CA M PUS N E WS
from the
PRESIDENT BY G E N E PFE I FE R • PR E S I D ENT, B E TH A N Y LU TH ER A N CO LLEG E
I’m So Thankful We’re ‘In This’ Together The very existence of Bethany Lutheran College is perhaps something just short of a miracle. When the Norwegian Synod, now the Evangelical Lutheran Synod (ELS) wasn’t yet ten years old, the collection of congregations and members numbering about 5,000 made the decision to own and operate the College. It wasn’t an easy process. Synod pastors and laymen debated for over two years whether the $90,000 asking price for the property, started as an all-girls institution atop the hill overlooking the City of Mankato, was something the small church body could truly support and operate. The talks and banter began in 1925. A committee looking into the question met on the Bethany campus in April 1926 to discuss a potential purchase of the property. After no clear decision could be reached at the meeting, it was suggested that each member of the committee go back to their own congregations and find willing people to support the purchase of the school. If the number reached 50 persons, the group would undertake operation of Bethany. The committee not only found the 50 willing partners, but the numbers grew to 74, and eventually 100. They collectively made the decision to move forward, and named their group the Bethany Lutheran College Association. This group of pastors and laymen became the legal owners of Bethany Lutheran College.
Bethany archives photo
The College as it appeared around the time is was purchased by the Bethany Lutheran College Association.
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This Association would eventually present an offer to the Synod Convention in 1927 that the church body take over ownership and operation of the College. During the ensuing debate about Synod ownership of the school on the convention floor, members of the Association collectively made this bold and memorable statement, “Once we are convinced that the school is a necessity, we will discover that we can afford it. We can do a lot of things that we think are absolutely impossible once they have become a matter of life and death to us.” But, after two days of deliberation at the Convention, it looked like the topic of the Synod owning Bethany Lutheran College would be referred back to the congregations for more debate, that is until Reverend George Gullixson was recognized on the floor, and he boldly said, “I move we take over the school.” Gullixson Hall, a men’s residence on campus, is named for the supportive pastor who made the assertive, but historic motion of Synod ownership paving the path for Bethany Lutheran College. And so, the journey of Bethany Lutheran College, and ownership by the Norwegian/Evangelical Lutheran Synod began. Now, ninety-two years later, through God’s blessing and the collective support of so many, Bethany continues to adhere to God’s Word as the basis for the school’s existence and its approach to higher education. Our Board of Regents, as it has been since the school was founded in 1927, is elected by the convention body of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod. The Regents meet on the Bethany campus four times per year. After each of these meetings, I present a summary of the proceedings to our faculty and staff. Following the most recent Regents meeting in February 2019, the review I presented began with these words, “I’m So Thankful We’re ‘In This’ Together. We need to continue to rally around our unity in Bethany’s mission, purpose, and vision.”
