About Christ College : Christ College - The Honors College of Valparaiso University

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MISSION STATEMENT
Christ College, the honors college of Valparaiso University, is a community of faculty and students that integrates fields of study, inspires love of learning, and enriches Christian moral and intellectual life through independent thought and collaborative inquiry.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF CHRIST COLLEGE
Founded in 1967 by Valparaiso University President O.P. Kretzmann, Christ College is the third oldest honors college in the United States. As an interdisciplinary liberal arts college, Christ College was dedicated to the cultivation of intellectual, moral, and spiritual virtues. The College's name suggests its compatibility with Valparaiso University's definition of itself as a university in the Christian intellectual tradition. Four deans have served the College: Founding Dean Richard P. Baepler (1966-78), Arlin G. Meyer (1978-90), and Mark R. Schwehn ('67) (1990-2003), and the current dean Mel W. Piehl (’68).

The Christ College building, named Mueller Hall in honor of its principal benefactor, the late Reverend Ewald H. Mueller, longtime pastor of Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Ridgewood, New Jersey, was dedicated in 1970.

Today, Christ College is one of fewer than a dozen undergraduate honors colleges in the United States. The curriculum emphasizes liberal arts and the humanities--history, literature, art, philosophy, religion--and the social sciences. Small discussion-centered classes offer stimulating, honors-level interdisciplinary study with master teacher-scholars. Christ College students are concurrently enrolled in one of VU’s other Colleges--Arts and Sciences, Business Administration, Engineering, or Nursing--where they earn bachelor’s degrees.