page_title: Concordia University Irvine
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Concordia University Irvine / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Christ College Irvine, now known as Concordia University Irvine.
context_page_description: Concordia University Irvine is a private Lutheran university in Irvine, California. It was established in 1976 to provide a Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod college to serve the Pacific Southwest and provide training for pastors, religious education teachers, and Christian school administrators. Concordia University Irvine has a total undergraduate enrollment of 1,592 and its campus size is 70 acres. It is one of nine colleges and universities in the Concordia University System.
context_section_description: In 1955, Dr. Victor Behnken, then president of the Pacific Southwest District of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS), proposed the creation of a preparatory college for the Pacific Southwest. In 1962, the LCMS agreed to build the school. A search committee commissioned by the district considered 87 sites before commercial and residential real estate developer The Irvine Company offered the present location in Irvine. In 1973, Rev. Dr. Charles Manske accepted the call from the district to be the founding president of the school, which was originally named Christ College Irvine.
  In February 1993, the Board of Regents of Christ College Irvine voted to change the school's name to Concordia University Irvine. At that time, the university became the tenth campus in the national Concordia University System (CUS). In addition to the Concordia University System, the LCMS and its congregations also operate two seminaries, 130 high schools, and more than 900 elementary schools, making it the second largest church-operated school system in the United States.
caption: Sign for Christ College Irvine, now known as Concordia University Irvine
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