A Case Study of the Center for Christian Thought and Academic Excellence at Darin University

Abstract

This paper examines the influence that the Center for Christian Thought and Academic Excellence (CTAE) had on student participants' academic, social, and spiritual habits at Darin University, a highly competitive, medium-sized, private non-sectarian university in the Southeastern United States. Findings from this exploratory instrumental case study revealed that CTAE helped students identify aspects of their field of study and moments in classroom dialogue to integrate their beliefs, provided students with access to a community on campus devoted to Christian intellectual life, and offered students opportunities to develop a new perspective on the spiritual purpose of their academic and vocational interests. This study adds to existing literature by presenting a case in which cultural incongruity did not cause evangelical students to withdrawal from the life of the University, because they were provided with resources opportunities to see their place in it.