Can a small Christian university that is so publicity-shy many of its neighbors don't know it exists become one of the most prominent schools in San Diego County? Should it even try? The questions are causing agita at Point Loma Nazarene University, which is debating whether to chase money and prestige to shore up its finances and better compete for the declining number of college-age people nationally.
until recently, didn't see a need to be well-known. That has limited which has been bringing in more money than it spends. But many faculty say the school needs to make some noise, and pronto. 'Our association with the church involves humility, which is a form of hiding,' said Dean Nelson, director of
should try to push its endowment toward $500 million over the next 15 years — an ambition beyond its experience. Without citing a figure, 's dean of theology, was fired in a complicated dispute that involved his support of a former adjunct teacher who had publicly expressed support for LGBTQ+ people. Separately, Seldon 'Dee' Kelley III, a senior pastor at a Nazarene church on campus, lost his job for publicly disagreeing with the church's opposition to same-sex marriage.
is not accustomed to such drama. The school moved to San Diego from Pasadena a half-century ago, quietly settling on a 90-acre piece of coastline whose seclusion fit the Nazarenes' meditative nature. It focused on teaching the liberal arts through a Christian perspective, shielding students from racy distractions like dancing, which wasn't permitted on campus until the 1990s. The church, which is based in Kansas, is an independent 501 nonprofit.
is using this as a selling point to industry, especially to alumni who work in biotech. But there are limits. The school does not have a deep database of its 53,000 alumni, which hampers fundraising. And unlike UC San Diego and San Diego State University,