New President of Christian College Coalition Will Continue To Work With BYU, Latter-Day Saints
This week, the Deseret News reported about a court ruling for religious colleges and universities that included some high-level joint efforts by evangelicals and Latter-day Saints.
The decision by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals protected federal funding to students at religious schools, a win for the Council of Christian Colleges and Universities, which spent $1 million to defend it, and for Brigham Young University’s general counsel’s office, which wrote a friend-of-the-court brief in support of CCCU.
The Deseret News story said the victory was considered the linchpin in the legacy of the CCCU’s freshly retired leader, Shirley Hoogstra.
There is more to the story.
The CCCU’s new president said he will continue the decade-long association with BYU and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
David Hoag, the incoming president, said he values the relationships Hoogstra cultivated with senior Latter-day Saint leaders and the church commissioner of education, Elder Clark G. Gilbert, a General Authority Seventy.
Hoag specifically pointed to the Latter-day Saint model of the Church Educational System, with its overarching board of education leading six institutions — BYU, BYU-Idaho, BYU-Pathway Worldwide, BYU-Hawaii, Ensign College and Seminaries & Institutes.
Hoag said that model could be a boon for evangelical colleges and universities that might band together similarly as like-minded institutions. Not only would it provide cost efficiency at a time when rising prices is making private school tuition more challenging for parents and students, but the CES system also makes it easier to reach the Department of Education’s thresholds for Title IX protections for religious schools, since one factor is demonstrating that a school is controlled by a religious organization.
He indicated he will continue the CCCU’s work with Steve Sandberg, BYU’s general counsel, who with his office has been providing advice and support for legal issues.
The CCCU’s two presidents sat down together with the Deseret News at Elder Gilbert’s office after meeting with a senior church leader and the church commissioner.
Like Hoogstra, Hoag also said Elder Gilbert has helped bring significant key players to collaborations with the CCCU and Latter-day Saint schools like Yeshiva University, Catholic University and Georgetown.
Others include Notre Dame and Baylor, which led Hoag to a joke about Elder Gilbert’s enjoyment of college football.
“I don’t know,” Hoag said with a laugh, “if he’s trying to line up playoff tickets or what he’s doing.”
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The First Presidency announced the dates for the rededication of the Toronto Ontario Temple (March) and the dedication of the Auckland New Zealand Temple (April).
Elder Neil L. Andersen hosted a press conference for the open house of the Tallahassee Florida Temple. “Everything in the house of the Lord speaks to the immortality of the soul,” he told reporters.
The church released the fourth and final volume of the “Saints” church history series.
The church’s worldwide broadcast for youth celebrated the light of Jesus Christ with Elder Ulisses Soares and Young Women and Young Men general presidents.
BYU researchers found a link between temple attendance by youth and improved mental health.
What I’m Reading ...
Don’t miss reading this report of “The Chosen” director’s forum talk at BYU. He tells a great story of personal failure that led to the success of “The Chosen.”
The first album I ever bought was Billy Joel’s “Glass Houses.” Here’s a story about the mansion he hated as a poor kid and then bought as a rich musician. He’s asking for nearly $50 million. I’d sell too if I owed over $500,000 a year in property taxes.
Who else is enjoying BYU football’s run to an 8-0 record?
David Hoag, incoming president of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities, poses for a portrait at the Church Office Building of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (Isaac Hale, Deseret News)
Shirley V. Hoogstra, president of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities and inaugural co-chair, Elder Clark G. Gilbert, General Authority Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and Marcus Faust talk during the American Counsel on Education Commission on Faith-Based Universities at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, June 4, 2024. (Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)
