Name: Mrs. Michelle L. Stephens - Oklahoma Christian University

It’s an uncommonconnection, for sure. Rollingplains vs. snow-cappedmountains. America’s Heartlandvs. the West Coast.Aside from starting with thesame letter of the alphabet,Oklahoma and Oregon seeminglyhave little in common.Perhaps that’s what makesthe story worth telling. It’sthe story of an uncommonconnection sprung from acommon commitment and thepower of persistence fueled byfaith.Established in Portland, Oregon,in 1956, Columbia ChristianCollege closed in 1993due to financial strains and aneventual loss of accreditation.Faced with the prospect of aonce-vibrant campus goingpermanently dark, the late Dr.Don Gardner, the last presidentof Columbia Christian, traveledto various Church of Christ-affiliatedinstitutions to ask forassistance.Former OC president Dr. J.Terry Johnson led a group toPortland to visit the campus.As legend has it, they werecaptivated by the passion of thestudents they met – studentswho didn’t want ColumbiaChristian to die.In 1993, Oklahoma Christianofficially agreed to step into thegap. With capital invested, bothhuman and financial, Christianhigher education experienced arebirth in the Pacific Northwest– Cascade College was born.When the doors opened in thefall of 1994, 119 students filledthe classrooms.“We accepted anyone with apulse!” laughed Dr. Brian Simmons,a 1987 OC graduate andprofessor of communication atCascade. “The biggest challenge,I think, was in creatingsomething from the ground up.There was a sense in which wewere doing that, and there wasa sense in which we werenot doing that because,as the branchcampus of OC,we had their wisdom and theirguidance.”Simmons will proudly tellanyone: He was the very firstfull-time faculty member to joinCascade College.“I will be here until the dayI die,” he often says. And he’sserious.Other OC alumni, as well asfaculty and staff, also made themove to Portland. People likeCascade’s first vice president,Dr. Kevin Jacobs, Dr. Arlis andSuzanne Wood, Dr. Mickey andJane Banister, and Dr. John andCynthia Fletcher – just to namea few.Dr. Gary Tandy (74), professorof English, signed on forthat first year as well. For him,Cascade was an opportunity toleave “Corporate America” andreturn to teaching.“For several years, I had thisdissatisfaction with what I wasdoing. I think it mostly had todo with the fact that I wasn’tteaching,” he said. “When I reallykind of examined myself, Ithought that in a way, I’d reallygotten away from my dream.”Anyone on campus thosefirst few years will agree: itwasn’t easy. Both Simmons andTandy laugh when recalling themultiple hats they’ve worn tohelp keep programs running.“Having been here 11 years, Ihave to stop and remind myselfthat we had just five facultymembers that first year. That’sit,” he said. “We’re not a hugefaculty now, but we continue togrow. We have at least two fulltimefaculty members in mostof our areas now.”Dr. Bill Goad (79), a oncecommonface on the OCcampus, moved his family toPortland in the fall of 2002to assume the role of provostand chief operating officer. Hesays what sets Cascade apartfrom many other schools is its“servant spirit,” as well as theunique closeness of the campuscommunity.“Everywhere that you find aChristian college, you find thatthe church is stronger,” Goadsaid. “You definitely find thathere.”It’s a good thing, too. VISION SPRING 2006 Transforming lives for Christian faith, leadership, and service.