ELCA Scan

U.S. News and World Report's annual list of top liberal arts colleges includes several ELCA schools: Regional liberal arts colleges: Susquehanna, Selinsgrove, Pa. (1st-North); Texas Lutheran, Seguin (4th-West); Roanoke, Salem, Va. (5th-South). Regional universities: Pacific Lutheran, Tacoma, Wash. (9th-West). Best national liberal arts colleges: Top 80 — Gettysburg [Pa.]; Gustavus Adlophus, St. Peter, Minn.; St. Olaf, Northfield, Minn. Top 120 — Augustana, Rock Island, Ill.; Luther, Decorah, Iowa; Muhlenberg, Allentown, Pa.; Wittenberg, Springfield, Ohio. Top 160 — Concordia, Moorhead, Minn.; Wartburg, Waverly, Iowa.

King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden visited Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, Minn., as part o f their American visit to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the great Swedish immigration.

Citing fire-safety violations, the Pennsylvania Department of Welfare revoked the license of Ken-Crest, an ELCA-related social service agency that operates 85 homes for the developmentally disabled in southeastern Pennsylvania. In August four people died in a fire at one of its homes. Ken-Crest officials said all code deficiencies have been corrected and they will appeal the revocation.

A student at Lenoir-Rhyne College, Hickory, N.C., was recognized by nearby Longview for saving the life of a nearly drowned girl. Thom as Goodin received a plaque at a Longview town meeting for administering CPR to a 9-year-old girl who suffered an asthma attack and sank to the bottom of a public swimming pool.

Two ELCA colleges, Newberry [S.C.] and Thiel, Greenville, Pa., received million dollar gifts this year.

The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear a lawsuit against the ELCA and its Board of Pensions by 49 plan members who claimed that social and political criteria were used in pension investments. (See March, page 52.)