On a distinctive mission:
Bluffton's Open-Circle approach to higher education
Seven years ago, Dr. William V. Trollinger, then associate professor of history at the University of Dayton, spoke at Bluffton’s annual faculty/staff retreat about where Bluffton fits within the spectrum of religiously affiliated colleges and universities in the United States. During his presentation, he wondered aloud how Bluffton could remain open to growth and change while maintaining its distinctive religious commitments in an increasingly competitive higher education world. He was quite familiar with the challenge of retaining religious identity, having worked at Dayton, a Catholic institution. On that day, he posed hard-hitting questions, ones that created dialogue but no simple answers.
Fast forward seven years, add an appointment as Bluffton’s vice president and dean of academic affairs, and Bill Trollinger is no longer an outside observer. He is a man on a mission, searching for answers to the questions he asked summers ago. His goal is to strengthen Bluffton’s position among beliefs-based colleges and universities by emphasizing its “open-circle” approach as a Mennonite institution that heartily welcomes people from other faith traditions.
Defining Bluffton’s distinctiveness
Saying Bluffton is a religiously affiliated liberal arts school does not make it unique. According to the U.S. Department of Education, there are 1,600 private, four-year institutions in the U.S. Of those, 52 are in Ohio alone. The Council for Christian Colleges and Universities describes 900 institutions as self-defined “religiously affiliated,” with its 105 member institutions, including Bluffton, defined as “intentionally Christ-centered.”
While Bluffton may not be unique, Trollinger argues that it is definitely distinctive. “Bluffton is distinctive in the sense that the university is a Mennonite university. It is Mennonite in its heritage; it is Mennonite in its connections with Mennonite Church USA; and it is Mennonite in its strong ties with Mennonite families, some of whom have sent their children to Bluffton for generations, as students, as faculty members and as administrators.”
Trollinger is quick to point out that by saying Bluffton is a Mennonite university, he does not mean all students and employees are, or should be, Mennonite. At present, approximately 20 percent of Bluffton students come from Mennonite backgrounds and many non-Mennonites are hired to teach. Rather, he suggests the school's values are Mennonite with an emphasis on the Bible, particularly the life and teachings of Jesus, and a commitment to peace and social justice. Trollinger says Bluffton will have to work at maintaining its distinctive values, as societal pressures abound to reshape its Anabaptist heritage to reach a larger market.
"Bluffton does not want ot be a 'commodity' school, a mere provider of education that looks like all other providers of education," says Trollinger. "Bluffton wants to be a school that provides extra value, one that has a clear and well-understood identity. We are a school affiliated with the Mennonites and the peace church tradition. That's distinctive."
An open-circle education
Dean Trollinger likes to think of Bluffton as distinctive because of its open-circle approach to education, a concept he first heard described by Fr. James Heft, Dayton’s chancellor. Heft described “open-circle” schools as distinct from “closed-circle” schools, focusing primarily on Catholic education. Trollinger expanded the metaphor to include a third concept—“dot” schools—and applied the concepts to religiously affiliated schools outside of Catholicism.
A closed-circle school choses itself off to alternative faith views and demands conformity to beliefs. Oftentimes faculty and, sometimes, students have to sign a faith statement. “With a closed-circle school, no matter how large the circle may be, at some point the circle closes and options are eliminated,” says Trollinger.
Dot schools are those whose religious heritage is a reference point not particularly invested in by the school. These may be schools that at one point were strongly influenced by a religious tradition, but over time have lost that identity almost to the point of invisibility.
Open-circle describes institutions that maintain a strong emphasis on a particular set of religious values and commitments, but are intentionally open to people with other religious (or nonreligious) commitments. While there may not be a faith statement that must be signed, faculty, staff and administrators are expected to respect and promote the school’s mission, including its religious commitments.
