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Working to Reflect the Body of Christ
Minority Enrollment and Reconciliation Efforts to Move Forward
by Holly Donato '78
Minority enrollment at Bethel University stood at 9.6 percent when averaged across all schools of the university in the 2003-04 academic year. Each school has shown increases in the percentages of students of color in recent years.
A report compiled by Dan Nelson, coordinator of research and planning for Bethel University, found that of the 94 percent of Bethel students reporting their ethnic origin, Bethel Seminary of the East had 41.7 percent students of color in 2003-04, and Bethel Seminary San Diego was next most ethnically diverse with 39.9 percent.
In the Twin Cities, an even 10 percent of adult students working toward college degrees through the College of Adult & Professional Studies were non-white. The ratios were 8.9 percent for the St. Paul location of Bethel Seminary; 6.6 percent for the Graduate School; and 5.9 percent for the College of Arts & Sciences.
Work Paying Off
"It is important to have a ‘critical mass’ of students of color, both for mutual support and to make an impact on the broader ethos of the institution," says Bethel President George Brushaber. "A welcoming climate and a supportive infrastructure are necessary components of our effort to achieve racial diversity. This is just plain hard work, as efforts over the last two decades have demonstrated. Some of that work is paying off, and we’re committed to the journey."
In 1989, Bethel adopted specific enrollment goals for the year 1994: to recruit 100 students of color in the college, and a proportion of five percent in Bethel Seminary. Ten years later, those goals have been exceeded, with more than 166 minority students in the College of Arts & Sciences in 2003-04, and an average of 21.1 percent of all Bethel seminarians coming from communities of color, due in large part to locations in multicultural coastal cities.
"It’s good we have grown and the numbers reflect that, but I don’t want them to throw us off of what we’re trying to achieve," says Karen McKinney, chair of the Bethel Anti-Racism and Reconciliation Commission, who says the College of Arts & Sciences in particular needs greater diversity. "We still have a ways to go on the St. Paul campus."
And Bethel’s goal, says McKinney, is not just about numbers. "Institution-wide, we are trying to lead Bethel into being an anti-racist institution where our multiculturalism is embraced," she adds. "[Other colleges] may have a greater diversity of numbers, but haven’t dealt with structures, personnel, or mission. In many ways theirs is a racist diversity. That’s not what we’re going for at Bethel."
Leon Rodrigues, associate dean for diversity and community in the College of Arts & Sciences, agrees that Bethel is at work on deeper, qualitative change as well as higher minority enrollment: "As a reflective Christian community we are addressing many aspects of our curriculum, relationships across the community, and how we can be a reconciled body of Christ," he explains. "We are committed to improving our campus climate through diverse racial, ethnic and cultural features in our curriculum, chapel programs, and the arts. Most important is that our practices are thoughtful of what constitutes an antiracist position and that we model a Godly perspective of reconciliation."
A Changing Population
Bethel University’s administration is highly aware of the growing minority population at large and Bethel’s need to serve more diverse communities. While 13 percent of high school graduates in Minnesota are students of color today, that proportion will grow to almost 20 percent by 2010, while Anglo high school graduates decline in numbers.
"Just as Bethel was originally founded to serve Swedish immigrants in culturally sensitive ways more than 130 years ago, now we are adapting to serve growing ethnic groups within our population today," says Brushaber. "It’s a core value of Bethel to reflect the wonderfully diverse Body of Christ. We look for ways to pursue this value daily and infuse it through every campus experience."
Larger strides in minority student recruitment will occur as Bethel faculty, staff, and students, expand their own social networks, McKinney believes. "In a racialized society, who you know is who you have access to. So we need more bridges to communities of color. We have to be incredibly intentional about creating those social networks to include people of color."
Rodrigues says those bridges are being built through a growing range of off-campus programs as well as leadership opportunities for minority students: "We realize we have a role to play to empower the previously disadvantaged," he says. "So we work beyond the classroom and encourage students in meaningful change through service learning and reflecting on how God wants to use us as reconcilers. We are also encouraging and supporting leadership among students of color who can help us in our efforts to transform Bethel."
Progress and Goals
Since McKinney came to Bethel nine years ago, she has observed progress in diversity efforts: "The fact that the president and trustees have commissioned BARRC and said ‘this is the direction we’re headed’ is progress. The fact that we’ve had an orientation in anti-racism for each division of the university is progress. We have chapels on anti-racism and multiculturalism. We’re working on curriculum. We’re doing strategic planning and institutional change. We’re beginning to have a common language. The issues are talked about; they’re not ignored. We’re not where we should be, but we’re making progress."
McKinney is leading the Bethel Anti-Racism and Reconciliation Commission and key decision-makers at Bethel in constructing new five-year and 20-year plans for achieving enrollment goals and an anti-racist culture across the entire university.
"We look at the gospel and think reconciliation is optional for those who want to pick it up; but we see that it’s not optional," says McKinney, who is director of the Youth Ministries program in the College of Arts & Sciences. "Reconciliation is at the heart of the gospel as much as salvation. It’s at the heart of who God calls us to be if we are to be His followers. We have to be about doing it."
Steps Toward DiversityOver the past decade, Bethel has put many key pieces in place to become a community of genuine Christian diversity and reconciliation. Those milestones include:
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