wfn.org | College/University Grants Will Benefit Six

["Communication Ministries" <wshuffit@cm.disciples.org>]

Disciples-Related Institutions
Date: April 24, 2002
Disciples News Service
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
E-mail: news@cm.disciples.org
Web: http://www.disciples.org

02a-36

Contact: Brad Lyons, Director of Communications
Division of Higher Education
11720 Borman Drive, Suite 104
St. Louis, MO 63146-4187 
(314) 991-3000, blyons@dhedisciples.org

ST. LOUIS -- Programs examining diversity, ministerial
education, urban ministry and student-faculty exchanges
will be supported by the 2002 College/University Grants,
the Division of Higher Education announced at its recent
board meeting.

For 20 years, College/University Grants have funded special
projects at undergraduate institutions related to the
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) that will benefit
both the institution and the church as a whole. Funds for
the grants are provided by the colleges and universities
themselves, who put a portion of the money they are
allocated from general denominational funding into this
special fund. Including this year's proposals, the program
has funded 77 projects. Each institution in covenant with
the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) has received a
grant during the program's history.

 "College/University Grants are exciting because they show
the creativity of the faculty, students, and administrators
on campuses, but they also demonstrate the importance of
the relationships between the colleges and universities and
the church," said DHE President Dennis Landon. "These
grants have been instrumental in developing programs that
will nurture future leaders for the church and enrich the
educational experience for students at Disciples-related
colleges and universities."

This year, almost $40,000 will be divided among four
Disciples-related colleges and universities:
Culver-Stockton College, Drury University, Jarvis Christian
College, and Lynchburg College. In addition, Eureka College
and Lexington Theological Seminary, as well as a St. Louis
congregation, are involved in projects funded by this
year's grants. New grants are made each spring by the DHE
Board of Directors following applications submitted by the
schools.

7	Complementing a grant issued last year, Jarvis Christian
College in Hawkins, Texas, will exchange faculty, students,
and staff with Eureka College in Illinois for periods of up
to four months. This exchange will provide unprecedented
learning and multi-cultural activities for members of both
campuses. The project will also provide an opportunity for
inter-racial dialogue and building relationships.

7	The Diversity Center at Drury University will host
"Diversity and the Disciples Related College/University"
during the fall of 2003. The three-day conference aims to
gather academic leaders, student development personnel,
chaplains, professors, and students on Drury's campus in
Springfield, Mo. The conference aims to help church-related
universities and colleges acknowledge the increasing
diversity already present on their campuses, to nurture
more diversity in education, and to explore the
opportunities and challenges diversity brings to
church-related institutions.

7	Students from Culver-Stockton College, located in rural
Canton, Mo., will go to the big city as part of a
partnership with Union Avenue Christian Church, an
inner-city church in St. Louis. Students and faculty from
Culver-Stockton will work with the church's staff to reach
out to the church's challenged neighborhood and to provide
curriculum for the 2003-2004 academic year. Additional
products of the partnership will include a seminar on
service-learning at church-related institutions and a
handbook on service-learning that can be used by other
organizations wishing to start a similar service effort.

7	A new satellite connection will allow Kentucky's
Lexington Theological Seminary to provide classes leading
to a Doctor of Ministry degree to students viewing the
classes at Lynchburg College in Virginia. Several Disciples
ministers in central Virginia who are unable travel to a
seminary have expressed their hope to earned advanced
theological degrees at a Disciples-related theological
institution. By gathering at Lynchburg, the seminary
students will also gain the collegial relationships that
are part of a Doctor of Ministry program.

Fourteen universities and seven theological institutions in
12 states are in covenant with the Christian Church
(Disciples of Christ), serving more than 24,400 students.
In addition, three schools and three theological
institutions maintain historical or associate ties with the
denomination. DHE is also affiliated with more than 80
campus ministries programs across the country.

                                                 --end -

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