Trinity International University#Athletics

{{Short description|Christian college in Bannockburn, Illinois, US}}

{{For|other institutions with similar names|Trinity University (disambiguation)|Trinity College (disambiguation)}}

{{Infobox university

| name = Trinity International University

| latin_name =

| image = Trinity International University Current Logo.png

| image_size = 200px

| motto = Entrusted with the Gospel

| established = 1897{{cite magazine | title=Trinity International University | url=http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/trinity-international-1772 | magazine=U.S. News & World Report | access-date=February 1, 2016 | archive-date=March 2, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150302032059/http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/trinity-international-1772 | url-status=dead }}

| type = Private (includes Seminary and Law School)

| religious_affiliation = Evangelical Free Church of America

| president = Kevin Kompelien

| address = 2065 Half Day Road Bannockburn, IL 60015

| city = Bannockburn

| state = Illinois

| country = U.S.{{cite web| title = Deerfield Campus| work = TIU Website| publisher = Trinity International University| url = http://www.tiu.edu/tiu/about/deerfield/| access-date = 2008-05-16| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080511192316/http://www.tiu.edu/tiu/about/deerfield/| archive-date = 2008-05-11}}

| students = 1,242

| undergrad = 450 {{Cite web|url=https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=trinity+university&s=all&id=149514|title = College Navigator – Trinity International University-Illinois}}

| postgrad =

| staff =

| campus = Suburban

| campus_size = {{Convert|111|acre}}

| former_names = Swedish Bible Institute of Chicago (1897–1925)
Norwegian-Danish Bible Institute and Academy (1910–????)
Swedish Evangelical Free Church Bible Institute and Seminary (1925–1949)
Trinity Seminary and Bible Institute (????–1949)
Trinity Seminary and Bible College (1949–1961)
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and Trinity College (1961–1995)

| free_label =

| free =

| colors = Blue & White
{{color box|#005dab}} {{color box|white}}

| website = {{URL|www.tiu.edu}}

}}

Trinity International University (TIU) is an evangelical Christian university headquartered in Bannockburn, Illinois. It comprises Trinity College, a theological seminary (Trinity Evangelical Divinity School), and a law school (Trinity Law School which is located in Santa Ana, California).{{cite web |url=http://dotcms.tiu.edu/about/ |title=AboutTrinity International University |publisher=Tiu.edu |access-date=2013-01-21 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130115112700/http://dotcms.tiu.edu/about/ |archive-date=2013-01-15 }} The university also maintains campuses in North Lauderdale, Florida and Miami, Florida. TIU is the only university affiliated with Evangelical Free Church of America in the United States and enrolls 1,242 students. On February 17, 2023, TIU announced it was moving the undergraduate program to online modalities only and closed the residential campus at the end of the Spring 2023 semester.{{Cite web |title=TIU – Reimagining the Future |url=https://www.tiu.edu/reimagining-the-future/ |access-date=2023-02-22 |website=Reimagining The Future |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=McClellan |first=Hannah |title=TIU Announces Plans to Move Undergrad Program Online |url=https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2023/february/tiu-trinity-university-undergrad-online-education-teds.html |access-date=2023-02-22 |website=News & Reporting |language=en}} The online undergraduate program closed at the end of the Spring 2024 semester.

In April 2025, it was announced that the divinity school would merge with Trinity Western University and cease operations at the Bannockburn campus, while the rest of the university would continue to operate independently.{{Cite web |last=Gryboski |first=Michael |last2=Editor |date=2025-04-10 |title=Trinity Evangelical Divinity School to merge with largest Christian university in Canada |url=https://www.christianpost.com/news/trinity-evangelical-divinity-school-merges-with-canadian-university.html |access-date=2025-04-12 |website=www.christianpost.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Service |first=Bob Smietana-Religion News |date=2025-04-09 |title=Trinity Evangelical Divinity School Moving to Canada |url=https://www.christianitytoday.com/2025/04/trinity-evangelical-divinity-teds-moving-canada/ |access-date=2025-04-12 |website=Christianity Today |language=en-US}} After this change, the law school and an undergraduate program jointly operated with the Wisconsin Department of Corrections will remain the main operations of TIU.{{Cite web |title=FAQs |url=https://www.tiu.edu/divinity/singular-vision/faqs/#general |access-date=2025-04-12 |website=Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS) |language=en-US}}

History

Tracing its roots to 1897, TIU formed in the late 1940s as the result of a merger of two schools:

A school run by the Swedish Evangelical Free Church, founded in 1897 in Chicago, and incorporated as the Swedish Bible Institute of Chicago, then affiliated with Moody Bible Institute as the Swedish Department until 1925 when it became the Swedish Evangelical Free Church Bible Institute and Seminary.
A three-year Bible school, the Norwegian-Danish Bible Institute and Academy, founded in 1910 by the Norwegian-Danish Free Church, established in Rushford, Minnesota and later moving to Minneapolis and becoming Trinity Seminary and Bible Institute.

