Official Workbook PDF page source text

LCMS 2026 Convention Workbook: Reports and Overtures, PDF page 124

2026 Convention Workbook
89
OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS
A.3. Core Convictions and Values
CUI serves our students, colleagues, and community by being:
•	 Gospel-Centered: The faculty and staff, guided by God’s 
Word and the Lutheran Confessions, welcome all students 
who are both willing and able to engage with its mission and 
proclaim God’s grace in Christ to each person.
•	 Faithfully Relevant: CUI offers exceptional, rigorous, ho-
listic, and sought-after programs in the liberal arts and pro-
fessional studies, rooted in the Lutheran intellectual tradi -
tion, that prepare servant leaders who proactively address the 
contemporary needs of the church and the world.
•	 Sustainably Excellent: CUI invests its finite resources of 
time, talent, and treasure in wise and sustainable ways by 
empowering each faculty, staff, and student to live out their 
vocations and to support the ongoing excellence and fulfill-
ment of the university’s mission.
•	 Courageously Loving: At CUI, all are called to love one 
another, forming a community that faithfully cultivates hu-
mility and responsibility, fosters honest and charitable con-
versations, and offers a path to personal growth that equips 
students for lives of service in a diverse world. 
•	 Relentlessly Hopeful: CUI is ever hopeful as it carries out 
its mission in the face of the world’s challenges. Our hope is 
rooted in the confidence that God in Christ has reconciled the 
world to Himself and that Christ is the Lord of all creation.
Lutheran Identity is enshrined in our faculty and staff as they in-
teract daily with our students in and out of the classroom: 
•	 Each full-time faculty and staff member is a professing, 
practicing Christian who is interviewed for fidelity by the 
Chief Mission Officer, Rev. Dr. Steven Mueller. At CUI, 
57 percent of our full-time faculty are members of Synod 
congregations, and 39 percent of full-time faculty are called 
church workers of the Synod. 
•	 All full-time employees, both faculty and staff, are required 
to complete Vision-Mission-V ocation, a Lutheran higher ed-
ucation orientation program which helps ensure the continu-
ance of Lutheran identity and culture.
•	 Our church work programs continue to raise up faithful lead-
ers for the Synod in undergraduate and graduate programs. 
With generous financial aid (matching what we provide to 
the children of our faculty and staff) and with high-quali -
ty, faithful instruction, they are being well formed for their 
callings.
B. University Updates
CUI, as a faithful and thriving university of the Synod, is grate-
ful to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for innumerable blessings 
and is excited to report the following updates:
•	 As part of the 50th anniversary celebration, CUI will “cut the 
ribbons” and open several new facilities: (1) the CU Center 
for Worship and the Performing Arts has been fully remod-
eled with the addition of 300 seats (for a total of 800); (2) the 
Golden Eagle Athletics Complex, which includes two new 
buildings to support NCAA Division 2 athletes and the entire 
undergraduate student community, adds 20,000 square feet 
of amenities; (3) a new softball stadium; and (4) a renovated 
CU Arena. These projects total $45 million (M). As of Janu-
area, providing us with opportunities to reach the large local 
base of aligned families.
D.1.d. Threats
•	 Demographic trends: Declines in the traditional col-
lege-age population in the U.S., overall population loss in 
the upper Midwest, and decline in LCMS membership im-
pact our university.
•	 International laws: Some laws pose a deterrent to interna -
tional students.
•	 Governmental policy: Federal laws and regulations reward 
colleges whose programs fit the government’s goals for ed-
ucation and punish those that do not. These goals do not 
necessarily match our own goals and may negatively impact 
church work programs and awards given to students. State 
government regulations also attempt to dictate that some 
programs adopt non-Christian ideologies.
D.2. Future Goals
Please refer to section B of our report for a list and explanation 
of our current goals, which will take us through 2028. Beyond that, 
we will continue to set intermediate goals in pursuit of our 15-year 
strategic vision to:
Strengthen CUC’s reputation as a Christ-centered institution 
of academic excellence and student success, expanding its 
impact regionally and nationally while developing financial 
independence and enhancing operational effectiveness and 
employee engagement to achieve its mission.
Dr. Russell P. Dawn, President
R14.2
Concordia University, Irvine
A. 1976–2026: 50 Years of Faithfulness
Our Lord and Savior continues to bless the ministry of Con-
cordia University, Irvine (CUI)! Called into being as Christ Col-
lege Irvine, with 38 students, 5 professors, and 1 building, CUI 
now serves 5,000 undergraduate and graduate students annually 
by offering 60+ degree programs throughout southern California 
and beyond. Join us in early October as we celebrate this amazing 
milestone!
A.1. CUI’s Continued Faithfulness
We are proud to report that the formal and informal ecclesiasti-
cal accreditation visits by the Concordia University System (CUS), 
as required by 2023 Resolution 7-04B, have demonstrated CUI’s 
exemplary commitment to our shared confession as we carry out 
our specific calling as a university of the LCMS. CUS’ official re-
ports are filled with commendations testifying to how we carry out 
our mission and inculcate our core convictions and values each and 
every day, in classrooms, labs, athletic fields, music and theatre 
venues, residential halls, and online. 
A.2. Mission Statement
Concordia University Irvine, a comprehensive Lutheran Chris-
tian university guided by Christ’s Great Commission, develops 
wise, honorable, and cultivated citizens to serve society and the 
church.