The King's College, which closed more than three years ago (CT, Nov. 14, 1994, p. 66), has emerged from bankruptcy under Campus Crusade for Christ ownership and hopes to take advantage of a remarkable spiritual, social, and economic comeback in New York City by opening a campus in the Empire State Building.

The college, then in nearby Briarcliff Manor, peaked in the 1970s, but started to decline and finally collapsed into bankruptcy with more than $25 million of debt, mostly from the mortgage of a new suburban campus (CT, Dec. 12, 1993, p. 60).

But King's President Friedhelm Radandt used a marketing study to convince Stan Oakes of Campus Crusade for Christ that New York City needed a Christian college because of ongoing renewal. At the time, Oakes himself was hatching a plan for a network of colleges under Crusade's International Christian University. He needed a model college with accreditation and a headquarters.

"New York City has a growing church, a lot of optimism, and a growing unity," Oakes says. In exchange for ownership of King's and campuses in the Empire State Building and in suburban New York, Campus Crusade for Christ settled the debts. King's will retain Radandt as president but will operate as part of Crusade's International Christian University under the leadership of Oakes.

CITYWIDE RENEWAL: King's College's decline mirrored the disastrous 1960s and 1970s in New York City. Stricken by crime, economic catastrophe, and weak leadership, the city became a byword for trouble.

Radandt reflects that the larger church had also abandoned the Big Apple. "We didn't equip people in the city church at The King's College," he says. "That was a failure. God had to bring us to a point of humbleness before we could recognize ...