By 1949, the Minneapolis-based school moved to Chicago and the unified schools became known as Trinity Seminary and Bible College. In 1961 the school moved to a new campus in Bannockburn, Illinois, in Bannockburn, Illinois and a year later was renamed Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS) and Trinity College. The school grew from an enrollment of 51 in 1961 to 1,400 in 1990. In 1995, TEDS became part of Trinity International University, along with Trinity College in Deerfield, Illinois, and Trinity College in Miami, (formerly Miami Christian College which was obtained through a merger of the two institutions). In 1997 Trinity Law School, located in Santa Ana, California, was incorporated into Trinity International University, and the Trinity Graduate School was founded.

In 2014, David S. Dockery was elected unanimously as the 15th president of Trinity. He was inaugurated in October of that year.{{cite web|url=http://news.tiu.edu/2014/10/27/trinity-dsd-inauguration/|title=Trinity Celebrates the Inauguration of David S. Dockery|access-date=2016-04-06|archive-date=2016-03-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304085206/http://news.tiu.edu/2014/10/27/trinity-dsd-inauguration/|url-status=dead}} Nicholas Perrin was elected as the 16th president in June 2019.{{cite web|title=Nicholas Perrin elected 16th president of Trinity International University|url=https://news.tiu.edu/2019/06/07/nicholas-perrin-elected-16th-president/|access-date=2019-06-07|archive-date=2019-06-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190607160620/https://news.tiu.edu/2019/06/07/nicholas-perrin-elected-16th-president/|url-status=dead}} Kevin Kompelien succeeded Perrin as president on April 1, 2024. {{cite web| title=Kevin Kompelien To Step Down as EFCA President To Lead Trinity International University Amid ‘Budget Challenges’ |author-last=Chamberlain | author-first =Dale |url=https://churchleaders.com/news/471358-kevin-kompelien-to-step-down-as-efca-president-to-lead-trinity-international-university-amid-budget-challenges.html/ |website=churchleaders.com |access-date=2024-10-05 |date=March 5, 2024}}

Trinity Graduate School closed in 2024, along with the academic programs at TIU-Florida. Trinity College Online will close in May 2025. The undergraduate program for prisoners in Fox Lake, Wisconsin remains open. Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and Trinity Law School are operational.

Approvals, accreditations and memberships

Trinity International University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.{{cite web |title=The Higher Learning Commission Database |url=http://www.ncahlc.org/component/com_directory/Action,ShowBasic/Itemid,/instid,1935/ |work=Accreditation information page for Trinity International University |publisher=Higher Learning Commission |accessdate=October 13, 2012}}{{cite web |title=The Higher Learning Commission Database |url=http://www.ncahlc.org/component/com_directory/Action,ShowBasic/Itemid,/instid,H106/ |work=The Trinity Evangelical Divinity School accreditation information page |publisher=Higher Learning Commission |accessdate=October 13, 2012}} The divinity school is also programmatically accredited by the Commission on Accrediting of the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada (ATS).{{cite web |title=Database of Member Institutions |url=http://ats.edu/MemberSchools/Pages/SchoolDetail.aspx?ID=220 |work=The Trinity Evangelical School's accreditation information page |publisher=Association of Theological Schools |accessdate=October 13, 2012}}

TIU's law school, located in Santa Ana, California, is accredited by the Committee of Bar Examiners (CBE) of the State Bar of California (CALBAR).{{cite web|title=California Law Schools|url=http://admissions.calbar.ca.gov/Education/LegalEducation/LawSchools.aspx#cals|work=Schools approved by CALBAR CBE (aka CALS)|publisher=State Bar of California website|access-date=13 October 2012}} The normative nationwide USDE- and CHEA-approved accreditor of law schools is the American Bar Association (ABA). Within the state of California, though, law schools are also accredited by CALBAR CBE, which is neither USDE- or CHEA-approved. Graduates of non-ABA accredited program are not recognized outside of the state of California.{{cite web|title=Understanding Law School Accreditation|url=http://www.princetonreview.com/law/law-school-accreditation.aspx|publisher=The Princeton Review|access-date=12 October 2012}} TIU's Trinity Law School (Santa Ana campus only) is also included as part of TIU's regional accreditation by the USDE- and CHEA-approved NCA-HLC.

