Sterling College

Our mission: The mission of Sterling College is to develop creative and thoughtful leaders who understand a maturing Christian faith and go forth to change the world.

Our vision: To be recognized as the most innovative Christ-centered, liberal arts institution in the nation, driven by the principles of servant leadership.

Our core values: In active, vital partnership with church, community and strategic partners, and ever striving for first-class quality in all that it does, the Sterling College community will be guided in all its work by the following intrinsic values:

• Faith: Faithful discernment of and response to God’s self-revelation in Christ in Scripture
• Calling: Faithful discovery and pursuit of each person’s particular calling in life
• Learning: A love of learning and a dedication to the pursuit of truth
• Integrity: Integrity in scholarship, the arts, athletics, and all other co-curricular activities
• Service: Faithful practice of redemptive servant leadership involving a vision of wholeness in a broken world
• Community: Mutual respect amid diversity as members of the body of Christ

Our relationships: Founded in 1887 by the Synod of Kansas of the United Presbyterian Church of North America, Sterling College continues to affirm its historical ties with the Presbyterian Church. Through the years of denominational change and reshaping, the College has held solidly to its covenant relationship with what is now the Presbyterian Church (USA). The College is governed by an independent self-perpetuating Board of Trustees. Sterling College holds strong the mandate of the original charter to be thoroughly Christian, but not in any sense sectarian, and cherishes its covenant relationship to the PCUSA. The diversity of God’s people is welcomed and the College respects the differences in denominational distinctives and worship traditions.

Sterling College Affirmations:

We Affirm the Dignity of the Human Spirit. Within the Christian community, the individual is of inestimable value and worthy of profound respect. This respect should be demonstrated through the appreciation of individual differences. Individual dignity is damaged by prejudice, racial or ethnic slurs, gossip, unsubstantiated statements, the inconsiderate or malicious conveyance of incriminating truth, the willful misrepresentation of truth, and the use of intimidation or physical force. The indignities against the human spirit cited above cannot be tolerated in a community set apart for total commitment to Jesus Christ.

We Affirm the Sanctity of the Human Body. The human body should be maintained through a proper balance of rest, exercise, and diet (I Cor. 3:16; 6:19). The use and/or possession on-campus of tobacco products, alcoholic beverages, hallucinogenic drugs, marijuana, narcotics, the misuse of prescription drugs, and/or the mismanagement of diet may create considerable spiritual, physical, and psychological problems; consequently, such behaviors are unacceptable. Individuals possessing or using controlled substances will also be subject to local, state, and federal legal sanctions where applicable. Furthermore, the use or possession of pornographic material is unacceptable because it exploits the sanctity of the human body. All human life must be respected and protected from its conception to its completion.

We Affirm the Priority of Learning. Sterling College is a living/learning environment committed to the development of the whole person. Through the process of living and learning in this community, certain identifiable outcomes should be realized. These include: a maturing, personal faith in Jesus Christ; a consistency between personal beliefs and behavior; the ability to live in and take responsibility for the community; the skills to effectively manage change; and an awareness of a personal life purpose with the requisite skills to express that purpose in a culturally diverse society.

An environment conducive to learning must be the responsibility of every individual. Aggressive steps should be taken by each member of the academic community to insure an environment that will foster the development of skills in critical thinking, problem solving, research, writing, and fundamental personal disciplines. Excessive noise, disregard for established quiet hours, and insensitivity to the personal study needs of fellow students undermine individual progress toward academic goals. Furthermore, academic dishonesty by its very nature is an affront to the process of learning and to the vitality of an academic community. Academic dishonesty is an intentional act of fraud in which a student seeks to claim credit for the work or efforts of another without authorization and documentation, in which a student intentionally impedes or damages the academic work of others, or assists other students in acts of dishonesty. Consequently, such acts must evoke a disciplinary response from the academic community.

We Affirm the Distinctiveness of Our Community. Sterling College is an academic community comprised of Christian faculty, staff, administrators, and students. While enrollment is not limited to students with a personal Christian faith commitment, the College strives to expose students to the truths of the Biblical Christian faith. Intellectual and spiritual growth are both intended outcomes of an educational experience at Sterling College. In order to encourage an atmosphere conducive to intellectual and spiritual development, and to be an institution whose purposes, programs, and practices are honoring to God, the Sterling College community establishes the following guidelines and expectations for all students. The Bible, thoughtfully and prayerfully interpreted, is our final standard for personal and interpersonal conduct. Scriptural principles including love, fairness, justice, mercy, compassion, purity, obedience to the laws of the land, respect, and self-control are upheld as the ideals by which members of the Sterling College community are to govern their lives.

We consider violations of basic Biblical principles to be destructive to this Christian community. It should be noted that conduct which is contrary to these stated values, and of the expectations that follow, is subject to institutional confrontation and discipline which may include separation from the community. While many principles and precepts for living are given in the Bible, not all areas of personal conduct are specified in detail. As a matter of commitment to the best interests of this intentional Christian academic community, the following expectations, in addition to the basic Biblical values, such as stated above, are established as a baseline for students of the Sterling College community so that a work, study, and living environment conducive to good health, Christian values, and academic excellence can prevail.