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On May 29, 2003, officials representing five international higher education organizations, met together at Calvin College to explore ways to encourage and support one another in the shared goal of advancing Christ-centered higher education around the world.

The idea came after a series of e-mail exchanges, followed by Calvin Provost and CCCU Senior Fellow for Internationalization, Joel Carpenter, offering to host a meeting. In April, a member of the group proposed a small gathering of individuals, all of which attended the May meeting including: David Lewis, Overseas Council International (OCI); Daryl McCarthy, International Institute for Christian Studies (IICS); Nick Lantinga, International Association for the Promotion of Christian Higher Education (IAPCHE); Paul Scotchmer, International Council for Higher Education (ICHE); Joel Carpenter, Calvin College; and Rich Gathro, Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU). Dr. Gaylen Byker, President of Calvin College, also joined the meeting.

Among the many pleasant surprises to emerge from the meeting was the discovery of the unique focus of each organization in the context of global education in liberal arts and sciences.

OCI (est. 1974) assists 106 non-Western institutions in the development of leaders - as pastors, teachers, and theologically informed laypersons. IICS (est. 1986) places professors at leading universities around the world to dispense biblically based principles and outside the classroom to bear witness to their faith in Jesus Christ. IAPCHE (est. 1975), an organization with 34 institutional members and 450 worldwide individual members, seeks to forge a global community of scholars committed to upholding a Christ-centered, Reformational worldview within the academy. ICHE (est. 1998) seeks to advance the cause of Christ-centered higher education in developing countries, chiefly by a) developing a set of procedures and policies that will serve as the basis for international validation or accreditation of academic programs and institutions; and by b) helping to plant new institutions and strengthen existing ones. Calvin College Provost Joel Carpenter is one of the most knowledgeable scholars on the emergence of Christ-centered higher education around the world, particularly in Africa, and hosted the five organizations. CCCU (est. 1976) entered the arena of international education through their popular semester-abroad programs and the creation of the international affiliate opportunity for universities abroad.

The group agreed on several steps to advance its common aims including creating a directory of Christ-centered colleges and universities in the two-thirds world, securing funding for and/or sponsoring regional conferences and leadership development opportunities and reconvening at CCCU's annual president's conference in February of 2004 for further collaboration.