A BRIEF HISTORY OF

NORTHERN CHRISTIAN COLLEGE

Since 1946, an institution of higher learning in Northern Luzon has

been unselfishly dedicating itself to Christ-centered development not only
among the youth that come to be educated but also among the hordes of
believers hungry for spiritual nurturing and enlightenment. This is the
Northern Christian College (NCC) with its unique mission or turning out
professionals steeped in moral and spiritual values and ministers who are
dedicated to and focused on their faith and ministry.

After the liberation of the Philippines in 1945, a group of evangelical

leaders in Ilocos Norte thought of putting up a collage offering both religious
and secular courses. The plan, upon presentation to the Convention of the
Churches of Christ of Northern Luzon in 1946, was met with great enthusiasm
and came into being on March 14, 1946. On July 8, 1946, Northern Christian
College opened its doors to the youth of Northern Luzon.

On August 19, 1946, the College was incorporated under the laws of the
Philippines as a cooperative through the efforts of Rev. Silvestre Morales, Dr.
Juan F. Santos and Atty. Evaristo Tagatac with the following members of the
Board of Trustees: Bishop CecilioLOrenzana as chairman; Rev. Pablo Bringas,
vice chairman; Atty. Evaristo Tagatac, secretary; and Mrs. Manuela R. Ablan
and Mr. Cesrio Paguyo, members. The first administrators were: Dr. Juan F.
Santos, president; Rev. Silvestre Morales, vice president; and Atty. Alfredo
Batuyong, registrar-treasurer.

Offered during its first year of operation were the first-year preparatory
courses in Law, Medicine, Nursing, Business and Commerce, Education,
Engineering, Junior Normal, General Course, and the Ministry, all recognized
by the government and with emphasis on Christian character. The graduate
course leading to the degree of Master of Arts in Education was granted
government recognition on July 3, 1976; Master in Public Administration on
March 14, 1997; and Doctor of Education on August 12, 1994. Through the
initiative of Prof. Adela N. Agnir, the College of Theology started to offer the
Master of Theology degree in 2004.

Dr. Juan F. Santos was NCC’s first president and served in this position
for 32 years. For ten years under his leadership, the College operated as a
cooperative until 1956 when it became a non-stock, non-profit corporation,
and a church-related educational institution.

Dr. Filemon Lagon was installed as the second president on July 16,
1978. Under his leadership, the College acquired accredited status in the
Liberal Ats, Commerce, and Teacher Education. An institutional development
program was undertaken with the support of the Fund for Assistance to
Private Education (FAPE), the Association of Christian Schools and Colleges
(ACSC), the United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia (UBCHEA),
and Evangelisce Zentralstelle fur Entwicklungshilfe (EZE).

The third president, Dr. Rueben Batoon was installed on September 26,
1978. The College pursued continuing accreditation of its curricular programs
with the objective of having all the colleges, including the laboratory high
school and elementary, achieve accredited status.

The fourth president, Dr. Faustino Quiocho, who was elected in a

special meeting of the Board of Trustees, took over on June 1, 1992. His
administration made quality education as its cornerstone.

In 1995, the NCC’s Board of Trustees invited Dr. Caesar I. Agnir, a

retired top-rate corporate manager, to become president, veering away its
established tradition of getting a professional educator or a minister to head
the institution. He assumed office on September 27, 1995 to become the
College’s fifth president. President Agnir revitalized the College financially,
rescuing it from severe financial distress. Inheriting an accumulated loss of
nearly Php 6 million, a depreciation account deficiency in three years and
three months, with a combination of astute business sense, judicious resource
management, resolute will, and the firm belief that God hd placed him in NCC
for this purpose. From then on, NCC has enjoyed unprecedented financial
prosperity.

Under Dr. Agnir’s leadership, NCC has so deployed millions for capital
expenditures, including massive renovations on the Adamson Hall; the
Founders Hall.With NCC’s newfound financial stability, all internally-
generated fund grants or real-estate loans, NCC has raised salary scales and
academic standards. In 1999, the Laboratory High School, renamed Basic
Education School, qualified for Level II accreditation. The College of Nursing
and the Graduate School followed a year later, also at Level II bringing the
total number of accredited programs to six and making NCC the most
accredited private school in Ilocos Norte, with the only accredited high school
program in the province. Faculty members at all levels who are enrolled for
Masters or Doctoral studies at NCC enjoy full scholarship-a 100% discount.
They also enjoy generous scholarship assistance if they pursue their graduate
education elsewhere in courses not offered by NCC. In addition, children of
NCC employees studying in NCC are granted 50% tuition-fee discount.

President Agnir was then voted President-for-Life by the Board of

Trustees (BoT). twenty years after he assumed the presidency, however, Dr.
Agnir requested the BoT to consider electing a new president, citting declining
health and the desire to write his memoirs. In an unprecedented move, upon
the insistence of Dr. Agnir, the BoT held a “blind” evaluation (i.e., all names
were erased from the submitted documents) of submitted resumes for
consideration. The reason for Dr. Agnir’s insistence upon such a “blind”
evaluation became clear when, after the BoT had chosen a candidate and had
voted unanimously for said candidate to take over as president, it was revealed
that the winning candidate was Dr. Lucris Carina Agnir-Paraan.

