christian institutions Archives - ABHE Knowledge Center

Fishing for Foundations

The first step in launching a foundation strategy is to research the prospective foundations in your local area. For a minimal monthly subscription, you can access the Foundation Center online directory (foundationcenter. org). Use it for several months to develop a prospect spreadsheet. Once you know the foundation names, you can access their IRS 990 forms on the Foundation Center website or for free on guidestar.org. Research foundations that may be a match by reviewing their previous grant list for similar organizations they have funded. Many foundations have websites that explain their application guidelines and funding priorities. Some offer online application forms or downloadable applications.

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From Christian Gentleman to Bewildered Seeker: The Transformation of American Higher Education

In this carefully documented essay, Russell K. Nieli outlines the major transformation in American higher education that began at the end of the nineteenth century. Today’s research- and vocation-driven private universities began as Christian institutions founded by zealous evangelizers, while public colleges embraced a watered-down version of the earnest and forward-thinking Protestant gentleman’s worldview, which saw no conflict between theological and secular knowledge. Science and religion remained friendly until the advent of the industrial revolution brought the model of the German research university to the attention of American academic reformers. Unity of knowledge was eventually supplanted by a secular, elective system. While the great “multiversity” had arrived, critics mourned the loss of educational coherence and abandonment of the civilizing mission to which moral and classical training were essential.

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