Trollinger knows what it means to be of one faith and support the mission of another. While at Dayton, he was a Mennonite working to further Dayton’s Catholic identity, serving as one of two Protestants teaching in the university’s doctoral program in the American Catholic Tradition and one of three non-Catholics on the Marianist Studies committee. “In all of these activities, I did not abandon my Mennonite commitments—I was quite open about being Mennonite and about not being Catholic—and yet I worked hard to promote Dayton’s mission,” says Trollinger. He sees the same possibilities unfolding at Bluffton.
Bluffton is very capable of being open-circle, of maintaining its religious distinctives and commitments and resisting secularization, while at the same time remaining open to hiring and enrolling those who are not of its faith tradition. “For Bluffton, this means its Anabaptist/Mennonite commitments will inform all aspects of the university,” says Trollinger. “On the other hand, Bluffton remains open—in terms of hiring, in terms of admissions, in terms of the classroom— to those who are not Mennonite, and it remains open to learning from and connecting with other traditions.”
Trollinger acknowledges that the open-circle approach is difficult for a religiously affiliated university. It would be much easier to be either a closed-circle or dot school. To maintain and nurture an open circle, it is imperative to hire the right faculty and staff and to provide them with an understanding of what it means to be at Bluffton, an understanding that ultimately revolves around accepting and promoting the institution’s mission statement.
On a mission
Though Trollinger brought the open-circle terminology with him from Dayton, Bluffton’s history suggests it has always practiced this approach. In articulating a 1944 post-World War II vision for Bluffton, then-president Lloyd Ramseyer suggested Bluffton, with its 80 students, “‘enlarge its constituency by making [the school] a center of a certain type of thinking, a certain brand of educational and religious philosophy which is different. …Distinctive things must coincide with Mennonite principles but not be confined to Mennonites.’”1
The university’s mission statement embodies an open-circle vision as Bluffton “seeks to prepare students of all backgrounds for life as well as vocation, for responsible citizenship, for service to all peoples and ultimately for the purposes of God’s universal kingdom.” Those who pass through the Bluffton campus community—faculty, staff and students alike—experience first-hand a mission-driven academic program housed under a welcoming open-circle umbrella.
“To prepare students of all backgrounds for life as well as vocation”
Today, students experience Bluffton’s open-circle approach through a core general education program that is shaped by an Anabaptist/Mennonite perspective. Through the general education program, students take a variety of classes and find themselves in situations that allow them to discover more about themselves, about the uniqueness of those around them and, in turn, more about the world and how they fit into it—all informed by underlying themes of peace, social justice and global responsibility.
Dr. Sally Weaver Sommer, associate academic dean and professor of economics, says Bluffton’s general education program allows students to think constructively about their personal growth, while providing challenges that shape and reshape the values students bring with them to Bluffton. “Students have to understand what interconnectedness is,” she says. “We explore globalization and how we’re connected—economically, politically, socially and culturally. Students are challenged to ask, ‘What does that mean for me?’”
Jeff Steen ’00 came to better understand global connections through time spent organizing a peace vigil in honor of hate crime victims, attending a rally advocating for international debt relief in Washington, D.C., participating in activities to promote honest dialogue between students of all races at Bluffton and interning with neighborhood groups in Lima, Ohio. He currently works for a progressive human rights agency in Chicago, Ill. “Through internships, volunteer opportunities in the community, activities of the Social Work Club and phenomenal mentorship from the department’s faculty, I was empowered to engage ideas and then utilize those philosophies for action,” he says.
“For responsible citizenship”
Simeon Talley ’06 was attracted to Bluffton because of its community, its religious tradition and the freedom it would provide him to create his own major—social and political studies—one he thought would best prepare him to live in a global community. “We need to understand there’s interdependency between individuals, whether local or global,” he says. In particular, individuals need to be concerned with over-consumption and economic choices that lead to the exploitation of others. “We’re becoming increasingly aware of injustice and inequalities—wealth concentration and racism, things of that nature,” he says. “We’re obligated to do something, to play a part and work toward bettering situations.”
