Bethel College’s mission has been the subject of recent discussion at the board level — as well as across campus and with church leadership — leading to proposals for adjusted language, which the Futures Committee presented at the board’s fall meeting.
The Board of Directors, meeting on campus Oct. 16–17, unanimously approved revised mission and values statements. What was previously one lengthy statement that embodied both mission and values has now been distilled into two, more succinct, statements that tie to the existing vision statement (approved by the board in October 2011) in order to add clarity and impact for each.
The mission statement now reads:
Bethel College is an independent institution of higher education. The mission of the college is to prepare students, through active learning and rigorous instruction imbued with the spirit of liberal arts, to become critical thinkers and engaged global citizens.
The importance of Anabaptist identity leads off the values statement.
This describes a vision and mission grounded in the values inherited from its historical relationship with the Christian faith tradition of the Mennonite church
and lists seven values intrinsic to Bethel’s institutional character and fundamental to working to carry out the mission of the college: discipleship; scholarship; service; integrity; community; peace and social justice; and diversity.
For more of this article, visit http://www.bethelks.edu/news-events/news/post/5080/.