FROM THE PRESIDENT

BY GENE PFEIFER - PRESIDENT, BETHANY LUTHERAN COLLEGE

Moving forward as a community

Bethany Lutheran College is moving ahead with plans to open the campus this fall. Already in May, I announced that to the best of our ability, Bethany will be open for in-person classes beginning in late August. It's a monumental task to construct a plan to bring our students back to campus amidst the challenges of the worldwide pandemic, but we believe strongly in the fellowship enjoyed among our Christian campus community, in the close mentorship between our faculty and students, and in the rich relationships that are formed with classmates. It’s this personal experience that stands as one of Bethany’s core values, and for which we long to once again embrace.

In order to open the campus, we’re following guidelines established by the CDC and the Minnesota Department of Health to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus, as well as best practices shared among our peer institutions. While we want to make the campus as safe as possible for everyone, please understand that until there is a vaccine few places in society will be completely free of the virus. We can’t guarantee Bethany will not be impacted by the COVID-19 virus, but we are taking reasonable measures to create an environment that mitigates its spread.

A group of individuals from across the campus has been meeting regularly to develop our return to campus plan. This committee is assisted and advised by medical personnel from the Mayo Clinic Health System—our on-campus Express Care and athletic training partner. We’ve also conducted a site visit with a representative from the Minnesota Department of Health who toured our facilities and made recommendations.

We are also keenly aware that not every Bethany student will be able to or will be comfortable returning to in-person classes. To meet the needs of all students, we are implementing a flexible learning system called the HyFlex Model. This model enables flexible participation for students whereby they may choose to attend faceto-face class sessions or complete course learning activities online without physically attending class. The focus is on providing a high-quality educational experience for our students regardless of the delivery method they choose.

Without a doubt, life at Bethany will be different. In the midst of the pandemic that has touched all aspects of life in our society, some may wonder why we’re choosing to open the campus to our students this fall. For Bethany to best carry out our core values – to engage students with the gospel message of their Savior, Jesus; to help students discern truth through the lens of a Christian worldview; and to do so through personal mentoring relationships among students, faculty, and staff; an on-campus Bethany experience is essential.

With fearless confidence in our faithful God, we look forward to seeing you this fall on the Bethany Lutheran College campus.