Through classes such as Issues in Modern America and Christian Values in a Global Community, students are urged to explore matters of homelessness, immigration, allocation of resources by non-profit companies, poverty, the war on drugs and three-strike laws, and to understand the implications of their actions and the consequences that result. “Students need to look at issues from two perspectives and fairly portray both sides,” says Dr. Perry Bush, professor of history. “People can make a legitimate case for both sides of any issue. Students need to see those multiple sides and engage both sides.” He says Bluffton’s courses invite students to ask questions and discover larger, systemic answers to problems and to practice responsible citizenship in a complex world.
“For service to all peoples”
Being a responsible citizen lays the foundation for providing service to all peoples, and in an open circle, engaging and helping others is central. “At Bluffton, service learning is stressed, and not in just one or two classes,” says Tiffany Yoder ’06. “We learn to serve others, that service is a way of life, not just for individual benefit.” Yoder says learning about service comes through practical application such as volunteering and internships. Interested in restorative justice, Yoder spent time with organizations such as Crime Victims Services, the Pennsylvania Prison Society and the Putnam County Common Pleas Court, looking for her niche in criminal justice. Bluffton encouraged her to think about global problems from a Christian perspective and to ask, “What can I do to make a difference in the world? How can I live out my values?”
“In the world we live in, we need to be open to and alert to respecting people who are different from us,” says Dr. Pamela Nath, professor of psychology. “At Bluffton, we try to teach in a way that allows for diverse opinions in the classroom, and we strive for students to hear each other and interact with one another across differences.” Interaction, dialogue and service to others are also a large part of Bluffton’s cross-cultural program and a way for students to help others by putting into practice what they learn inside the classroom. “Our cross-cultural trips take students out of their comfort zones of who they are and show them what the real world is,” says Dr. George Metz, associate professor of education. “That is critical in this day and age. The real world is not the village of Bluffton. The world is much more diverse than many of our students can begin to imagine.”
“And ultimately for the purposes of God’s universal kingdom”
Bluffton is an open-circle, Mennonite university where teaching peace and justice shapes the curriculum and all are welcome to seek the truth and prepare for the purposes of God’s universal kingdom.
Nath understands the university’s willingness to dialogue as a key attribute of being open-circle. “When I teach, I don’t feel like I’m communicating to students, ‘Hey, you’re at a Mennonite school; this is what you have to believe.’ I’m inviting dialogue: ‘This is who we are; how does that fit with who you are?’ We want Mennonite students and faculty, and we also want diversity. We want those who can embrace our mission, including those who can embrace it from a different perspective. This is what being open-circle is all about.”
The Damascus Road Anti-Racism program and Peace and Conflict Studies program exemplify that Bluffton seeks to enrich students’ life experiences by living out Jesus’ teachings of peace and acceptance found in the gospels. Damascus Road was designed to equip church institutions to be a part of an anti-racism effort. Classes in the peace and conflict studies minor promote dialogue between differing views and encourage students to find ways to build a culture of peace, respect and dignity within a deeply divided society and in day-to-day exchanges with people.
Wrestling every day with questions of peace, justice and faith, Bluffton’s faculty, staff, administration and students work to accept everyone for who they are. “In contemporary culture, religion is made into an exclusive thing,” says Peter Martin ’06. “The mentality is ‘you’re either with us or against us.’ The peace tradition, the Mennonite faith and Bluffton University seeks to unite people, to respect people from all backgrounds. God’s kingdom is for all people, and we want to include everyone.”
To be openly Mennonite, consciously open-circle and to have a mission-driven academic program must never be taken lightly says Trollinger. It is not something that can be thought about every once in a while and then laid aside. “If we’re going to be connected to our mission, we have to talk about it … a lot,” he says. “We have to think it through intentionally. If we cease to be intentional, we will cease to be connected.”
The words Lloyd Ramseyer spoke years ago match the philosophy that Trollinger embraces today. Bluffton is an institution with a certain type of thinking, one that has a certain brand of educational and religious philosophy that is different. The university is open-circle, firmly rooted in its traditions, fully open to embracing those who are not and in the process, learning, growing and transforming lives.
