THE PRESTIGE

Prestige—at one time, Christians were at the forefront of every field that they entered. It is our duty to RECAPTURE this prestige so that we are able to truly and completely impact the global panorama for the cause of Christ.

Biola, being a Christian institution of higher education, ought to be among the top schools in the nation. In the foreseeable future, we need to be able to deserve mention alongside names such as Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and the like.

In order to set Biola on the right track, Alex and I fully intend to collaborate with the administration to RECAPTURE the prestige in the following ways:

-Addition of graduate programs. If Christians are to be considered experts in their field, the best way to give them that credibility is to allow them the opportunity to earn advanced degrees on this campus. Talbot and Rosemead are prime examples of RECAPTURING prestige; Alex and I want to spread this to several more fields.

-Raising the ratio of faculty with doctorates. According to the Office of Admissions, only 2/3 of Biola’s faculty hold terminal degrees (source), compared to Azusa’a 76% (source).

-Dramatically growing the endowment. The top colleges in the nation have endowments worth $500,000 to $1,500,000 per student! Biola’s, on the other hand, is $8,618 (according to Carl Schreiber, Biola’s Vice President for Financial Affairs & Information Technology).

-Joining the NCAA. This would raise school spirit; the prospect of winning contests against other respected institutions raises the stakes drastically. Our teams would attract athletes of even higher quality. The athletic programs of most NCAA schools make money for their school. All this, and we would generate national media attention, much like Oral Roberts University as they made it to the tournament this month.

I realize that all these will not be accomplished in this year alone, but with the new president being hired and a new administration joining him, Alex and I will make it a priority to collaborate in the next round of dreaming, shifting the focus towards RECAPTURE in order to shape the future of our world in the name of Christ.