Here's a questionnaire I got today from the alumni list of one of my alma maters.

1. I personally believe ACU is a national leader in Christian higher education.
___ 1 Strongly Agree
___ 2 Somewhat Agree
___ 3 Somewhat Disagree
___ 4 Strongly Disagree

2. During the past two years, my perception of ACU as a national leader in Christian higher education has:
___ 1 Strengthened
___ 2 Remained the Same
___ 3 Weakened

3. I believe members of Churches of Christ see ACU as a national leader in Christian higher education.
___ 1 Strongly Agree
___ 2 Somewhat Agree
___ 3 Somewhat Disagree
___ 4 Strongly Disagree

4. Please identify the current marketing theme used by the university.
___ 1 Making a Difference
___ 2 People with a Purpose
___ 3 Change the World
___ 4 Where Faith and Learning Intersect

I didn't answer the questionnaire, but I did respond with this:

This whole questionnaire disturbs me. Is it ACU's goal to become a "national leader in Christian higher education"? What do you mean by "national leader"? How do you define "Christian higher education"? Seems to be problematic answering the questions without these definitions. I'm all for excellence in education, but has ACU lost or redefined its mission in such a way as to value sticking its head above other institutions over a commitment to faithfully teach biblical principles to its students? I wonder ...

Am I overly sensitive to these things, or have some of our schools decided their mission is to win contests instead of provide an education at a decent cost based on biblical truth? Do they want to be the next Yale and Harvard? It's the general drift of an institution, and there had better be some strong definitions of what a school is all about, or we'll be losing more of them to secular or denominational influences before we realize it. Or maybe it's already happening.

As an ACU grad myself, i appreciate your critical thinking about the university's educational mission. I would encourage you to dialogue with the ACU administration about this concern. I also would be interested to hear the results of such a discussion.

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