Christian colleges with good programs?

Portland

Gonzaga. It's not really on the coast itself, but it is in the state of Washington.

dkyulfy wrote:

Gonzaga. It's not really on the coast itself, but it is in the state of Washington.

Gonzaga is catholic, but thanks for the response!

not too many options wrote:

what are some good ones anywhere in the country?

Some consider Notre Dame ("Our Lady") a Christian school. They've had a few decent runners over the years.

These are considered good schools--I really don't know about the running programs (if any?) at most of them, though:

Santa Clara University

Loyola Marymount

University of San Diego

University of San Francisco

Portland (of course)

Seattle University

There are many more colleges than these in the West, of course, but these seem to be ones that are more highly regarded.

I've been out of coaching a good while and I know that many schools have dropped/limited their running programs, especially for males. I hope someone can fill in my knowledge gaps regarding the programs at the colleges above. I'm too lazy to look that up myself.

Bob Washington wrote:

dkyulfy wrote:

Gonzaga. It's not really on the coast itself, but it is in the state of Washington.

Gonzaga is catholic, but thanks for the response!

Troll post? Since when are Catholics not Christians?

Bob Washington wrote:

Gonzaga is catholic, but thanks for the response!

So you are using the parochial American definition of Christian. How about Episcopalians or Methodists? Presbyterians? Are any of them Christian?

I believe that Catholics are Christians, but there are obviously doctrinal differences, and I am on the other side of Catholics in that regard. Nothing against Catholics, but when I attend a college I would like to have most, if not all, of the same doctrinal thinking of the college.

kibitzer wrote:

Bob Washington wrote:

Gonzaga is catholic, but thanks for the response!

Troll post? Since when are Catholics not Christians?

Yeah, I was going to mention BYU--nowhere near the West Coast, really, but definitely Christian (is it ever!) and definitely a fine running program.

yeah, BYU is a great program, but I would not be interested in them. Not like I would get heavily recruited anyway! just kidding, but they are crazy good and I would want to go to a college where I could get a good-sized scholarship

Bob Washington wrote:

I believe that Catholics are Christians, but there are obviously doctrinal differences, and I am on the other side of Catholics in that regard. Nothing against Catholics, but when I attend a college I would like to have most, if not all, of the same doctrinal thinking of the college.

Not a problem--but then why not specify exactly what you're after, religiously speaking, so people can give you informed suggestions?

"Christian" covers a lot of ground. If you mean something like "evangelical Protestant," that's fine--I'm sure there are some choices available--but just say so from the get-go, and then we can help you out! :-)

kibitzer wrote:

Since when are Catholics not Christians?

It's more a matter of where then of when. Some Americans use "Christian" to talk about a particular slice of Protestantism. They tend to go to churches that are non-denominational. That's the basis of their name. They aren't Methodist, Baptist or Episcopalian: they are just Christian. (If you think "mega-church" you won't be too far off.)

PS I take it you aren't up on the whole Pope-as-the-Whore-of-Babylon-the-AntiChrist meme? It's as old as the Reformation.

Jebbies = Satan's Delta Force wrote:

PS I take it you aren't up on the whole Pope-as-the-Whore-of-Babylon-the-AntiChrist meme? It's as old as the Reformation.

Yeah, you got me. I'm nondelusional so I'm not really up to date on the differences between the various sects.

Pepperdine is loosely affiliated with the Church of Christ

Bob Washington wrote:

when I attend a college I would like to have most, if not all, of the same doctrinal thinking of the college.

You might have trouble finding a place that is solid athletically and doctrinally, especially on the west coast. It is, after all, the least churched part of the country. You might do better if you expand your search to include places like Pepperdine, Linfield or Willamette.

These all started out a religious schools, associated with a specific denomination. They have slowly become less so, and are now more "loosely affiliated" (as the poster above put it). My sense is they all retain at least a flavor you'd recognize. If nothing else, your faith won't isolate you on these campuses the way it might on a more secular campus.

Have you talked to anyone from your church who goes to a non-Christian school? I'm asking because secular campuses vary a lot on how friendly they are for believers. I taught at a secular college that had very good athletics and lots of Christian athletes. The ones I talked to felt at home on campus. A big reason was that several of the groups for Christian athletes were active on campus. This made it easier for them to feel part of a community of worship.

In other words, life on a secular campus might not be as secular as you think.

I have talked to some guys, and one of my good friends is a freshman at WSU on their running team. He seems to like it, but I want to go to a Christian school regardless. A school that I've been looking at is Biola, just to give a reference for what type of schools I am looking at. Portland would be awesome to go to because their running program is amazing, but a smaller college that is still close to their core religious beliefs is my number 1 in choosing a school..

Something else to consider wrote:

Have you talked to anyone from your church who goes to a non-Christian school? I'm asking because secular campuses vary a lot on how friendly they are for believers. I taught at a secular college that had very good athletics and lots of Christian athletes. The ones I talked to felt at home on campus. A big reason was that several of the groups for Christian athletes were active on campus. This made it easier for them to feel part of a community of worship.

In other words, life on a secular campus might not be as secular as you think.

not to knock on portland, but a school that size is bound to be very different from somewhere like biola that only has 8,000 students.

How about Southern Methodist or Texas Christian? SMU is better for running, though.