Портлендтегі Конкордия университетінің тарихы және жабылуы

Defunct private university in Portland, Oregon, U. S.

Concordia University was a private Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS) university in Portland, Oregon, that closed in spring 2020. One remaining program, the accelerated bachelor's degree in nursing, continues to operate under another Concordia University System school. Opened in 1905 as a University preparatory school, the institution added college classes in 1950 and the high school formally split from the college in 1977. The school of approximately 5,400 undergraduate and graduate students was affiliated with the LCMS and the Concordia University System. Located in northeast Portland, the school had branch campuses across Oregon and operated the Concordia University School of Law in Boise, Idaho. The university had four colleges and eighteen majors. Its athletic teams, known as the Cavaliers, competed in NCAA's Great Northwest Athletic Conference at the Division II level. The university closed most of its schools after the completion of the spring 2020 semester when its parent, the LCMS, withdrew major financial support. Concordia University of St. Paul, Minnesota, now operates the School of Nursing and offers a program with an accelerated bachelor's degree.

Concordia Academy was founded in 1905 by a growing Lutheran community in the Pacific Northwest to meet the need for pastors and parochial school teachers. The school added a junior college by 1950 and women were first admitted to then Concordia High School in 1962. Concordia became accredited by the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges in 1968. In 1977, an association of local Lutheran churches, the Portland Lutheran Association for Christian Education, assumed ownership and management of the high school as Portland Lutheran High School. At that time, Concordia separated from the high school and became a four year institution, graduating its first baccalaureate students in 1980. Concordia College became Concordia University in 1995 and converted to the semester calendar. The next year the school added master's degrees in teaching and education, followed by a Master of Business Administration program in 2001. The university added a bachelor's degree in nursing in 2005 and then started the College of Health and Human Services in 2007. The nursing program was the first new such program in the state in 40 years. In 2009, Concordia started a program for conferring a bachelor's degree in music. By 2012, enrollment at the private school was about 3,100, almost doubling its enrollment over the past five years. The Concordia University School of Law was located in Boise, Idaho, and graduated its first class of students in August 2015. Former Idaho Supreme Court Justice Cathy Silak was the dean of the law school. In February 2020, Concordia University's parent entity, the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, decided not to provide continued financial support, and the university announced its plan to close after the completion of the spring 2020 semester, with a shut down as of April 25. The university's board of trustees voted to close the university "after years of mounting financial challenges, and a challenging and changing educational landscape".

Located in Northeast Portland in the Concordia neighborhood, the university sat on a campus near U. S. Route 30 Bypass (Lombard Street). Other amenities on the campus included a 60 feet (18 m) tall bell tower and the Concordia Place Apartments, a residence hall. In 2013, U. S. News & World Report ranked Concordia as 80th best among the regional universities in the west. Concordia University was accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities.

The Concordia athletic teams were called the Cavaliers. The university was a member of the Division II level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), The Cavaliers previously competed in the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) from 1993–94 to 2014–15. The official school colors were navy and white. Concordia competed in 14 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports included baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, soccer and track & field (indoor and outdoor); while women's sports included basketball, soccer, cross country, golf, softball, track & field (indoor and outdoor) and volleyball. The track and field program included throwing (discus, hammer throw, javelin, and shot put) coach Jarred Rome, a two time U. S. national champion and two time Olympian, who ran the Throw Center.

In 2012, Concordia opened a new athletic complex, Hilken Community Stadium, which was built at a cost of $7.5 million. The stadium was referred to as "Tuominen Yard" (for NAIA All American Jarkko Tuominen) when set up for soccer usage and as "Porter Park" for baseball and softball.