Claremont School of Theology (CST) is a private graduate school focused on religion and theology and located in Claremont, California. It is an official theological school of the United Methodist Church. Although it is accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission, it is accredited with a "notice of concern"; it is also accredited by the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada (ATS). History Founded as the Maclay School of Theology in San Fernando, California, in 1885, (and thus Claremont Lincoln University) the Methodist seminary was founded by Charles Maclay, founder of the town of San Fernando, former Methodist minister and state senator. The school became affiliated with the University of Southern California (USC) from 1900 to 1957, staying on the USC campus until it moved to its present location in Claremont. The school is one of thirteen seminaries affiliated with the United Methodist Church, though usually more than forty different denominations are represented in the student body in any given school term. In a 2008 meeting, the board of trustees set in motion the Claremont University Project by approving the following mission statement: "As an ecumenical and inter-religious institution, Claremont School of Theology seeks to instill students with the ethical integrity, religious intelligence, and intercultural understanding necessary to become effective in thought and action as leaders in the increasingly diverse, multireligious world of the 21st century." On May 16, 2011, the University Project was officially named Claremont Lincoln University. In doing so, CST became a founding member of a new multireligious consortium - this was the original intent for Claremont Lincoln University (CLU). On April 21, 2014, CST's board of trustees announced an official end to the relationship with Claremont Lincoln University. The mutual split resulted from an acknowledgement that both institutions' "fundamental philosophies have diverged" when "Claremont Lincoln decided to move away from its interreligious roots and become a secular-focused university" after CLU announced "a decision to discontinue several of its programs". In the same announcement, CST's board of trustees affirmed a commitment to maintaining relationships with its partner schools (the Academy for Jewish Religion (California) and Bayan Claremont). In July 2017, after failing to reach agreement with Claremont Graduate University about a land deal, CST began negotiations to merge with Willamette University in Salem, Oregon. After the signing of a memorandum of understanding in May 2019, in July 2020, the school began