In December 2015, Dr. Lucris Carina Agnir-Paraan was elected by the

Bot to take over as the sixth president following a four-year term as Vice
President of Academic Affairs beginning July 2016, s soon as her retirement
from her post in Manila took effect. Dr. Agnir-Paraan holds a PhD from the
University of the Philippines (UP) in Diliman, an M.A. in Language and
Literature from the UP-Baguio, and a B.A. in Philosophy from UP-Diliman. In
2019, the BoT promoted Dr. Agnir-Paraan to the position of Executive Vice
President and Chief Operating Officer.

On July 31, 2020, Dr. Agnir-Paraan was installed as President in simple

ceremonies befitting the times, since the Covid-19 pandemic made large
gatherings and inter-region travel inadvisable. In the BoT’s announcement of
her installation, the Board cited her “very impressive academic credentials,
her experience of more than three decades holding various positions as faculty
member and administrator in top schools in Metro Manilla, and her track
record as a researcher (having been awarded the “Pinakamahusay na
Disertasyon sa Antas Gradwado” upon receiving her PhD from UP, among
other research-related achievements) and sought- after speaker here and
abroad” as the reason that she was “the unanimous choice of the Board of
Trustees for NCC President, in the process blanking a number of other
candidates with impressive credentials as well”.

Dr. Agnir-Paraan continues to be very much in demand in academia,

with three other higher-education institutions offering her positions of top
leadership. However, she chose Northern Christian College for its
combination of high ethical and academic standards. As a devout evangelical
Christian, she is eager to exercise servant-leadership in a community that is
steeped in Christian values, to ensure a continued legacy of producing
students and employees who are not merely intellectually competent,
productive, and contributing members of society, but who are also Nurtured
in Christ, Centered in Christ, and Commissioned in Christ.
 NCC Vision, Mission, and Credo

NCC Credo
Northern Christian College seeks a life of faith, Learning, and
action that will develop the person into becoming intellectually
competent and honest, morally and ethically sensitive, and
creatively aware and responsive to the needs, aspirations, and
realizations of a Just, Free and Responsible Christian social order.

NCC Vision
A just, free and responsible community made up of people who are
intellectually competent and honest morally and ethically sensitive
to the needs and inspirations of the society.

NCC Core Values

Nurtured in Christ
Centered in Christ, and
Commissioned in Christ

NCC Mission
The mission of Northern Christian College is the training of the
spiritual, intellectual, social and physical faculties of the youth of
the Philippines with special emphasis on the development of
Christian character as exemplified by the life and teachings of
Jesus Christ, in order that they may have life more abundant a
better life.
 NCC HYMN

O Northern Christian College, dear

Our love and praise we sing
Thy sons and daughters we would be
Our gratitude we bring
Thy banner o’er us be unfurled
Emblem of unity
Maroon for truth we give the world
The white for purity.

O Alma Mater, dear, we, hear

Thy call for larger life
With trust in God and purpose clear
We undertake the strife
So train us that we will not shirk
In tasks we find to do
And fit us all for noble work
For service grand and true.

Inspire us Lord, Thy will to do

Help us to heed thy call

Not to be ministered unto

But ministered to all
O Lord God, Thy great loving hand
Hath led us in the past
Protect and guide this loyal band
As long as life shall last!
 The Student’s Prayer

Creator of all things, true source of light and wisdom,

origin of all being, graciously let a ray of your light

penetrate the darkness of my understanding.

Take from me the double darkness in which I have been

born, an obscurity of sin and ignorance.

Give me a keen understanding, a retentive memory, and

the ability to grasp things correctly and fundamentally.

Grant me the talent of being exact in my explanations and

the ability to express myself with thoroughness and charm.

Point out the beginning, direct the progress, and help in

the completion.

I ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

 The Teacher’s Creed

I am a teacher. I accept the challenge to be

sagacious and tenacious in teaching every

student because I believe that every student

can learn. I accept the responsibility to

create a learning environment conducive to

optimum achievement academically, socially,

and emotionally. I actively pursue excellence,

for my students and myself. I provide a

model of decorum and respect that guides

my students as well as honors them. I affirm

superlative expectations for my students and

myself. I cherish every student. I am a

teacher. I change the world, one student at a

time.
National Anthem
 Panatang Makabayan

Iniibig ko ang Pilipinas,

aking lupang sinilangan
tahanan ng aking lahi;
kinukupkop ako at tinutulungang
maging malakas, masipag at marangal.
Dahil mahal ko ang Pilipinas,
diringgin ko ang payo
ng aking mga magulang,
susundin ko ang tuntunin ng paaralan,
tutuparin ko ang tungkulin
ng mamamayang makabayan;
naglilingkod, nag-aaral, at nananalangin
nang buong kntapatan.
Iaalay ko ang aking buhay,
pangarap, pagsisikap
sa bansang Pilipinas.

Panunumpa ng Katapatan sa Watawat

Ako ay Pilipino
Buong katapatang nanunumpa sa watawat ng Pilipinas
At sa bansang kanyang sinasagisag
Na may dangal, katarungan at kalayaan
Na pinakikilos ng sambayanang maka-Diyos,
Maka-kalikasan, maka-tao at maka-bansa.