Berea College’s Founding Vision Continues Today

June 12, 2023

Fall 2023 incoming class aligns with College’s inclusive mission

BEREA, Ky. – Berea College was founded in 1855, becoming the South’s first coeducational and interracial college, based on founder Rev. John G. Fee’s understanding of the Christian teaching of impartial love. To realize Fee’s scriptural vision of a fully interracial living and learning community in its early years, Berea was intentional about having equal numbers of white and Black students. Interracial education has been an essential part of Berea’s mission since its founding, interrupted by a 42-year period of forced segregation under Kentucky’s infamous Day Law, which ended in 1950.

The influence of this founding vision continues today through Berea’s guiding principles known as the Great Commitments and the students who are selected for admission. Socioeconomic class and academic potential also guide selection of students.  Berea strives to admit between 70 and 80 percent of its students from an admissions territory comprised of central and southern Appalachia as well as the entire Commonwealth of Kentucky.  Every student at Berea College, therefore, is part of a unique and inclusive mission that reflects equal opportunity with the obvious exception that Berea excludes applicants who come from families who could afford to pay for a high-quality education. Berea, perhaps more than any other institution, is a place of grace, making decisions to serve those who are deserving of educational opportunity, which remains the best way to change trajectories of students of low income and high potential. In the continuing spirit of impartial love, Berea College teaches love of the mind, the heart, the self and others.

Students who will enter Berea later this August reflect these principles: