Projecting into the 21st Century
May 7 Date is Set for Renaming the College

By Reno Hoff, President

Retooling our Name to Strengthen our Outreach
Much about our programs and our constituents has changed since Western Baptist (Bible) College moved to Oregon in 1969. This fact is readily apparent when we consider some of the characteristics of the college at its inception compared to what is true today.

One of the aspects of the move to Oregon which has continued to be an inherent challenge is our name. When we first arrived in Oregon, we were the only regular college or university with the name “Western.” In the ensuing years the list of nearby “Westerns” -- either high schools or colleges -- has grown to at least five. Our close neighbor, Western Oregon University, used to be called “OCE,” but several years ago its name changed to include the word “Western.” This has caused confusion between our schools at various times. Recently I was at a meeting where their president was listed as president of Western Baptist College.

In addition, our feedback shows that the word “Baptist” in our name causes many to assume that we are a college that only trains ministers. Others look at our name and assume that we reserve enrollment for only Baptist students. If they themselves are not Baptist, they never consider supporting us or enrolling in programs. In order to end the confusion of our first name and clarify that we are not just a college for Baptists, the board of trustees has voted to pursue changing our name. Over the past few months I have done a considerable amount of research on this subject, and will continue to do so. I’d like to share some of what I’ve found with you. I think you’ll find it interesting and I hope it will assist you in understanding some of the reasons for what we feel is an important next step in branding our identity.

A Brief History
The college was founded in 1935 as Phoenix Bible Institute, and its purpose was to train missionaries. PBI was interdenominational in structure, and one of the founders was Leland B. Entrekin who left in 1938 to found The Bible & Missionary Training Institute in Los Angeles. (B&MTI later became known as “Westmont” and moved to Santa Barbara.)
Eight years after its inception, PBI was turned over to the General Association of Regular Baptist Pastors who changed the name to Western Baptist Bible College. Two years later they decided to move the college to Oakland, California.

During the mid-1950s the growing college moved 15 miles to El Cerrito, California and received accreditation as a Bible College from the Accrediting Association of Bible Colleges. Later in the 50s it sought and received regional accreditation as a “Limited Purpose Liberal Arts College. The next decade saw considerable enrollment growth and soon the college outgrew its landlocked El Cerrito campus. A search began for additional space and in 1969 the move was made to Salem, Oregon. The move added 90 acres to the college’s campus holdings.

Critical Transitions
At the time the college moved to Oregon, over 90 percent of the students were Baptist -- mostly from GARBC churches. The corporate structure was such that these churches owned the college. Each church annually sent five messengers to a council meeting where they elected members from their midst to the Board of Trustees. One of the unfortunate results of moving to Oregon was that the college was now distant from its historical constituent base (there were few, if any, GARBC churches in Oregon). Eventually the churches in California sent fewer and fewer messengers and lost touch with the college. The challenge at hand proved to be large -- developing new relationships with the many Oregon Conservative Baptist churches who were unfamiliar with the college.

During the transition time when constituent support became more diverse, the number of students from former supporting churches declined dramatically from 505 to 250. Finally, around 1986, then-president Dr. John Balyo asked the council to disband and allow the trustees to become a self-perpetuating board. This meant that the college would be owned by the trustees.

Until 1974 we were essentially a Bible college with no professional programs to attract other career-oriented students. We then introduced a Business Management major which proved to be popular. The following year Psychology was added, then teacher education, and so on. Our enrollment began to increase dramatically because of these new professional programs.

As most of our students enrolled in these new programs the college began to consider another name change. Some students thought that since we were more than a Bible college, the word “Bible” in our name gave the wrong message as to who we really were as a college. During the time that Dr. Thomas Younger was president, 1973-1982, the name was shortened to Western Baptist College.

The college continued to grow and attracted a wider segment of students from various churches. From the early years in Oregon when over 90 percent of our students came from Regular Baptist churches, a change evolved and reflected that most of the Baptist students were coming from CBA churches.

Today’s Demographics
Today the student population represents a vastly different demographic. Only 9.5 percent of our students come from GARBC churches, 20 percent from CBA churches, and 15.5 percent from other Baptist churches. The largest group of students come from non-Baptist churches -- 55 percent.

Our current research reveals some amazing statistics concerning the number of Baptist churches that are in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. It shows that in this area, where our focus has largely been concentrated for the last 35 years, there are only 100 GARB churches, and 280 CBA churches. Since we are a college with a mission “to educate Christians who will make a difference in the world for Jesus Christ,” (based on the “Great Commission” found in Matthew 28) the board of trustees and administration decided to aggressively carry our mission into new constituent groups. Recently the 435 NW Southern Baptist Churches approved us as their college choice and are recommending us to their churches and young people. In this same research, we found that there are over 4,000 evangelical churches in these same states who are not Baptist. Many of these churches are presently part of our constituent base.

As our base continues to grow, we will not change our mission or Statement of Faith. They are included in the bylaws of the college. We will continue to present a Baptist view of theology as we have throughout our history. We do recognize that the main theological issues are compatible with all conservative evangelicals and find only a few differences. That is why so many non-Baptists feel at home in our college and are discovering that we are not “adversaries” but laborers together, serving the Lord. We are one of the few remaining Christian colleges whose enrollment is for “Christians only” and we want our graduates to consider their lives a ministry whatever their profession will be.

Redefining our Name to Reflect our Mission
Based on the studies made over the past several months, the board of trustees voted to begin the process of a name search with the goal of changing our name in the next several months. Our intent is to work closely with all of our college personnel in addition to professional marketing firms to determine which name would be appropriate. Over the past few months of research we have, at this point, established some criteria for a name change.

The goal is to include the following:
- have a connection with Christianity, our mission and statement of faith
- be limited to one word
- appeal to the conservative Christian community
- be easy to pronounce
- not in use by another college or university

Looking to the Future
As we embark on the 21st century, we are acutely aware that the changes being made now and in the future will affect the relationship we will have with our constituents and how we compete in the educational arena. The history of the last 68 years continues to shape who we are and how we function. Much of what was done in the past to establish our core values and our mission is what also gives us clarity in discerning which things are important to maintain and which things are better reshaped. Western Baptist has a solid reputation for its emphasis on biblically integrated programs and policies, and its commitment to educating Christian students. We intend to maintain that course and look forward to a long and continuing experience of changing lives for time and eternity.