22
association from its role as a advocate for Christian
higher education in the public arena.
A COMMON MISSION
For the past seven years, the Coalition/CCCU has
blossomed into a full-fledged professional association
under the presidential leadership of Robert Andringa, who
came to the Coalition in 1994 with experience as a
congressional staffer, advisor to a governor, educational
agency executive, and head of a consulting firm. He
quickly employed his organizational and leadership skills
to restructure the governance of the Coalition, in the
process shifting the locus of power from the staff to
himself and the board. Like John Dellenback, Andringa
walked confidently in Washington's governmental corridors;
he also enhanced the CCCU's strategic presence in the
nation's capital when the association received an
invitation in 1998 to join the prestigious Washington
Higher Education Secretariat.
31
In addition to enhancing the CCCU's traditional
activities in student programs, professional development,
30
Membership data was gathered from selected issues of
The News between 1988 and 1994.
31
On Andringa's CCCU role, see Patterson, Shining
Lights, 79-84.