ANCHORAGE, AK (November 13, 2006) – “Alaska Christian College (ACC) is one of the best things happening in education in Alaska,” Lt. Governor Loren Leman told approximately 200 people gathered for the school’s five-year anniversary Saturday.
Leman praised the school’s impact on native youth by preparing them for continued higher education.
Most of the students come from small and even remote villages. The college helps students transition from village life to their first year of college. Less than five percent of Alaska Native high school graduates complete even their first semester of college, statistics show. ACC operates part of its program in cooperation with nearby Kenai Peninsula College, an extension of the University of Alaska-Anchorage.
In his keynote address, Paul Wilson, the former field director of the Evangelical Covenant Church of Alaska (ECCAK), recalled the time when he dropped by unannounced to the M.J. Murdock Trust to request funding for the concept for the school.
“I am sure that the Murdock Trust was used to dealing with people who knew what they were doing,” Wilson said. “We had no name for the idea, no physical location, and the only money we had was the $1.38 that I had in my pocket. Still, the Murdock Trust saw something in our vision and provided some of the early funding that helped to launch ACC.”
From those humble beginnings ACC has grown to serve nearly 130 students over its five-year history. President Keith Hamilton celebrated that past by recognizing all former staff and alumni who were in attendance, but also pointed those in attendance to the future as he shared ACC’s Anchoring Our Future Campaign.
The campaign is an ambitious three-year program to raise $2 million dollars to strengthen the four anchors of ACC: accreditation of the school, which will allow students to receive financial aid; facility expansion that will allow an increase in the number of students served at one time; a Legacy Endowment to create more scholarships for students; and ministry development that will allow ACC to expand its program to reach more young people.
“We want to be able to expand so that we can offer students an opportunity to finish two years of schooling at ACC, in a community that is safe, and challenge the students to grow into all that God intends them to be,” said Hamilton.
Even with the stirring messages from Leman, Wilson and Hamilton, the evening belonged to the current ACC Students. They helped prepare and serve the meal and provided the main entertainment.
The ACC Choir (see accompanying photos) serenaded the crowd with song, and the Native Dance Group entertained with native dances in both Yupik and Inupiaq styles. The most moving part of the evening came as current and former ACC students testified to what the school had meant to them. Each shared how they felt safe and loved by the staff at ACC and how that sometimes contrasted with their experiences at home. Current student Chris Savok’s testimony highlighted the transforming power of community.
“When I was living with my friends in Anchorage before coming to ACC, my friends and I had an agreement – if someone got in trouble with the police, we were on our own,” Savok said. “When I got to ACC, I still believed I was on my own and even though I knew God loved me, I did not want to let God in my life. But being at ACC, I learned I am not on my own and that it is OK to let God and others in. Now I am involved in things like the ACC choir – and you know, it’s pretty cool.”
The evening closed with the choir, joined by staff and alumni, singing the benediction. As the staff and alumni made their way to the stage, Hamilton summed up the mission and vision for ACC, telling the students, “I love you, and I am proud of who you are and who you will become.”
To learn more about the school and the Anchoring Our Future Campaign, please see Alaska Christian College.
Editor’s note: Rob Hall serves as associate director for legal and technical services for the Department of Church Growth and Evangelism of the Evangelical Covenant Church.
