Education for Individual and Social Responsibility

Our Vision

Olivet College is dedicated today, as it was in 1844, to the principle that the future of humanity rests in the hands, hearts, and minds of those who will accept responsibility for themselves and others in an increasingly diverse society. This principle of individual and social responsibility is realized in the context of a distinctive liberal arts experience which nurtures in our students the emergence and development of skills, perspectives, and ethics necessary to better themselves and society. We seek to involve our students in an active academic community which cherishes diversity of thought and expression. In so doing, we will help our students discover ways they can most effectively contribute to the common good.

Our Aspirations

We aspire to provide a campus-wide academic culture such that our students will come to understand the need to serve others as well as themselves, to celebrate both the wealth of human diversity and the bond of human similarity, to care for the earth and all its resources, and to strike a balance among their intellectual, physical, emotional, and spiritual capacities. It is our hope that each graduate will embrace our essential principle in his or her life's work.

Our Commitment

Driven by our academic vision, Olivet College maintains a learning environment that encourages scholastic excellence among students, faculty, and the wider campus community. Students at Olivet College are committed first to their learning. Faculty at Olivet College are committed first to their teaching. And, the institution is committed first to providing the necessary resources and support to achieve these goals both within and beyond the classroom.

Our Heritage

The foundation of our guiding principle was established one hundred and fifty-three years ago by the founders of Olivet College when they wrote,

We wish simply to do good to our students, by placing in their hands the means of intellectual, moral and spiritual improvement, and to teach them the divine art and science of doing good to others.

Adopted by the Olivet College Faculty Dec. 6, 1993; adopted by the Olivet College Board of Trustees Jan. 29, 1994

Last Update 1/21/99