Mission Statement
Hanover College is a challenging and supportive community whose members take responsibility for lifelong inquiry, transformative learning and meaningful service.
Hanover College is dedicated to creating a distinctive intellectual community within which students are challenged and nurtured to take responsibility for their learning and their lives and to develop their unique abilities to their highest levels.
The achievement of these purposes requires personal commitment, a willingness to accept responsibility, and discipline in exercising it. Academically, Hanover College emphasizes the importance of oral and written expression, intellectual curiosity, and sound judgment.
Vision Statement
As we enter our third century, Hanover College will be an institution known for its ambitious commitment to student success, academic innovation and community impact. With one foot steeped in tradition and the other stepping forward to the future, we will integrate a foundation in the liberal arts and sciences with the necessity of career readiness; the desire for human connection with the accelerated use of technology; and a transformative undergraduate experience with innovative graduate professional programs. Hanover College will be poised for its third century to be its best century.
Read Hanover’s strategic plan, “Hanover Stands Above.”
Whom and How We Serve
Hanover College primarily serves full-time residential undergraduate students and full-time graduate professional students. In all its programs, the College is rigorous, inclusive and focused on student success. We create high-impact opportunities on our exceptionally beautiful, 650-acre campus and via hybrid learning models. A committed faculty and staff and sustainable financial resources make our mission possible, preparing Hanover alumni for their life’s work, advanced study and global citizenship.
Principles
The students, faculty, staff and trustees of Hanover College seek to promote academic, personal, and moral growth within a safe, challenging and responsive community. Therefore, we will hold ourselves and the Hanover College Community to the highest standards of inclusivity, identifying and removing all systemic biases that impact the dignity of any person, supporting all, and ensuring that we are a truly empathetic and inclusive community where all persons belong and are valued. These values are articulated in the College’s mission documents and embodied in the daily, ongoing work of the community.
To this end, each is committed to the following:
PURSUIT OF ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE
- I will seek the breadth and depth of knowledge appropriate to a liberal arts education, will seek to foster intellectual vitality, and will practice academic integrity.
- I will participate in the open and free exchange of ideas necessary for a meaningful education and a successful democracy.
PURSUIT OF PERSONAL EXCELLENCE
- I will pursue physical, moral, emotional, and spiritual well being, with respect for the Christian and liberal arts traditions of the College.
- I will practice self-respect and self-discipline, and will seek to grow in
maturity and independence.
RESPECT FOR ONE ANOTHER
- I will work to create a safe campus community, free from unjust coercion, harassment, and other threats to persons or property.
- I will practice honesty toward, tolerance of, and compassion for others,
working to support the well-being of other members of the College
community.
COMMUNITY RESPONSIBILITY
- I will participate in decision-making on rules and procedures, and will encourage others to do the same.
- I will be a good steward of the College, the environment, and the world
community.
ACCOUNTABILITY
- I will know and adhere to the rules of the College and to state and federal laws, accepting accountability for my own actions and encouraging others to be accountable for theirs.
- I will practice justice, fairness and respect in my responses to violations of these commitments and of College rules by community members.
As members of the Hanover College community, we will make decisions together with those who will be most affected by them, we will seek the greatest amount of relevant input possible in our decision-making, and, to the extent possible, we will encourage decision-making on rules and procedures by those who will be most affected by them.
Hanover College Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Statement
The students, faculty, staff, and trustees of Hanover College are committed to providing a diverse, equitable, and inclusive campus so that all feel welcome to seek academic, personal, and moral growth within a community that is safe, challenging, and responsive. We embrace diversity in recruiting and retaining students, faculty, and staff of all backgrounds regardless of age, race, color, disability, gender, gender expression, gender identity, national origin, marital status, political viewpoint, religion, sex, sexual orientation or veteran status. We recognize that our definition of diversity must be inclusive, porous in its boundaries and ever evolving, changing as our campus, our society, and our vision of the world changes. It must also create a safe space for the discussion and debate of well-reasoned, thoughtful, and constructive ideas of all kinds. We strive to practice respect, compassion, and understanding for one another, so that all may participate in the open and free exchange of ideas necessary for a meaningful education and a successful democracy.
Read Hanover’s diversity plan, “A Place to Belong.”
