Loyola University Chicago Loyola eCommons Dissertations Theses and Dissertations 1992 Evangelical Christian Higher Education, Culture, and Social Conflict: A Niebuhrian Analysis of Three Colleges in the 1960's David Larsen Loyola University Chicago Follow this and additional works at: https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss Part of the Education Commons Recommended Citation Larsen, David, "Evangelical Christian Higher Education, Culture, and Social Conflict: A Niebuhrian Analysis of Three Colleges in the 1960's" (1992). Dissertations. 3231. https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss/3231 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at Loyola eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Loyola eCommons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. Copyright © 1992 David Larsen LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO EVANGELICAL CHRISTIAN HIGHER EDUCATION, CULTURE, AND SOCIAL CONFLICT: A NIEBUHRIAN ANALYSIS OF THREE COLLEGES IN THE 1960S A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP AND POLICY STUDIES BY DAYID LARSEN CHICAGO, ILLINOIS MAY, 1992 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author gratefully acknowledges the encouragement and insights offered by the director of this dissertation and the members of the committee, people who embody in their scholarship, teaching, and conversation both wit and wisdom. The staff members of the archive collections at Calvin, Goshen, and Wheaton Colleges were always ready and willing to converse and assist. They clearly love their work. My friends and colleagues at Trinity Christian College were supportive through their prayers, interest, and willingness to read whatever I gave them. In particular, Jeff and Ginny Carpenter, Bob and Gail Rice, and Brad Breems, helped to sharpen this research. If not for stimulating conversations with Chuck Schoenherr, this idea would have been missed altogether. Ken Bootsma understood the need for time. A former teacher, Roger Griffioen, made the study of history contagious and the classroom a place that encouraged curiosity. Finally, our children were inquisitive cheerleaders, my in-laws were continually supportive, and my wife once again proved that "love endures all things." My parents would have been proud. ii VITA The author, David Alan Larsen, was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1947. After graduation from Calvin College with a Bachelor of Arts in English degree he studied for three years at Calvin Theological Seminary. He received the Masters of Religious Education degree from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Bannockburn, Illinois, in 1974, and worked as a youth pastor in Western Springs, Illinois, until accepting the Dean of Students position at Trinity Christian College, Palos Heights, Illinois, in 1976. He is presently the Vice-President for Student Development at Trinity Christian College. In 1987 Mr. Larsen was awarded a Graduate Tuition Fellowship and Graduate Assistantship in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, Loyola University of Chicago. He is married to Catherine (Yonker) Larsen. Their children are Joshua, Anne, and Catherine. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ........................................ ii VITA ....................................................... lll Chapter I. INTRODUCTION . 1 EVANGELICAL CHRISTIAN HIGHER EDUCATION AND CULTURE: AN OVERVIEW ...................... 5 The Niebuhrian Paradigm Explained . 5 The Place of Calvin, Goshen, and Wheaton Within the Niebuhrian Paradigm . 14 Evangelicalism and Its Institutions of Higher Education in the American Religious Ecology ...................................... 15 II. A CULTURAL CHRONOLOGY OF THE 1960S AND THE IMPACT OF THE DECADE ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES ... 41 Cultural Formation in the Decade . 44 The Impact of the Decade on American Higher Education . 67 Setting the Stage . 73 III. CALVIN COLLEGE . 75 Historical Context . 75 The Institution in the 1960s ....................... 79 The Paradigm Considered . 140 IV. GOSHEN COLLEGE . 144 Historical Context ............................. 146 The Institution in the 1960s . 153 The Paradigm Considered ....................... 190 V. WHEATON COLLEGE . 197 Historical Context . 197 The Institution in the 1960s . 200 iv The Paradigm Considered . 245 VI. COLLEGE, CULTURE, AND CHARACTER ............ 250 REFERENCES ........................................... '. 265 V David Larsen Loyola University Chicago EVANGELICAL HIGHER EDUCATION, CULTURE, AND SOCIAL CONFLICT: A NIEBUHRIAN ANALYSIS OF THREE COLLEGES IN THE 1960S Through a comparative study of selected evangelical Christian colleges, I attempt to determine the impact of the social movements of the 1960s on evangelical higher education. I use the analytical paradigm of H. Richard Niebuhr's Christ and Culture to compare and contrast the histories of Calvin, Goshen, and Wheaton colleges during the period, paying particular attention to the impact of the cultural/historical movements of the decade on the development of student leadership and institutional policies. Finally, I comment on the impact of the Nieburhian paradigm on the process of character formation within the mission of evangelical Christian colleges. The dissertation will give opportunity for integrative research, since it combines the history of American higher education with theological issues, with the purpose of understanding historical movements against the background of an interpretive framework. The result will be a contribution to the overall history of evangelical Christian higher education in America. INTRODUCTION There is in the complex and varied world of American higher education one small segment which draws little attention, is infrequently researched, yet is rich in academic heritage and contribution. It took root in the very beginnings of higher education in colonial America, grew among the developing universities of the nineteenth century, and its branches today represent a resurgent force with a distinctive mission. This quietly effective quarter of higher education in America is that grouping of colleges which identify with the evangelical Christian movement. 1 While evangelicalism is more recently the subject of an ever-broadening stream of scholarship, evangelical higher education is only beginning to receive corresponding attention.2 In this work a portion of the history of evangelical Christian higher education is presented through an examination of three representative midwestern evangelical colleges, each rich in history and tradition. These colleges are first viewed through a theoretical paradigm developed by H. Richard Niebuhr in his 1 The term "evangelical" has been variously defined, and will be explained in more detail later in this chapter. 2 Leading scholars in the area of evangelical studies include Joel Carpenter, Donald Dayton, James Davison Hunter, George Marsden, Mark A. Knoll, Richard Quebedeaux, and Kenneth W. Shipps. 2 Christ and Culture.3 The paradigm is selected to provide a context for comparing and contrasting each college in terms of their heritage and practice. Following the description of the Niebuhrian paradigm, the three institutions of evangelical higher education are considered for their place within it. These colleges--Calvin in Grand Rapids, Michigan; Goshen in Goshen, Indiana; and Wheaton, in Wheaton, Illinois--represent clearly identifiable traditions and beliefs within the evangelical Christian world. Each institution has earned its place of distinction within evangelicalism. The analysis provided serves as backdrop and context for the further consideration, in later chapters, of these three colleges and their reactions to the social conflicts of the decade of the 1960s. The case is made that Niebuhr's paradigm provides an insightful, interpretive framework for analyzing the colleges' responses to social conflict, as evidenced by institutional policy development, student reaction, and administrative decision-making. In each instance, the three colleges are examined in their historical context, their experience of the 1960s, and their place within the Niebuhrian paradigm. Finally, the subject and challenge of character formation in college students is considered in the context of how each college responded to questions asked and challenges offered by the students of the 1960s. Based largely on the tradition to which it belonged and its distinctive approach to the question of the 3 H. Richard Niebuhr, Christ and Culture (New York: Harper and Row, 1951). 3 Christian and culture, each institution responded in consistent ways. Generally, the response of each institution, filtered through their views of a Christian's approach to culture as described in the Niebuhrian paradigm, seized or lost opportunities for shaping character in the students of the 1960s. The Niebuhrian paradigm is selected because it offers a framework within which similarities and differences between institutions can be understood and analyzed. It enables the scholar to focus on distinctive institutional tendencies and traits, the sort of raw material which shapes history. While Niebuhr's framework is instructive, it is not intended to establish absolute categories of black and white where shades of gray are more descriptive. Significant overlap in the patterns of the paradigm is not only possible,