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.
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