Christian college council removes new president

The board of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities in October fired its new president barely ten months into his tenure, without making the reasons public. The Washington-based CCCU has 174 “intentionally Christ-centered institutions,” of which 115 are based in the United States.

Edward O. Blews Jr., 57, wooed for the post based on his skills as a lobbyist for private colleges, did not disclose why he was dismissed.

Months earlier, the chair of CCCU’s search committee, Messiah College president Kim S. Phipps, had called Blews and jokingly said, “Ed, this is God, and she is calling you to the CCCU presidency,” reported the Chronicle of Higher Education.