Concordia University, Nebraska
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| Motto: | Preparing Servant Leaders for Church and World |
| Established: | 1894 |
| Type: | Private University |
| Religious affiliation: | Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod |
| President: | Rev. Dr. Brian L. Friedrich |
| Faculty: | 121 |
| Students: | 1,251 |
| Location: | Seward, Nebraska, USA |
| Campus: | Rural |
| Colors: | Navy and White |
| Mascot: | Bulldog |
| Affiliations: | GPAC, NAIA |
| Website: | www.cune.edu |
Concordia University, Nebraska, is a private, coeducational university located in Seward, Nebraska. It is affiliated with the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod and part of its ten-member Concordia University System. Concordia offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in more than 50 academic programs in both on-campus and online formats. Intentionally Christ-centered, the university educates its more than 1,250 students in accordance with its motto: "Preparing servant leaders for church and world".
The university attempts to achieve this goal through degree programs in professional education and the liberal arts.
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[edit] History
Founded in 1894 as Concordia Teachers College, the university began as a preparatory teacher’s school with its twelve students boarded, fed and taught in the same building by J. George Weller and his wife. The surrounding community was supportive of a school in their midst, and did much to help the students with extra foodstuffs, funding, and housing. The school granted its first teaching degrees in 1907. During World War I, the school faced anti-German sentiment, but worked alongside the community to defend America. Following the war, the school was accredited as a junior college, and women joined the student body. At first, the women were required to eat and board off-campus in area homes, but they were permitted in the dining hall in 1932, and a women’s residence hall was built in 1941.
The first bachelor’s degrees were awarded in 1940, and the school became an accredited four-year institution in the late 1940s. In 1959, Concordia became the first of the LCMS schools to be accredited by the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE).
Additional educational and housing facilities were added as the university grew and expanded its programs, including science labs, a large library, and multiple residence halls. Business, art, science, and health-related programs were added to the teaching and pre-seminary courses. Graduate programs were added in 1968.
The college became part of the newly established Concordia University System in 1995, and became a university in 1998.
New facilities, including the Thom Leadership Education Center and a track-and-field and stadium complex, have been added in recent years. The newest of its 11 residence halls was opened in 2006, and ground will be broken on the Health, Human Performance and Athletic Center (HHPAC) in 2007.
[edit] Academics
Concordia offers both undergraduate and graduate programs designed to prepare students not only to succeed in their chosen careers, but also to encourage responsible participation and leadership in a complex and diverse society. Concordia University, Nebraska is a fully-accredited institution, accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. The teacher education programs are accredited by the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE); music programs are accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM); and the institution's business program is accredited by the International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education (IACBE).
[edit] Undergraduate
Concordia awards bachelor's degrees in more than 40 undergraduate programs in education, business, science, art, music, communication, health, math, English, drama, and theology. Concordia also awards the Lutheran Teacher, Diploma, the Director of Christian Education, and Director of Parish Music certificates which allow holders of those credentials to serve as church workers in the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod. A pre-seminary program is also available, including the necessary language courses to attend the seminaries of the LCMS.
[edit] Graduate
Concordia University offers three master’s degrees: Master of Education (M.Ed.), Master of Parish Education (M.P.Ed.), and Master of Science in Family Life Ministry (M.S.F.L.M.). These programs offer a majority of their courses online, along with concentrated, on-campus courses offered during the summer months. The Master of Education program offers concentrations in administration (elementary and secondary), literacy, and early childhood education.
[edit] Campus
Concordia University, Nebraska encompasses 120 acres in the town of Seward, Nebraska. Having grown from one brick building, the campus now has over 20 academic and administration buildings and 11 residence halls. The newest residence hall is an apartment-style-living facility, and all of the campus's residence halls include internet access and cable telecommunications connections. The university grounds are home to a portion of the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum as well as a number of university-commissioned and student-made sculptures.
[edit] Extracurricular Activities
Over 30 clubs and organizations exist on campus for students to participate in, ranging from service-oriented groups to intramural teams to academic support groups to honorary societies. The Sower is the university's bi-weekly newspaper. The Tower is the title of the institution's yearbook.
[edit] Music, Theater, and Art
Concordia has more than a dozen vocal and instrumental ensembles open to students, including University A Cappella Choir, Chamber Choir, Concordia Singers, Concordia Handbell Choir, Jazz Band, and University Wind Ensemble. Many tour coast-to-coast, and some travel internationally.
The drama department stages two full-length shows each year, in addition to one-act plays, readers’ theater, and a host of student-directed productions. The department has been honored by inclusion in Playbill, the yearly publication of the Alpha Psi Omega dramatic honor society, for more than 20 years. The theater faculty and students are active in the Region V Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. Students have received recognition for playwriting, directing, lighting design, set design, and acting at recent regional festivals. Despite the success of the theater groups, the university has yet to build a dedicated theater facility.
Concordia’s art majors exhibit their artwork at the Marxhausen Gallery of Art, which also hosts visiting artists from around the country. The university’s permanent collection of more than 300 works, the Koenig Collection, contains mostly screen prints, etchings, lithographs, and other original prints by nationally- and internationally-recognized artists. The Center for Liturgical Art at Concordia seeks to encourage and assist the Church in its ministry through the visual arts by promoting its use in worship. Students work alongside faculty and visiting artists to create a variety of pieces.
[edit] Athletics
There are 18 varsity sports teams including: Baseball (M), Basketball (M/W), Cross Country (M/W), American football (M), Golf (M/W), Soccer (M/W), Softball (W), Tennis (M/W), Track–Indoor & Outdoor (M/W), Volleyball (W), plus intramural sports. The school nickname is the Bulldogs.
[edit] Student Government
The university has a student senate composed of one senator elected by their floor peers to represent their respective dorm floor, a proportionate number of senators elected to represent students who live off campus, and a representative for the Student Activities Committee and Student Worship Committee. The president, vice president, secretary, and treasurer are elected at large from the entire student body. All extracurricular groups are encouraged to represent themselves, but are not entitled to vote (however, their funding is tied to attendance at the weekly meetings).
[edit] Trivia
- Residents of dormitory floors at the university often purchase matching T-shirts identifying them as members of that floor community.
- "Spring Weekend" is the weekend before dead week, and is an opportunity for teams of students to compete in various games.
- A running joke among the student population is that the cafeteria puts celery in everything.
- The dormitory floor David Southeast First is said to be haunted.
- There is a statue of an anatomically correct man on campus that is frequently the subject of pranks by the student body.
- The Student Worship Committee is the largest student organization on campus as every student is considered a member.
[edit] External links
- Concordia University, Nebraska
- Concordia University, Nebraska's Bookstore
- Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod
- Campus Map
- Concordia Graduate Catalog
- Concordia Undergraduate Course Catalog
- Complete list of Organizations
[edit] References
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