Campbellsville University unveils new mission and vision statement

Christ-centered, filled with hope, equipping students to shape the world

by Gerard Flanagan, lead writer and communications specialist, Office of Marketing and Communications

Campbellsville, KY (02/28/2025) — After a Board of Trustees meeting in April 2024, Campbellsville University President, Dr. Joseph Hopkins, pulled Dr. Shane Garrison aside and asked him to head up a committee.

That committee's objective?

To create a new Mission and Vision Statement for the university.

Garrison, at the time serving as CU's faculty representative to the Board, happily accepted the challenge, and soon, a group of approximately 20 people from across the CU system came together, spending the bulk of 2024 crafting and refining that new Mission and Vision Statement.

The committee's work was three-fold, according to Garrison: to capture the mission and vision statement "in a way that had not been captured before," to eliminate any redundancies in the statements and to gather additional voices throughout the mission and vision process.

"So the way the group did that, the group of 20 of us first came together and we had the mandate from the president and the board," Garrison said.

Throughout this process, culminating with the Board of Trustee's approval of the new mission and vision statement at its October meeting, Garrison estimated some 800 people had a voice in CU's new mission and vision statement.

Among the mandates given to the committee were to capture the mission and vision statements "in a way that had not been captured before," to compress and shorten the statements and eliminate any redundancies and to simplify and condense CU's core values.

Ultimately though, the committee's work was focused on gathering voices and input from across the CU system.

"It was to gather lots of voices, give lots of opportunity for feedback, and to give multiple constituent groups opportunity to contribute to the ultimate vision, mission, and core values," Garrison explained.

The committee began meeting in May and would meet approximately every two weeks.

"People were sharing what aspirational hopes they had for our school, and it really inspired me yet again to love this place and to feel good about where we're going," Garrison said.

Guiding the committee's work was a focus on the future and asking where they wanted CU to be in 50 years.

"A lot of us can envision things five years from now, maybe even ten years from now, but envisioning 50 years would be past most of our lifetimes," Garrison said. "So, that really helped us stay more aspirational, more future-directed than just a few years might prescribe.

"That's what kept us thinking much, much longer than present reality or even very close future."

Included in the committee's effort to gather voices and input was a six-question survey sent to hundreds of alumni, current students across the CU system (including online and international students), faculty, staff, and members of the Board of Trustees and other constituents. Some 300 responses were received through those surveys, according to Garrison.

More voices came to the table in August when CU hosted its annual employee workshop in Ransdell Chapel, where employees were divided up into groups to share additional feedback in breakout sessions.

Garrison recalled the employee workshop and breakout sessions inspired the committee even more in the work it was doing.

"What we as a committee felt, I won't forget, we were more committed to the Christian mission than we ever thought we were," Garrison said. "We were more committed to doing things with integrity and with honesty and with God-honoring character. It just resonated. It just came alive."

The commitment to students and their future success and calling also deepened, Garrison added.

"Our voices, our constituents said loud and clear, we are focused on what is best in the eyes of Christ, doing it as a Christian way that honors the Lord," Garrison shared. "Two, we are really, really focused on doing things in a way that's right and good and true and excellent.

Thinking on the passage from Philippians 4.[GS1] "What is excellent? What is honorable? What is pure? What is true? What is full of integrity? That's what it was centered on."

Among the members of the committee who crafted the new Mission and Vision Statement was Athletic Director Jim Hardy, who led a breakout session with employees back in August.

Hardy recalls, "I remember my group, we went on the outside of the chapel on the side closest to the back of Russ Mobley Theater. It was interesting how people started talking about those same parts of the process that we (in the committee) had talked about, and that's when you know that you're on the right path."

Like many on the committee, Hardy focused on crafting a Mission and Vision Statement that would be easy to share in a short time, such as the classic "elevator classic."

"We asked, 'Is there a way to say that where, I think somebody put it like this: If you were to get on an elevator, could you share that statement with somebody between floors?"

"Can we look at creating a new Mission and Vision statement that will not only get us to where we are today, but carry us into the future?" Hardy said. "So it became, you know, serious business, because whatever we decide as a group and as a university will go long beyond me.

"So the question was, how do we do this and do it the right way so that it represents us well for a long time?"

Hardy reflected on the unity of purpose the committee had as it developed CU's new Mission and Vision Statement.

"Honestly, I felt like in that committee, you know, it was definitely being guided, I think, by the Holy Spirit. That's the best way I know to put it. You just felt this incredible, incredible urge to make sure we get this right."

Hardy said the new Mission and Vision Statement will be helpful in guiding CU's decision sand direction.

"So this, in my opinion, helps everyone ask, 'Whatever we do at this university, the first question we should ask as a population or our trustees and anybody else should be, does this fit into who we are?'"

Nancy New, an instructor of English who also served on the committee, shared CU's mission and vision is much bigger than any one person.

"This was a God-sized vision, something that is going to be bigger than us, something that would live longer than any of us."

New expressed she was "humbled" to be asked to serve on the committee.

"I think a vision statement for your life or a vision statement for your church, or even one for your place of employment, is not to be taken lightly," she said. "I was very blessed to be asked to be part of this, and it wasn't an easy task, but I thought it was a very worthy task."

Following the Employee Workshop in August, New said the committee began to process all the feedback and input employees had shared in those breakout sessions.

"That was a beautiful moment because you could feel the coming together," New shared. "We created something that was going to outlast us, and I think that was the beautiful part."

Campbellsville University is a widely acclaimed Kentucky-based Christian university that offers over 100 programs including doctoral, master, bachelor, associate and certificate programs. The website for complete information is www.campbellsville.edu.

Campbellsville University's Mission: Campbellsville University is a Christian institution dedicated to academic excellence, solidly grounded in the liberal arts, fostering integrity and Christian servant-leadership within a caring environment.

Campbellsville University's Vision: Campbellsville University, centered in Christ, filled with hope, equipping students to shape the world. Where every student serves with excellence making a global impact for the glory of God.

Campbellsville University's Core Values:

• To foster and achieve academic excellence through associate, baccalaureate, graduate, doctoral and certificate programs delivered through face-to-face, hybrid and online modalities.
• To provide an environment conducive for student success.
• To value diverse perspectives within a Christ-centered community.
• To model servant leadership and effective stewardship.

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