Trinity International University is exempt{{cite web|title=IBHE Approval & Review Overview|url=http://www.ibhe.org/Academic%20Affairs/academicPrg/overview.htm|website=Ibhe.org|access-date=2016-02-08}} from the need to be approved to operate in Illinois by the Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE), which lists it as a "private NFP (not-for-profit) institution".{{cite web|title=Illinois Board of Higher Education Institutional Profiles|url=http://www.ibhe.state.il.us/InstitutionProfiles/ILinstProfile.aspx?id=001772|work=Profile of Trinity International University|publisher=The Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE) website|access-date=12 October 2012}} Its educational programs for K-12 teachers are approved by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE){{cite web|title=The Directory of Approved Programs for the Preparation of Educational Personnel in Illinois Institutions of Higher Education (a PDF file)|url=http://www.isbe.state.il.us/profprep/PDFs/directory.pdf|work=Trinity International University, on page 73|publisher=The Illinois State Board of Education|access-date=13 October 2012}} so that TIU's graduates from said programs may obtain state-issued teaching credentials. TIU is, further, approved by the Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC) (formerly the Illinois State Scholarship Commission (ISSC)){{cite news|title=State Scholarship Group Is Now Known As Illinois Student Assistance Commission|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1989/08/25/state-scholarship-group-is-now-known-as-illinois-student-assistance-commission/|access-date=13 October 2012|newspaper=The Chicago Tribune website|date=25 August 1989}} Monetary Award Program (MAP) so that TIU's students may receive Illinois educational grants and scholarships.{{cite web|title=The "Grants" area of the website|url=http://www.isac.org/students/during-college/types-of-financial-aid/grants/approved-schools-for-the-map-2012-13.html|work=Illinois Monetary Award Program (MAP) Approved Schools|publisher=The Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC) website|access-date=13 October 2012}}

Prior to 2003, TIU's athletic trainer program was accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP); however in 2003 the accreditation of such programs was taken over by the Joint Review Committee on Athletic Training (JRC-AT); and in 2006 JRC-AT became the Committee for Accreditation of Athletic Training Education (CAATE). TIU's undergraduate athletic training educational program{{cite web|title=The Undergraduate Athletic Training Program|url=http://www.tiu.edu/athletictraining|publisher=Trinity International University website|access-date=13 October 2012}} claims CAATE accreditation on its website.

TIU is also a member of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU),{{cite web|title=List of Member Institutions|url=https://www.cccu.org/members_and_affiliates|work=Member Institutions beginning with the letter "T"|publisher=The CCCU website|access-date=13 October 2012}} the Christian College Consortium (CCC), and the Christian Adult Higher Education Association (CAHEA).{{cite web|title=The CAHEA website database|url=http://www.cahea.org/files/QuickSiteImages/GeneralFiles/2005-2011_Member_Institutions.pdf|work=List of Member Institutions (a PDF file)|publisher=The Christian Higher Education Association (CAHEA) website|access-date=14 October 2012}}

Athletics

The Trinity International athletic teams were called the Trojans.{{cite news |last1=Samuels |first1=Doug |title=A midwest NAIA program is going to online classes, ending football program |url=https://footballscoop.com/news/a-midwest-naia-program-is-going-to-online-classes-ending-football-program |access-date=20 September 2023 |publisher=Football Scoop |date=2023-02-20}} Prior to the move to an all-online undergraduate academic format in 2023, the university was a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), primarily competing in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) for most of its sports from 1996–97 until its move after 2022–23; while its football program competed in the Mideast League of the Mid-States Football Association (MSFA). They were also a member of the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA), primarily competing as an independent in the North Central Region of the Division I level.

Trinity International competed in nine intercollegiate varsity sports. Men's sports included baseball, basketball, football, soccer and volleyball. Women's sports included basketball, soccer, softball and volleyball.{{cite web |title=Official athletics website |url=http://tiutrojans.com |website=TIU Trojans |access-date=20 September 2023}}