wfn.org | Waldorf College's For-Profit Venture Would Change ELCA Relationship

[<NEWS@ELCA.ORG>]

Title: Waldorf College's For-Profit Venture Would Change ELCA Relationship
ELCA NEWS SERVICE

>April 24, 2009  

Waldorf College's For-Profit Venture Would Change ELCA Relationship
09-097-FI/JN*

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Waldorf Lutheran College Association
unanimously approved a series of resolutions April 23 that move
Waldorf College, Forest City, Iowa, closer to a possible sale
to Columbia Southern University (CSU). CSU is a for-profit
institution and one of the nation's first online universities.

The move was prompted by a financial crisis at Waldorf. A
new for-profit status for Waldorf would require changes in the
relationship between the institution and the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America (ELCA). It would no longer be affiliated with
the ELCA.  The Waldorf Lutheran College Association, the college's
historical governing body, is comprised of 190 Lutheran
congregations.

The association's consent gives the Waldorf College Board
of Regents and Dr. Richard Hanson, president, the authority to
go ahead with negotiations with CSU. The board could resume that
work at its May 2 meeting.

Waldorf and CSU signed a letter of intent in February to
establish a formal relationship between the two institutions.

Current planning would keep Waldorf College as a separate
entity from CSU, according to a Waldorf news release. CSU,
headquartered in Orange Beach, Ala., does not plan to relocate
Waldorf nor modify its identity as a residential, liberal arts
college, but would offer new programs and majors, the release
said.

The Rev. Stanley N. Olson, executive director, ELCA
Vocation and Education, serves as an advisor to the Waldorf
College board. He said Hanson and other Waldorf officials have
stayed in close communication with the ELCA and the Rev. Michael
A. Last, bishop, ELCA Western Iowa Synod, Storm Lake, while
exploring the possibility of acquisition by CSU.

"The ELCA has indicated to Waldorf its desire to stay in
conversation about the future of this longstanding relationship,"
Olson said. "Of course, we are on unfamiliar ground, but that
will bring new opportunities."

"Though the relationship would certainly not be the same as
in past decades, this church remains committed to key values in
higher education and to helping college and university students
explore their vocations as people of faith. There is a good future
for the Waldorf-ELCA partnership," he said.

Waldorf is one of 28 colleges and universities related to
the ELCA. In addition to that relationship, "this church supports
or relates to campus ministries at several hundred public and
private colleges and universities across the country. With Waldorf
leaders, we are looking at a variety of options and staying open,"
Olson said.

The Rev. James M. Magelssen, Trinity Lutheran Church, Mason
City, Iowa, is president of the Waldorf Lutheran College
Association. In an e-mail announcement to Waldorf College faculty
and staff, Magelssen said he was "pleased and relieved" that the
association's vote was unanimous.  Members who attended were
"positive and hopeful," while feeling some loss about the
likelihood the school won't have an official ELCA affiliation,
he said in an interview.

If plans proceed as intended, Waldorf's new status as a
for-profit institution will be official sometime this fall,
Magelssen said.

In his e-mail, Magelssen referred to remarks by Last, who
began the association meeting with devotions. "I've come to
believe that it's in Waldorf College's DNA to have this special
gift to reach in and mold the lives of students who come here,"
Last said. "Waldorf College has a way of taking students who
achieve academic excellence and moving them forward.  It also
moves forward those who underachieve and helps them become
self-actualized."

Waldorf College was founded in 1903 by the Rev. C.S.
Salveson, pastor of what is now Immanuel Lutheran Church, Forest
City, a congregation of the ELCA.
-- -- --

>The home page for Waldorf College is at
>http://www.waldorf.edu/ on the Web.

* Joy Newcom is director of brand discovery and launch for
Waldorf College.

For information contact:

John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org
http://www.elca.org/news
ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog