Our Mission
Preparing Students for a Lifetime of Success
Newberry College prepares students in the Lutheran liberal arts tradition through our supportive academic community for lifelong intellectual and personal development, meaningful vocation, and engaged citizenship in the global society.
Intellectual Development
Students will acquire, develop, and demonstrate:
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knowledge of the arts, sciences, and humanities as ways of understanding the world and our place in it
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effective oral and written communication skills
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critical thinking and quantitative analytical skills necessary for interpreting information and solving problems in a 21st-century global society
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proficiency in information literacy
Personal Development
Students will acquire, develop, and demonstrate:
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the ability to work with others as leaders or as members of a team to accomplish common goals in a diverse society
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an understanding of the heritage of the Christian faith and its contribution to humane problem-solving in the evolving global community
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moral reasoning skills essential for making life choices that balance personal freedoms and societal responsibilities
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the knowledge, attitudes, and habits that contribute to a healthy lifestyle
Meaningful Vocation
Students will acquire, develop, and demonstrate:
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knowledge of the history, methods of inquiry, and current intellectual claims of a chosen specific discipline or interdisciplinary area of study
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knowledge and skills that foster life-long personal growth and professional development in their vocational pursuits
Engaged Citizenship in a Global Society
Students will acquire, develop, and demonstrate:
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the values necessary for effective citizenship
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the skills and historical knowledge to think critically about complex national and global issues
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the qualities of personal and social responsibility necessary to sustain and deepen democracy
Our Values
The Lutheran intellectual tradition creatively engages the dialectic tensions inherent in the dynamic nature of human life. Newberry College will re-affirm itself publicly as aligned with the Lutheran church, and be guided by a set of educational principles that emanates from the Lutheran intellectual traditions. These Lutheran core values include:
Faith and Reason
Truth is the ultimate objective of both Faith and Reason which is best obtained through the integrated pursuit of free inquiry, hypothesis and rigorous scholarship. In keeping with the school’s historic faith, motto and mission, Newberry College leads students to learn and respect the Christian faith, history, traditions and supporting documents in the context of a pluralistic dialogue among the sciences, arts and global religions.
Freedom and Responsibility
Each person has individual rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as well as corporate responsibility for others in an environmental and civil context. Newberry College encourages all members of its community to use the unique freedoms and characteristics of individual personhood as his/her fundamental contribution to citizenship in both local and global community participation.
Diversity & Inclusivity
Community arises when people of widely diverse walks and degrees of faith, cultural backgrounds, genders, races and nations of origin recognize their shared humanity. At Newberry, empathetic knowledge of one-another-modeling civil discourse is fostered as well as respecting each person’s dignity and individuality, and seeking to understand fully self and others as equally valued global citizens.
Personal and Public Vocation
Vocation affirms the sacred nature of the whole person: his or her personal and public relationships, divinely revealed gifts, and contributions to church and society. Newberry College encourages each individual to discover and pursue his or her calling and to exhibit faithful service to God and community in every facet of life.