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On Sept 8, Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, will announce its new strategic plan, “Transforming Culture in America.”
The college’s mission is “The education of men and women within a community of faith and scholarship.” The plan is designed to apply that mission to America’s most pressing needs.
“The Benedictine mission of community, faith and scholarship transformed culture in Europe and it can transform culture in America today,” said President Stephen D. Minnis. “In a world of loneliness and polarization, community is the key; in an age of hopelessness and incivility, faith is the key and in a ‘post-truth’ era that is information-rich but analysis-poor, scholarship is the key.”
The plan has four priorities: Formation, Profession, Extension, and Excellence. The plan will:
The plan was produced by a process that began in 2018 and in which the college’s faculty, Board of Directors, staff and administration met with leaders from all walks of American life.
“We had spent 10 years with the goal of building one of the great Catholic colleges in America and had made huge gains,” said President Stephen D. Minnis. “So we started asking the question: Why? What can a great Catholic college do?”
The college’s vision statement dedicates the college to educating students to “become leaders” who would “transform the world through their commitment to intellectual, personal, and spiritual greatness.” So the college turned to nationally known experts, from Kansas City television anchor John Holt to author and speaker Christopher West, to discuss how the college can impact the culture.
Each of three meetings with the group were led by speakers addressing author and Time magazine columnist David French and author and American Enterprise Institute fellow Timothy P. Carney.
The Chair of Benedictine College’s board of directors, Jack Newman, said: “The college has a proven track record of success and this is a tremendous opportunity to give back to the communities where our alumni live. This plan was designed to turn lofty goals into pragmatic, practical solutions and the college gathered people who excel at that.”
The college recently completed its previous strategic plan, Benedictine 2020: A Vision for Greatness, which also expanded the college’s mission of community, faith and scholarship.
“A college whose motto is Forward, Always Forward, can never be satisfied with past successes,” said President Minnis. “We truly believe God blessed Benedictine College not for our own sake but for the sake of others, and we will be judged on our generosity. I think we found some wonderful ways the college’s mission of community, faith, and scholarship can Transform Culture in America.”