CCCU President Edward Blews Jr.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (WordNews.org) Feb. 18, 2013 – The new head of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities said the organization will play an active role in promoting Christian higher education “whether in the halls of Congress, the corridors of the White House, the chambers of courts, or any other forum.”
“The CCCU will be the persuasive, powerful, enthusiastic, joyful, courageous, indefatigable, unapologetic advocate for the great cause of Christ-centered education wherever decisions are made affecting us,” said Edward O. Blews Jr.
Blews is the council’s sixth president. His appointment was announced in July and he officially took office on Jan. 1. Priro to his CCCU appointment, Blews served for 28 years as the president of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Michigan (AICUM).
His relationship with the CCCU began as student body president at CCCU member Seattle Pacific University in Seattle, Wash., and has continued throughout his professional career. More recently, he served as a member of the CCCU board of directors for three years.
“We will not be daunted by any challenge [or] intimidated by any force,” Blews said during his recent inauguration. “We will be the happy warriors for a great and godly cause.”
Blews outlined his priorities, which included:
*    Making a strong case for Christ-centered higher education
*   Improving advocacy, professional development, communications, student programming, and cost-saving initiatives
*    Leading the global movement for Christ-centered higher education
*   Advocating for the rigorous integration of faith with scholarship in all disciplines as the profound distinctive of Christian higher education
Kim Phipps, CCCU board chair and president of Messiah College in Grantham, Pennsylvania, said Blews was picked as president because of his desire to address these new challenges.
“In these complicated times of simultaneous challenge and opportunity for Christian higher education, Dr. Ed Blews possesses the vision, experience, and skill to effectively lead the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities and its membership,” she said.
Blews said Christian colleges and universities play a unique role in advancing the kingdom of God by ministering to the mind as well as the heart and integrating faith with learning.
“Historically, higher education in this nation began grounded in the conviction that God is the beginning and the source of wisdom…and CCCU’s Christ-centered colleges and universities truly and faithfully integrate academic excellence with biblical truth,” he said. “I believe that the CCCU will embrace the challenges of the future with faith, enthusiasm, joy, energy, and confidence that Christ who began a good work in the CCCU will carry it on to completion.”