New president of Christian college coalition will continue to work with BYU, Latter-day Saints

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This week, the Deseret News reported about a court ruling for religious colleges and universities that included some high-level joint efforts by evangelicals and Latter-day Saints.
The decision by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals protected federal funding to students at religious schools, a win for the Council of Christian Colleges and Universities, which spent $1 million to defend it, and for Brigham Young University’s general counsel’s office, which wrote a friend-of-the-court brief in support of CCCU.
The Deseret News story said the victory was considered the linchpin in the legacy of the CCCU’s freshly retired leader, Shirley Hoogstra.
There is more to the story.
The CCCU’s new president said he will continue the decade-long association with BYU and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
David Hoag, the incoming president, said he values the relationships Hoogstra cultivated with senior Latter-day Saint leaders and the church commissioner of education, Elder Clark G. Gilbert, a General Authority Seventy.
Hoag specifically pointed to the Latter-day Saint model of the Church Educational System, with its overarching board of education leading six institutions — BYU, BYU-Idaho, BYU-Pathway Worldwide, BYU-Hawaii, Ensign College and Seminaries & Institutes.
Hoag said that model could be a boon for evangelical colleges and universities that might band together similarly as like-minded institutions. Not only would it provide cost efficiency at a time when rising prices is making private school tuition more challenging for parents and students, but the CES system also makes it easier to reach the Department of Education’s thresholds for Title IX protections for religious schools, since one factor is demonstrating that a school is controlled by a religious organization.
He indicated he will continue the CCCU’s work with Steve Sandberg, BYU’s general counsel, who with his office has been providing advice and support for legal issues.
The CCCU’s two presidents sat down together with the Deseret News at Elder Gilbert’s office after meeting with a senior church leader and the church commissioner.
Like Hoogstra, Hoag also said Elder Gilbert has helped bring significant key players to collaborations with the CCCU and Latter-day Saint schools like Yeshiva University, Catholic University and Georgetown.
Others include Notre Dame and Baylor, which led Hoag to a joke about Elder Gilbert’s enjoyment of college football.
“I don’t know,” Hoag said with a laugh, “if he’s trying to line up playoff tickets or what he’s doing.”
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