Bethel College will begin operating under a new name, Bethel University, starting in May 2019.
The decision for the name change was made by Bethel’s Board of Trustees back in January when the met strategic planning and to cast a vision for the institution’s future.
However, it’s not the first time topic has come up. It was first considered 15 years ago. But in the midst of the planning discussion, the name change topic was brought up and board members began to wonder if the time was right.
In making the decision, the board took into consideration months of research on the name change topic that included focus groups of alumni, current and prospective students, faculty, staff, donors and community members; conversations with other institutions which had made the change from college to university as well as a survey to about 20,000 Bethel constituents.
The institution’s logo and seal will be updated, but the mascot, motto and school colors will stay the same.
Bethel will begin operating as Bethel University on May 6, 2019, with signage changes happening throughout the spring semester.
