(RNS) — Multnomah University was facing the end of its days.
“We have cried, prayed, and walked a difficult path together as a community,” the Christian school’s president, Jessica Taylor, said in a 2023 video. “Without God’s provision, there was no path forward.”
Then, in the fall of 2023, Taylor announced a new “transformative partnership” with Jessup University, a similarly nondenominational evangelical Christian school in Northern California. As part of the agreement, Multnomah would give all its assets to Jessup, including its campus in Portland, Oregon. In return, Jessup would turn the Multnomah campus into a branch location. Jessup would also serve Multnomah students until 2027…