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August 29, 2001
Dear Friends,
The twenty-fourth private university in Thailand officially came
into existence at 6:34 p.m. Wednesday, August 15, when the Ministry
of University Affairs signed the charter transforming Christian
College into Christian University. So we are now a full-fledged
university. The new status actually certifies existing facts about
the college rather than changing anything. As the Minister said,
"This recognizes that Christian University is performing
the four functions of a university," namely (1) teaching
and producing graduates (2) engaging in research (3) providing
academic service to society (4) promoting Thai culture.
Mere colleges carry out these functions, too, of course. In fact,
Christian College was doing them and had to demonstrate competence
in doing them for several years before this advancement in status
was ratified.
In the United States, the difference between a college and a
university seems to be mostly one of magnitude and diversity of
programs. A university has a graduate school; colleges probably
don’t have one. Originally, universities were supposed to
comprehend the whole universe. Anymore what it means to be a university
boils down to size. A university is, well, bigger. But here in
Thailand the bragging rights of a university are not based on
size so much as function. The university is "fully functioning"
and more importantly, officially recognized as fully functioning.
Christian University still has some things to do. The Ministry’s
Accreditation Committee added conditions, which we signed. We
had to promise to convert our accounting to a completely electronic
system in line with modern practice, to proceed with our plan
for a new academic building, and to actually produce more research
papers from the list we have said we were working on.
But we are officially a university, already. On Tuesday, August
21, HRH Princess Somsawalee presented diplomas to the current
graduating class of bachelors and masters. They matriculated into
a college and completed all their course work and finished at
a college. But they are university graduates. Their "sheepskins"
and graduation photos say so for the entire world to see.
Sometime later, perhaps as early as November, the King’s
daughter, HRH Crown Princess Sirindhon will preside over the official
celebration of our university-ness. It will be a very big event.
We will (literally) roll out the red carpet for her. We will unfold
new banners and sing the new university anthems, and wear our
new matching blazers. We may even raise glasses of bubbly, but
probably not. We are a dry campus.
But the Ministry of University Affairs has not expressed a very
keen interest in the most important aspect of our ministry. And
we, ourselves, must strive to not lose sight of it. We are not
merely the 24th private university in the Kingdom. We are an expression
of the Christian Church. We do not exist simply to provide academic
services, but to witness to God’s love.
This is a ministry which is incredibly easy to let slip. The
forces of secular society and the traditions of academia are powerful.
They seep into the way we meet strangers at the front gate, the
way we stamp student class cards, the way we collect fees, and
even the way we take attendance at required worship services.
Most everything we do explains what we mean by God’s love,
and makes it either attractive or uninviting. The Enlightenment
gradually all but expelled the Church from the university in the
Western world. But Christian College was founded to perform a
Christian ministry in higher education.
How to "incarnate" that commitment is an altogether
more complex matter, however. For we are small, "least of
the tribes of Israel" and the smallest clan in the tribe
to boot, as Gideon complained. Of the 24 private universities
in Thailand only the first (Payap University) and the twenty-fourth
(us) are Protestant Christian institutions. Of the 1400 lives
at Christian University barely 100 are Christians. As I said,
our clan is tiny. How can we expect every action and aspect of
our university life to exude Christian love? Still, God sent Gideon
against the Midianites, not in great numbers, but in greatly culled
and shockingly reduced numbers…as if to prove numbers don’t
count. Christ reminded his handful of followers that it is not
the amount of salt but its spread and effects that matter.
Our ministry is to show God cares. We scatter symbols of that
all over our campus, our literature, and our website. (Check us
out at www.christian.ac.th).
We incorporate them in our philosophy and ceremonies. We embroider
them onto our breast pockets and emboss them on our ID badges.
And then we try to explain, and explain again, what they mean.
But it is all futile if there is no actual loving, caring, and
compassion going on. The pervasive and comprehensive condition
of life at Christian University must express love. We often feel
stressed out and stretched thin, trying to encircle the Midianite
Camp armed only with our tin horns, torches, and clay pitchers.
But it will be through love that there is victory.
If we succeed, the size of our university will not matter. The
mammoth universities with their tens of thousands which surround
us will bow to the blinding light of our tiny lamp if it is fueled
with love.
First of all, however, we must refine our oil. We have to purify
our love so it is as nearly as possible the love of God burning
in us. We have to keep our eyes on the most important thing we
are about, even as we proudly put up our new university signs
and vacuum the red carpet for the big day…and prepare to
fulfill our destiny.
Blessings,
Ken Dobson
The 2001 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 163
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