When 2026 arrives, Azusa Pacific University will have successfully completed 126 academic years. Our university may not be as old as Chapman University (1861) or University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) (1868), but for over 125 years, APU has nurtured academic excellence in tandem with Christian discipleship.
Still, 2025 is a completely different time from when the institution was founded in 1899. At a recent Student Government Association (SGA) business meeting on November 5, I had the opportunity to hear President Adam J. Morris speak on certain issues the university has been facing.
Some of the most vivid issues Morris mentioned are still apparent on campus: lower enrollment, a shift in the demands of majors, and decisions regarding APU’s property assets. The second issue is most concerning to me, as my major, International Relations, was recently sunsetted alongside many other majors, since it could not generate enough interest to justify continuing the program.
Photo courtesy of APU Division of Strategic Communication and Engagement.
Nehemiah Initiative Recap
To counter these issues, university leadership and Morris’ administration outlined a four pillar strategic plan called the Nehemiah Initiative to create a “New Model of Christ-centered Education at APU.” The plan’s biblical inspiration, the Book of Nehemiah, calls for an APU that accomplishes everything with one vision and trust in God.
By 2040, the goals the Nehemiah Initiative seeks to achieve are (1) Proclaim God First In All Things, (2) Advance Academic Distinction and Student Transformation, (3) Unite In Purpose, and (4) Optimize Operations for Success.
Though we have a strategic plan for the future, it is still wise to reminisce about our past and recognize how far we have come. Even if the APU of 2025 looks different from the APU of 1925, we should celebrate the accomplishments made for our university to reach the point it has today.
Photo courtesy of APU Division of Strategic Communication and Engagement.
APU in 1925
In 1925, APU not only had a different student population, academic offerings, and campus size, but also a different name. When it was first founded in 1899, the university went under the name the Training School for Christian Workers (TSCW). It continued under that name until 1939, as the institution underwent name changes due to mergers with other colleges for the school’s continuing growth.
TSCW would change to Pacific Bible College (1939-1957), Azusa College (1957-1965), Azusa Pacific College (1965-1981), and, finally, the name we know and love, Azusa Pacific University (1981-present).
Kenneth Otto, former APU special collections librarian and university archivist, accounts this early history of the university through photographs with contextual descriptions in his book Azusa Pacific University (2008).
Although the section about the TSCW in 1925 is brief, only mentioning the eighth APU President George A. McLaughlin (1924-1927), a clear idea emerged looking at the years before and after on how students and faculty carried their education with God first and foremost. Otto cements this fact in his introduction by stating that no matter what year a student attended APU, whether in 2025 or 1899, every diploma holds the same motto: God First.
Thankfully, a deviation from this core aspect in APU’s early history will not happen anytime soon. The first pillar of the Nehemiah Initiative proclaims that God is first in all things.
The TSCW was too small to share some of the issues APU has today, but it must be credited for continuing to have a God First agenda with its students and surviving to become the APU we know today. If any of the early presidents of the TSCW—from Mary Hill to George A. McLaughlin—had made different decisions, the institution we have committed a portion of our lives to may not have existed to foster academic excellence along with Christian behavior, ethics, and leadership.
Photo courtesy of APU Division of Strategic Communication and Engagement.
Facing the Future with a Plan, Your Plan
In the November 5 SGA business meeting, Morris referenced the Hechinger Reports, a publication specializing in covering higher education campuses. In its latest findings, the publication claimed that at least one American college or university closes its doors every week. This trend continues today; however, university leadership has a plan to prevent this from occurring at APU.
As a senior, I am grateful that the major I chose in 2022 and am passionate about it still being taught at APU. However, concerns for the success of the Nehemiah Initiative must be in the hearts and minds of current juniors, sophomores, and freshmen along with the next generation of students attending APU.
This means being vocal about decisions that affect you as students: changing living spaces, opportunities after graduation, messages from chapel speakers, and meal plans!
Psalms 16:2-3 says, “I was mute with silence, I held my peace even from good; And my sorrow was stirred up. My heart was hot within me; While I was musing, the fire burned. Then I spoke with my tongue.”
There will not be records of student concerns if we are silent about what concerns us.
To be more engaged in this academic year, you can attend the weekly SGA business meetings to hear updates on what happens on campus and have the opportunity to listen to administrators like Morris himself.
The TSCW of 1925 has already passed. Now, it is the APU of 2025 that moves along history’s timeline. Despite the difference in time period, one thing must remain as you continue your academic journey at APU: keep Christ as your anchor in life—put God first.