TKC in the NYT

From Cara Buckley in the New York Times, a nice piece on The King's College-- where I taught during my last sabbatical. I really enjoyed my time there and hope to go back sometime!

Out of the myriad and random tenants that fill the Empire State Building, there is one that seems both perfectly situated, yet jarringly out of place.

It is The King’s College, an evangelical Christian school that is all but hidden in plain sight, occupying three of the building’s floors — two of them subterranean — since 1999. On the one hand, it seems apt that a school claiming close adherence to God’s word would occupy New York’s tallest skyscraper.

On the other hand, most of the college’s 258 students are politically and economically conservative, opposed to abortion and generally against gay marriage, drunkenness and premarital sex. The polar opposites, in other words, of the kind of boozing, godless, kick-up-your-heels, bed-hopping liberals that Manhattan supposedly draws.

Which raises a question: What is an evangelical Christian college doing in the middle of New York?

The answer, those at the school say, is simple. They are in New York to learn and, possibly, reshape the world a little....

The King’s College was founded in the seaside town of Belmar, N.J., 70 years ago, before moving to Briarcliff Manor, N.Y., in 1955. The college closed after going bankrupt in 1994, and reopened five years later with 17 students after its backers raised enough funds.

Its setting, college leaders say, was a deliberate move. They wanted students to be exposed to new ideas and hone their intellectual chops far from the “holy huddle,” places that are religiously and ideologically sealed off from the rest of the world...

The school’s core curriculum is modeled on Oxford University’s politics, philosophy and economics degree, sidestepping subjects like creationism while embracing the conservative tenets of lower taxes and small government. Visitors whose views are at odds with the school’s principles have appeared at the college, including Christopher Hitchens, whose latest book is “God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything.”...

The college is creating more offices and a classroom in a building at 33rd Street and Fifth Avenue, with plans to increase the number of students to 850.

Unlike many other Christian schools, the King’s College does not ban dancing, drinking, gambling, smoking or premarital sex. Still, with the exceptions of smoking and dancing, its students say they are far less likely to indulge in such pastimes than most other college students in town....

There is no on-campus housing; instead, most freshmen live, unsupervised, in nearby college apartments. Nor is there any religious service on campus, though many students attend “Tent,” a student-run service dedicated to Bible readings and Christian songs....

Students come from 13 countries and 40-plus states, with many getting financial aid and scholarships and just 1 percent paying the full cost of tuition and housing, which runs around $31,500 a year...