For other institutions of this name, see the Bethel College disambiguation page.
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| Motto: | Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. (I Cor. 3:11) |
| Established | 1887 |
| Type: | Liberal Arts |
| President: | Barry C. Bartel |
| Staff: | 66 |
| Undergraduates: | 514 |
| Location | North Newton, Kansas, United States |
| Campus: | 90 acres |
| Nickname: | Threshers |
| Website: | http://www.bethelks.edu/ |
Bethel College is a private college affiliated with Mennonite Church USA. The college is located on the edge of the Flint Hills and vast wheat fields of south central Kansas in the town of North Newton. Enrollment at the college hovers around 600 students earning 27 different degrees in the fine arts and sciences. Founded in 1887 and conferring its first four-year degrees in 1912, Bethel is the oldest Mennonite college in North America. Starting in 1874, thousands of Russian Mennonites began arriving in Kansas. Having a century of experience running their own schools, by 1882 they opened Emmental, a training school for teachers north of Newton, Kansas. The school was moved to Halstead, Kansas in 1883. A better site was found in North Newton, Kansas, and the cornerstone of the main building was laid on 1888-10-12.[1] This structure, the current Administration Building, is on the National Register of Historic Places.[2] The Halstead school was closed for the 1892–1893 school year while it was relocated to the new site and reopened as Bethel College in 1893. Bethel College became the second institution of higher learning associated with the General Conference Mennonite Church, replacing Wadsworth Institute which had closed in 1878.
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Bethel College at a glance
- Bethel is the only Kansas college named in the top thirty midwestern Comprehensive Colleges by U.S. News & World Report (1998-2005)
- Bethel is a Templeton Character Building College
- Student-faculty ratio at Bethel College is 10:1. Average class size: 14.
- 81% of Bethel graduates complete their degrees in four years.
- 75% of Bethel's traditional age students live on campus.
- Job placement rate for teacher education graduates in 2004: 88%.
- Teacher education graduates who passed licensing exam in 2004: 100%.
- Nursing graduates who had jobs upon graduation in 2005:100%.
- Social work graduates who passed licensing exam in 2004: 100%; 10-year average: 100%.
- Bethel has qualified for the American Forensics Association's National Individual Events Tournament each year since its beginning in 1978.
- Biology and natural science graduates who successfully pursued PhD and/or M.D. degrees (over past 15 years): approx. 50%
- Bethel football was the 2006 KCAC Co-champion with a 9-1 regular season record.
- Bethel's president, Barry C. Bartel, is a former attorney who represented detainees at Guantanamo Bay.
Bethel is a member of the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference which is part of the NAIA.
Notes
- ^ The corner stone was laid by Andrew B. Shelly (1834–1913), then president of the General Conference Mennonite Church. (Kaufman, p. 73.)
- ^ The Administration Building has been on the Historic Register since 1972-03-16. See the Administration Building page of the Bethel College website.
References
- Kaufman, Edmund G. (1973), General Conference Mennonite Pioneers, Bethel College, North Newton, Kansas.
- Pannabecker, Samuel Floyd (1975), Open Doors: A History of the General Conference Mennonite Church, Faith and Life Press. ISBN 0-87303-636-0
External links
- Official web site
- Mennonite Library and Archives
- Bethel College in Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online
