The CCCUs fourth International Forum on Christian Higher Education attracted 1,123 attendees from 123 campuses and 25 countries to the Hyatt Regency hotel in Atlanta February 23-26, 2010, to grapple with issues facing Christian higher education, share ideas and best practices, connect with old and new friends, and be challenged by thoughtful keynote speakers.
This years theme, Critical Breakthroughs, became even more apropos than organizers expected when they selected it.
What we didnt know was going to take place was this huge economic crisis that swept over the world, which is causing people to rethink fundamental values, fundamental commitments, fundamental possibilities, said Dr. Carl Zylstra, chair of the CCCU Board of Directors and president of Dordt College. We dont want people to retrench. We want people to move forward and to break through into the new opportunities that God is laying out for us. So Critical Breakthroughs has taken up a whole new dimension.
Speakers for the Forum included Richard Stearns, president of World Vision Inc.; Dr. Francis Collins, the current director of the National Institutes of Health who is known for his groundbreaking work on the Human Genome Project; Wendy Kopp, founder of Teach for America; and John M. Perkins, known for his critical work in racial reconciliation and Christian community development.
Other key forum events included the first Blue Carpet Event, held at the Georgia Aquarium and celebrating the diverse experiences offered by the CCCUs off-campus student and faculty programs; a performing arts showcase; the Advancing Womens Leadership Luncheon; and a session unveiling the results of the third large-scale Noel Levitz Market Research Project.
2010 award winners were honored during the Forum plenary events. Robert and Alice Evans were selected as recipients of the John R. Dellenback Global Leadership Award. The Robert and Susan Andringa Award for Advancing Racial Harmony was bestowed on North Park University. John M. Perkins was honored with the Mark O. Hatfield Leadership Award, and the Christ Is Our Salvation Foundation (CIOS)/Piper Family Foundation accepted the Philanthropy Award.
The CCCU also welcomed 83 exhibitors to the conference exhibit hall and thanked the 31 sponsors who underwrote portions of the Forum.
Participation in the Forum translates into renewed commitment, said attendee Dr. Betty Overton-Adkins, vice president for academic affairs at Spring Arbor University: You go back to campus on fire for the purposes and goals of our Christ-centered education.
The Council for Christian Colleges & Universities is a higher education association of 184 intentionally Christ-centered institutions around the world. There are now 109 member campuses in North America and all are fully-accredited, comprehensive colleges and universities with curricula rooted in the arts and sciences. In addition, 75 affiliate campuses from 24 countries are part of the CCCU. The Councils mission is to advance the cause of Christ-centered higher education and to help its institutions transform lives by faithfully relating scholarship and service to biblical truth.
###