College aims to avoid ‘Christian’ stigma; students split over religious perception of College

But what exactly does the phrase "inspired by Christian ideals," mean? And how does that and the way in which the College is marketed to prospective students affect the spiritual environment on campus?

According to Dr. David Sallee, president of the College, the phrase "Christian ideals" is not meant to be a limiting one.

"The word is there to reflect the history of the College, but also to reflect the aspect that who we are and what we do comes from Christian ideals. It’s not a limiting phrase. People who are not Christian often adhere to similar ideals," Sallee said.

These Christian ideals include love and concern for others and are part of the broader ideals of Christianity that the College wishes to emphasize, according to Sallee.

"We believe in a generous Christianity, an open, welcome and supportive Christianity, as opposed to a narrow, judgmental Christianity," Sallee said.

The latter perspective is one that the College aims to avoid, and it is the reason that it does not brand itself as a Christian college.

"Today that adjective [Christian] applies to a very small group of colleges. It means evangelical, exclusionary - it’s not a positive thing. Very frequently a Christian college will not be committed to open, rigorous intellectual pursuits. They want to teach people what to think. We want to teach people how to think," Sallee said.

Despite this attempt by the College, a Hilltop Monitor survey of 97 William Jewell students reveals that 47 percent of students believe that William Jewell College is marketed as a Christian college to the community off the Hill and prospective students. Fifty-three percent, meanwhile, believe that the College is not marketed in such a way.

There was a similar split when students were asked about their perception of the College itself. Forty-six percent see William Jewell as a Christian school, while 54 percent do not. According to Sallee, this split is reflective of where the College is now.

"For a long time, we were a Christian school. That doesn’t just go away overnight," Sallee said.

Despite falling in a middle ground, Sallee said the College is very comfortable with where it is.

"We’re comfortable with who we are and where we are and what we are doing. I think the split among students reveals the dichotomous nature of the word ‘Christian." That’s why it’s important to say we’re not a Christian college, but we are inspired by Christian ideals," Sallee said.

Despite this split, many students did not witness a change in perception when they realized that the phrase "inspired by Christian ideals," appears in the College’s mission statement.

An overwhelming 85 percent of students surveyed saw no change in their perception of the College. Of the 15 percent who did see a change in perception, about half said it was for the better and half for the worse.

One area, however, where students were not split was their religious affiliation. Eighty-five percent of students surveyed affiliated with a religion or faith tradition, with 95 percent of those students identifying as Christian. Judaism, Islam and other faiths each represented 1.3 percent of those surveyed.

Of the 15 percent of students who did not affiliate with any faith tradition, 27 percent defined themselves as atheists, while agnostics and other unaffiliated students each represented 36 percent.

Given William Jewell’s history as a Christian college, it has come a long way in embracing a more generous Christianity. When asked what he believes the College will look like in terms of faith in the future, Sallee indicated that he believes a Christian influence will remain.

"I think that, for a long time, there will be Christian influence here," Sallee said. "The question is, what’s the extent of it?"

Austin Baragary can be reached at  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.