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Carrie Prejean’s Higher Learning

Amid all the hoopla over Miss California Carrie Prejean, there’s been little reference to the college where the 22-year-old beauty queen is a junior majoring in education. Perhaps that’s because San Diego Christian College is little-known—and based not in San Diego, in fact, but in El Cajon.

How many had even heard of the religious college with a student body of 400 before Prejean put it on the map? Well, at least 400 students, their parents and teachers. But while the tiny fundamentalist Christian institution may not be a prominent center of learning, the collection of tile-roofed stucco buildings tucked into a horse-trailer-laden, residential corner of El Cajon has apparently played an influential role in contemporary Christian thought. The college founders have been major figures in the conservative Christian movement. And Prejean and her fellow students are clearly inspired by it.

Tim LaHaye, Henry M. Morris and Art Peters established Christian Heritage College in 1970 as a West Coast school that could advance study and research in biblical creationism. LaHaye’s byline could later be found on the cover of 65 million copies of his immensely popular post-apocalyptic fiction series, Left Behind. (Prior to becoming a Jesus Christ literary superstar, LaHaye taught at Scott Memorial Baptist Church in Normal Heights, now known as Grace San Diego; founded the Moral Majority with the late Jerry Falwell; and founded the influential, invitation-only Council for National Policy, a conservative lobby.)

To refute the theory of evolution and develop a scientific basis for biblical creationism, the Creation-Science Research Center was established as a division of the college. Two years later, it split and was renamed the Institute for Creation Research, led by Morris. His 1961 book, The Genesis Flood, is considered a seminal work in creation science and the Young Earth theory, though its conclusions, along with the work of the institute, have been widely rejected by mainstream scientists. The institute later worked on resolutions for state legislators across the country through which equal time would be given to the teaching of creationism in schools (which were later declared unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in Edwards v. Aguillard).

The Institute for Creation Research, now headquartered in Dallas, offers graduate-level degrees in science education with minors in general science, astro- and geophysics, biology and geology. Until its recent sale to the owner of a biochemical products company, the ICR also maintained the Museum of Creation and Earth History in Santee. Now named the Creation & Earth History Museum, it still offers exhibits such as an interpreted walk through the Garden of Eden (with a live snake), scale models of Noah’s ark and the Tower of Babel, and an explanation of how the Grand Canyon was formed in a matter of weeks. According to curator Cindy Carlson, SDCC students visit the museum, and college staff regularly picks up museum brochures for the school.

Along with a private high school simply named Christian High School, SDCC shares its 32-acre property with Shadow Mountain Church, considered one of the nation’s first megachurches. It’s home to Pastor David Jeremiah, another star in the Christian community (who succeeded LaHaye), and his nationally broadcast daily radio show, Turning Point Ministry. Jeremiah’s portrait and those of the founders hang on the wall in the lobby of the college administration building.

While it offers liberal-arts studies, kinesiology and degree-completion programs, what may set San Diego Christian College apart are its minister-related studies and aviation courses. The school also boasts an array of sports programs: baseball (two recent graduates were drafted), basketball, cross-country, soccer and volleyball.

Surprisingly, Prejean was anything but the talk of the school immediately following her gay-marriage stand in the Miss USA pageant.

“I’ve heard more stuff on the news than around here,” said one student. (None of the students interviewed agreed to share his or her name, and SDCC president Dr. Paul Ague did not return phone calls.) Despite the attention, all who commented shared immense praise for Prejean.

“Our nation is moving further away from the biblical principles it was founded upon,” said another. “For her to bring them to the national stage was great.”
But can biblical principles coexist with a beauty contest in which a woman is critically judged on how she looks in a bikini? Students were hesitant to answer, but one deftly spun a silver lining.

“I’m sure there’s Christians who would say she shouldn’t do that,” said one. “But her witness for Christ and her influence backstage was amazing.” —Adam Elder

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