Carl Spain’s Waves: How a Powerful Lecture Ended Segregation in Church of Christ Colleges

Authors

Dyron Daughrity, Pepperdine UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Abstract

In 2018, the Carl Spain Center on Race Studies and Spiritual Action was founded by Dr. Jerry Taylor of Abilene Christian University in honor of a man ahead of his time. The Center memorializes Carl Spain, a courageous professor who, in 1960, delivered a scorching lecture at Abilene Christian's Bible Lectureship entitled: “Modern Challenges to Christian Morals.” The lecture publicly excoriated the college for rejecting African American students from attending it. This paper investigates the man and the lecture that tipped the scales towards integration in Church of Christ colleges.

Author Bio

Dyron Daughrity (PhD, University of Calgary), Professor of Religion at Pepperdine, has taught World Religions and the History of Christianity for over twenty years. He is chief editor of the Christians in the City book series with Bloomsbury Publishing, and he also edits the Understanding World Christianity book series with Fortress Press. He has written and edited numerous books about how the Christian religion impacts, and is impacted by, global cultures, both in the Western world as well as in the Global South. His latest book, with ACU Press, is entitled More Than One, and is an introduction to the world's religions.

Recommended Citation

Daughrity, Dyron (2022) "Carl Spain’s Waves: How a Powerful Lecture Ended Segregation in Church of Christ Colleges," Journal of Discipliana: Vol. 75, Article 4.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.discipleshistory.org/journalofdiscipliana/vol75/iss1/4