(RNS) — The last remaining evangelical Christian college in New York City, The King’s College, announced Monday (July 17) to staff and faculty that the school, which has faced dire financial challenges, would not renew many teaching contracts when they end on Aug. 1.
A faculty member who attended the meeting said the mood in the room was sober, but that because the layoffs and severance terms were communicated “clearly and concisely,” those affected expressed “deep appreciation.”
The decision comes after months of public financial woes that caused the Middle States Commission on Higher Education to terminate the Christian college’s accreditation in May. Since January, King’s has kept students, staff and faculty on edge, asking for prayer as officials sought $2.6 million to keep the school open. A fundraiser brought in only about $200,000.
King’s is currently in an appeal process with MSCHE that depends on showing the institution is financially viable with students actively enrolled.
Throughout the spring semester, staff and faculty helped students transfer to a handful of colleges, from St. John’s University in Queens to some as far away as Providence Christian College in California. However, many students have said they would remain at King’s if it opens in the fall.
Though it has never boasted more than 1,000 students, the 85-year-old King’s rose to become a top conservative liberal arts school, often compared to Hillsdale College, another small but influential conservative school, even as many King’s students and faculty fought political labels.
Operating on thin margins and depending on big donors like Richard and Helen Devos, the school community has been in turmoil since a partnership with a Canadian education investment company, Primacorp Ventures, failed to change its fortunes. In April 2021, King’s agreed to let Primacorp take over fundraising, marketing and admissions in exchange for 95% of the tuition from online students and four of nine board seats. But despite lofty promises, the company never boosted enrollment, and layoffs followed in fall 2022.
Primacorp fully exited the partnership in April, allowing King’s to bring on eight new board members, comprising two former board members, Andy Mills and John Beckett, two parents and four alumni.
A flicker of hope came on May 31, when the board said in a statement that it was in “advanced discussions” with an unnamed Christian university for “an educational and operational partnership” to remain open in New York City for the 2023-2024 academic year and beyond. But since then, the community has awaited an announcement about whether the college will close or not, receiving only breadcrumbs until the faculty layoff announcement.
Dru Johnson, a professor of Biblical literature, theology and interpretation for 12 years at King’s, said he went into the meeting Monday “straight up 50/50.”
“I would not have been surprised if they said, ‘hey we found a way we’re going to do it next semester, we’re going to pull it off.’ Or, you know, if they said, ‘we’re shutting down the entire school, this is your last day, you need to get everything out today.’”
Johnson said since March he has acted as if the school is closing and secured a one-year teaching position at Hope College in Michigan even as his three oldest children, one not yet graduated from high school, stay in the New York area.
“Most of us moved to this region to take this job, a lot of with families that required significant sacrifice,” Johnson said. “So it was just a roller coaster. I decided to step out of the roller coaster early on … but a lot of people did not do that. And so every time another message came from the board saying we’re in discussions but we’re going to keep talking — that was really, really emotionally painful for them. Because their whole family was invested.”
The only other evangelical school with roots in New York City, Alliance University, once Nyack College, announced its closure at the end of August last year. Alliance was notified in June that its accreditation would be withdrawn by the end of 2023. The 140-year-old institution primarily served Black, Hispanic and Asian students of the evangelical denomination Christian and Missionary Alliance. Its campus in Manhattan’s financial district is just a few blocks from The King’s College.
