Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 28, 2000)
CC comes into the light Catharine Kendall Emerald orthwest Christian College students lounge in the ‘rug room’ Mike Stear (front left), Amanda Harmon (front right), Caron Koch ack right), Rob Brittain (back center), and Jason DeVries (back left). ■ Northwest Christian College jses fundraising to make mprovementsand spread ts message ly Andrew Adams iregon Daily Emerald In its own little corner under the hadow of one of the state’s largest miversities, Northwest Christian College has quietly begun its first najor fundraising drive in the chool’s 100-year history. Often unmentioned in a county hat is home to both Lane Commu lity College and the University, ad ninistrators hope the quest for in creased donations will draw this secluded private school into the )ublic spotlight. NCC administrators publicly an lounced the capital campaign early his month, which will raise funding or a new activities center, technolo gy upgrades, scholarships and reno vation’s to the school’s 79-year-old nusic building. The goal is $13 mil ion, and $5.9 million has already )een raised through trustees, em ployees and alumni. Groundbreak ing for the new activities center is ex pected to happen in two years. Jim Womack, NCC president, said the campaign will make the college more active in the Eugene community and give its students more opportunities. “This will enable us to do a lot more on campus that we [current ly] can’t do,” he said. He added the largest room on the NCC campus holds just more than 200 people. The new activities cen ter will allow the school to host more lectures and events that will increase the school’s role in the community. Womack said even though the college prides itself on providing a close-knit family at mosphere for its 490 students, the decision to open up to the commu nity was not difficult. “It was several years in the mak ing, but once it was time to do it, it wasn’t hard,” he said. As NCC moves forward with its campaign, Womack said he hopes more students will think of NCC for their higher education and more community members will under stand what the school does. He said he hopes the campus improve ments will also strengthen the al ready positive relationship be tween NCC and the University. “To create an overall environ ment where students are supported in their faith development is our primary mission,” he said. Students at NCC said they are looking forward to the improve ments at their school, even though many of them will have graduated before the fundraising campaign will be completed. They also said they hope the fundraising will at tract more attention to the school. Rob Brittain, a junior studying ministry and film studies at NCC, said the majority of students be lieve it is exciting to break new ground at the school, which hasn’t seen a new building in 46 years. He added some students were not so sure about the fundraising drive. “There’s a minority that’s confused about spending money on a new building and not ministry,” he said. But in Brittain’s opinion, the fundraising will give the college more venues to spread its message, and let more people in the communi ty understand what the college does. He said he often meets Universi ty students who have never even heard of his school. “I think the biggest thing is we’re kind of mysterious,” he said, but that hasn’t hurt the student rela tionship between the two schools. “Everyone at NCC has nothing against UO,” he said, “I think UO stu dents just don’t know about NCC.” If the school becomes better known because of the fundraising campaign, Brittain said he is not afraid that a larger college will mean the loss of the close-knit at mosphere. “The family feel isn’t in num bers, but in the people who are here,” he said. Sophomore Mark Bradbury, who is studying pastoral ministries, said one of the college’s best features is that it is small. “I’ve loved it so far,” he said. “When I got here, it’s like a family.” He said he has noticed a barrier between NCC students and those at the University who expressed the belief that Christians are “more talk than living.” Bradbury said that while he be lieves this perception is untrue, he could understand how University students may not understand his school, because it often reminds him of being “in a little Christian bubble.” He added that despite people not knowing too much about the col lege, it remains active in local min istry efforts and is a fun place to got to school. While NCC students can’t help but be aware of the University, stu dents in the University often don’t know much about NCC. University journalism junior Eric Zentmyer said he doesn’t know much about what goes on at NCC. “I really don’t have a perception of the school because I’ve never had contact with (any students],” he said. “They’re pretty isolated.” Vicki Miles, a junior who is studying general science, said she had never met any student from NCC, and was unsure about what students at the college do. “I assume they do Christian things,” she said. rr-—. 7-j Courtesy Illustration This future building addition to the NCC campus will be made possible by the school’s first fundraising campaign drive in 100 years. Enroll by November 30th and save! Start studying now! Classes start: January 20 Call 1-800-KAP-TEST to enroll! 800-KAP-TEST www.kaptest.com *MCAT is the registered trademark of the Educational Testing Service. Test Prep, Admissions and Guidance. For life. \ MEDIUM PEPPERONI OR CHEESE PIZZA 1711 Willamette (next to Blockbuster) 343-3330
