29
Another illustration of ambiguous boundaries can be
seen in the terminology of "integration." Since the
founding of the Consortium, the integration of faith and
learning has been held up as one of the key distinctives of
Christian higher education. One of the CCCU's present
membership criteria calls for schools to demonstrate "how
faith is integrated with the institution's academic and
student life programs."
40
The pursuit of such integration
is commendable; unhappily, the reality on many Christian
campuses does not match the ideal. There seems to be
little consensus on what integration is and how it should
be accomplished. Andringa wrote to this author in early
2000 that his management team had discussed "the increasing
number of presidents [of CCCU institutions] who question
whether the `integration' of faith and learning really
reflects what we are about. . . . Some feel there is no
inconsistency between the two and so to `integrate' them is
not the best way to reflect what we do."
41
This apparent
lack of appreciation for or understanding of integrative
approaches may have been behind the recent revision of the
CCCU mission statement. It formerly addressed the need "to
help our institutions to effectively integrate biblical
40
Ibid.