite Stay in the CCCU

As one Baptist member abruptly withdraws from Christian higher ed’s leading organization and a Wesleyan school threatens to do so if Goshen and Eastern Mennonite are not expelled from the CCCU by August 31st, I hope many in the Christian college world will join Spring Arbor professor John Hawthorne in supporting the people of those two Anabaptist institutions: I don’t think … More Why I Hope Goshen and Eastern Mennonite Stay in the CCCU