Also remarkable is how only some things seem to count as mission-drift, like having a DEI officer or learning about race/ gender/ class inequities, or having LGBTQ-sympathetic policies or clubs, or letting staff hang rainbow flags on campus, etc. But not things from the last few decades, like expanding professional programs and their faculties, even though this are only tangentially (if at all) connected to Christian mission; or making sure a college continues, so as to be financially competitive, to rely on adjuncts (whom you can rarely confirm that they are indeed Christians!) and pay them rock-bottom rates, even though they are teaching some of the same core classes as our crucial tenured Christian faculty; or, Idk, paying your tenured mid-career faculty so little (for decades) that they all feel horribly undervalued, and need (even for purely financial reasons) to leave for elsewhere or for other careers entirely, because their sense of calling has been killed off by working for such a place... all the while nevertheless hiring costly administrators that add little value, or constantly 'partnering' with outside consultants on hiring new administrators, or figuring out why alumni don't give, or why not enough students want to enroll...
Evangelicals always seem to have a fear- and victim-based mentality, and an interest in policing the purity of their Christian commitments, so it's clear (from the armchair) that they would constantly be worried about mission-drift... but it's striking to me that for many of them, when it comes to their colleges, they seem unable to parse the (supposed) dual threat, namely: survival as a college vs. the possible 'mission drift' of become more inclusive/ welcoming/ etc. After all, we see that the fate of many Christian colleges is closure... is that preferable to becoming a Baylor or a St Olaf or a Vanderbilt? What is more, it is quite unclear to me whether typical evangelical families value such colleges enough to send their kids to them... On the one hand, many conservatives are anti-elitist esp. about education; but on the other hand, Christian families with means are far more likely to direct their kids to prestigious institutions with cultural/ career cachet, which is exactly what happens with the college-bound students of Catholic high schools: they try to get their kids in to Ivies, or maybe the Notre Dames/ Gonzagas/ Fordhams/ etc. of the world, never even considering the CCCU schools. Some sociologist should look into whether evangelicals talk a big game about the importance of their CCCU schools while nevertheless sending their own kids elsewhere.
Also remarkable is how only some things seem to count as mission-drift, like having a DEI officer or learning about race/ gender/ class inequities, or having LGBTQ-sympathetic policies or clubs, or letting staff hang rainbow flags on campus, etc. But not things from the last few decades, like expanding professional programs and their faculties, even though this are only tangentially (if at all) connected to Christian mission; or making sure a college continues, so as to be financially competitive, to rely on adjuncts (whom you can rarely confirm that they are indeed Christians!) and pay them rock-bottom rates, even though they are teaching some of the same core classes as our crucial tenured Christian faculty; or, Idk, paying your tenured mid-career faculty so little (for decades) that they all feel horribly undervalued, and need (even for purely financial reasons) to leave for elsewhere or for other careers entirely, because their sense of calling has been killed off by working for such a place... all the while nevertheless hiring costly administrators that add little value, or constantly 'partnering' with outside consultants on hiring new administrators, or figuring out why alumni don't give, or why not enough students want to enroll...
Evangelicals always seem to have a fear- and victim-based mentality, and an interest in policing the purity of their Christian commitments, so it's clear (from the armchair) that they would constantly be worried about mission-drift... but it's striking to me that for many of them, when it comes to their colleges, they seem unable to parse the (supposed) dual threat, namely: survival as a college vs. the possible 'mission drift' of become more inclusive/ welcoming/ etc. After all, we see that the fate of many Christian colleges is closure... is that preferable to becoming a Baylor or a St Olaf or a Vanderbilt? What is more, it is quite unclear to me whether typical evangelical families value such colleges enough to send their kids to them... On the one hand, many conservatives are anti-elitist esp. about education; but on the other hand, Christian families with means are far more likely to direct their kids to prestigious institutions with cultural/ career cachet, which is exactly what happens with the college-bound students of Catholic high schools: they try to get their kids in to Ivies, or maybe the Notre Dames/ Gonzagas/ Fordhams/ etc. of the world, never even considering the CCCU schools. Some sociologist should look into whether evangelicals talk a big game about the importance of their CCCU schools while nevertheless sending their own kids elsewhere.
"Some Sociologist" here. You'll find my book helpful.
Looking forward to it! (Assuming you mean the one you're finishing, not your earlier one)