Campus Crusade for Christ, the global ministry that preaches the gospel to students at hundreds of colleges, is changing its name to Cru, says CNN.

Officials of the Orlando, Fla., group founded in 1951 said its mission is unchanged but the name now has divisive connotations.

“The word ‘crusade’ changes over time in terms of its volatility. Of course, everyone remembers back in the Middle Ages when the Crusades came about; of course, no one wants to be associated with that,” said Steve Sellers, the group’s vice president. “We were having more and more pushback that the name was hindering us from doing our mission.”

“Cru,” which Mr. Sellers said has long been the group’s nickname on campuses, will be applied to its American operations early next year. The organization in active on 800 U.S. campuses and has staff members in 191 countries.