Association for College and University Religious Affairs Records

This collection contains materials related to the functioning of the Association for College and University Religious Affairs (ACURA) from its inception in 1959 until 2008. ACURA, formerly the Association for the Coordination of University Religious Affairs, was founded as an organization of university staff tasked with caring for the religious affairs of multi-faith student bodies. The bulk of the material dates from the late twentieth century and covers issues ACURA addressed in annual meetings and through conferences related to religious life and inter-faith experiences on campuses throughout the United States.

Series I, Administration and Governance, begins with the foundational documents which describe ACURA’s mission and structure as well as legal files related to the use of buildings on state-owned campuses for religious purposes. The bulk of Series I consists of extensive Executive Committee correspondence and files relating to the annual meetings of the Executive Committee from 1961 until 1993 (with addition of 2008), which often contain further meeting minutes. The final folders in Series I pertain to membership and financial records.

Series II, Correspondence, contains general correspondence arranged chronologically and correspondence arranged by topic or individual—including letters regarding ¬¬affiliations with other professional organizations, letters addressed to college and university presidents, and the limited correspondence of Franklin H. Littell, Jack W. Lewis, and Lloyd W. Putnam. For further correspondence, see the Executive Committee correspondence in Series I. For more on Franklin H. Littell, a founding member and longtime consultant for ACURA active in the NCCJ (National Council for Christians and Jews), see Series IV Publications Box 10, folder 15 “Inventing the Holocaust: A Christian’s Retrospect.”

Series III, Conferences, contains material related to conferences dating from 1958 to 1988. The conferences addressed relevant topics concerning the interaction between religion and the state, new religious movements, and the future of religious counseling and chaplaincy on American campuses.

Series IV, Publications, contains issues of the quarterly ACURA newsletter Dialogue on Campus from 1961 until 1981 (with addition of 1993), which disseminated administrative information and articles written by ACURA members, and correspondence related to Dialogue on Campus. Further publications within Series IV include, A University at Prayer by Alfred C. Payne, E Pluribus Fides et Mores: A Handbook for Religious Life Educators, and “Inventing the Holocaust: A Christian’s Retrospect,” by Franklin H. Littell.

Series V, Projects and Surveys, consists of gathered documents related to the planning and execution of publications and research projects, including surveys on the coordination of religious affairs in colleges and universities, minority religious groups, current issues, and the subsequent produced reports.

Series VI, Subjects, holds the information gathered in relation to the American Conference on Religious Movements, including documents on the reception of religions such as Hare Krishna and Scientology in the 1980s and 1990s. A further subject file addresses the controversy surrounding the American Family Foundation’s 1985 conference on cults and sects and the concern that psychiatric approaches to religious movements infringed upon religious liberty.