Azusa Pacific Inaugurates a President : Education: Dr. Richard Felix says that the world needs a ‘moral, spiritual and intellectual revolution’ and that the school will be part of it.

The new president of one of the largest and oldest Christian colleges on the West Coast pledged last week to make his school part of a worldwide spiritual reawakening.

“What the world needs now is nothing less than a moral, spiritual and intellectual revolution, which will spark the rediscovery of values and (a) God-centered world view,” Dr. Richard Felix said during his inauguration Tuesday at the athletic stadium of Azusa Pacific University.

“Higher education must be a part of this,” he said. “As for Azusa Pacific University, I pledge its resources to that end.”

Specifically, Felix spoke of enhancing the school’s spiritual mission by improving faculty and student life and reaching out to adults seeking higher education.

He vowed to increase instructors’ salaries, ease teaching loads and establish a program to help junior faculty complete doctorates.

Felix, 52, also spoke of the need for an ethnically diverse faculty. “This year, 803 students out of our total enrollment of 3,200 are from under-represented populations. And this is how it should be in the body of Christ,” he said. “These under-represented populations are not in great evidence on our faculty roster.”

To address that shortcoming, he suggested both vigorous recruitment and a plan “to grow our own,” offering financial aid to minority alumni who want to teach at Azusa Pacific.

The university’s 15th president also addressed residence and classroom shortages, and announced plans for new dormitories and classroom buildings.

More than ever before, he said, Southern California, as “the major source of influence for all American culture,” is a strategic location for the school and its “Wesleyan, Evangelical values, ideals and traditions.”

His other goals include creating a doctoral-level education degree and establishing representation for students, faculty and staff at all trustees’ meetings.

Felix, a former fifth-grade teacher and college basketball coach, is a veteran Christian college administrator. Before accepting the Azusa Pacific presidency in May, the native of Indiana served for 11 years as president of Friends University in Wichita, Kan.

During his tenure, that college added three buildings, saw enrollment grow by 50% and nearly tripled its endowment. Achievement test scores of incoming freshmen increased by 19%.

Azusa Pacific, an interdenominational Christian school, was founded in 1900 by Quakers from Whittier and has lasted through three mergers, three moves and five name changes. Enrollment is at a record high. Students must attend chapel three times a week, take required Bible classes and perform mandatory community service or missionary work.