Central Christian College of Kansas history

Because of deteriorating facilities and a more central location in the support area, Orleans Seminary was moved to McPherson, Kansas, in 1914.

Because the board of directors was concerned about threats of violence against the school's president, J. N. Armstrong, he decided to close the school in 1918.

In 1925 it was renamed Oklahoma Christian College to symbolize statewide support for the institution.

Following McMullen and Fairbarin, was Mendal B. Miller, who served as president from 1945-53.

In March 1947 they created a fact-finding committee to investigate the suitability of placing the campus on the site of a former government facility in Pryor.

However, Churches of Christ members continued to pursue their dream of Christian higher education. As a result, a board of directors was formed in July 1948 with G. R. Tinius as president, Rex Westerfield, vice president, Calvin Proctor, secretary, and J. D. Fine, treasurer.

M. Norvel Young, A History of Colleges Established and Controlled by Members of the Churches of Christ (Kansas City, Mo.: Old Paths Book Club, 1949).

CCC opened its doors in the fall 1950 as a junior college with L. R. Wilson as its first president, a faculty of eight, and an expected enrollment of one hundred.

Under Whiteman's influence the name Central College was changed to Central College of the Free Methodist Church in 1954.

Beginning in 1955, under President Elmer Parsons' leadership, the college was able to construct a gymnasium, fine arts addition, and student center.

Led by its second president, James O. Baird, the college reopened in Oklahoma City in 1958.

During Baird's twenty-year tenure OCC became a leader in the field of automated education with the opening of the Mabee Learning Center in 1965.

In 1966 the American Citizenship Center, a by-product of the Cold War, was established with three primary goals: to support the principle of constitutional government, to promote an appreciation of the private-enterprise economy, and to emphasize the preservation of personal freedom.

Wessington Springs a Free Methodist College and High School shut the college’s doors, and then in 1968 closed the high school segment of the institution.

Roy P. Stewart, Born Grown: An Oklahoma City History (Oklahoma City, Okla.: Fidelity Bank, 1974).

To reflect the college's growth the name was changed to Oklahoma Christian University of Science and Arts (OCUSA) in 1990.

The Class of 1991 marks the first students who graduated from Central with a bachelor’s degree.

Following several years of strategic planning, on May 23, 1999, Central College became Central Christian College of Kansas.

In 2000, the Carnegie Foundation officially recognized Central Christian College as a four-year college.

In 2002 Mike O'Neal began his presidency after having completed twenty-six years in finance and development at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California.

In 2003, Pastor Juan Carlos Amesty challenged his congregation at Missionary Church of God in Orlando, FL to establish a Christian University whose students would “go out in all walks of life to impact this world for God.” Soon after, Central Christian University became a reality.