Our Inclusive Mission
God has made of one blood all peoples of the earth
Since its founding, Berea College has believed in the power of education to transform students and employees from all walks of life. Berea’s inclusive past emanates from a foundational belief of founder Rev. John G. Fee that the inclusive Christian notion of impartial love could create a remarkable learning and living community in a slaveholding state before the Civil War. An ardent abolitionist, Fee chose the motto, “God has made of one blood all peoples of the earth” (Acts 17:26). That’s been our motto since 1855.
Our Historic Past
Berea College is where blacks and whites, women and men have been educated together since the close of the Civil War. Our mission thereby spoke to society's most vexing challenges: Bringing together people who were underserved and building a living and learning community based on the biblical principle of kinship stated in Acts 17:26. It still does so today.
Our History
Berea College was the first interracial, co-educational college in the South. Berea’s historic mission to bring people together has faced both fierce opposition as well as great acclaim and admiration. Despite these challenges, Berea College has continued in its mission provided by its founders—to educate students in the name of justice and impartial love.
Our Present
Putting its motto into action, Berea College has sought to recruit, enroll and retain a student population representing “all peoples of the earth,” especially those from Kentucky and Appalachia, along with committed staff and faculty to prepare students for the world that awaits them. The College continues the practice of the 19th century to maintain relatively equal numbers of students or color and white students to realize the promise of interracial education.
In 1859, Berea originated its work program in its earliest form; this became known as our Labor Program and the dignity of labor became one of our Great Commitments. The Labor Program provides economic, educational, social, personal, and spiritual benefits to students and those served by their work. From its earliest days, Berea has enabled students to contribute to their education while gaining valuable work experience and serving the College and surrounding communities.
Every student at Berea College is part of a unique and historic mission that reflects equal opportunity combined with hard work to build a community based on merit. Berea, perhaps more than any other institution, is a place of service, 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. Berea College's founding vision continues today.
Diversity is in our DNA
It's important that we continue the legacy of the South's first interracial and co-educational college
Build brighter futures in the region
Our students come from 45 states, one U.S. Territory and 70 countries.
Working, learning, and serving across differences
Many former and current students will tell you their experience learning across difference at Berea shaped them in several ways. It has made them better students, leaders, and people.
Carter G. Woodson Center for Interracial Education
Carter G. Woodson, who is often called “the father of black history," was a 1903 Berea College graduate. The College therefore celebrates Woodson's life and contributions to education through a center in his namesake.
The Carter G. Woodson Center for Interracial Education fosters communication about Berea’s Great Commitment:
“To assert the kinship of all people and provide interracial education with a particular emphasis on understanding and equality among blacks and whites as a foundation for building community among all peoples of the earth.”
We promote social and cultural change and exchange that underscores our institutional motto:
“God has made of one blood all peoples of the earth” (Acts 17:26).
Civil Rights Tour
The Carter G. Woodson Center for Interracial Education offers a civil rights seminar and tour for staff, faculty, and students, modeled on the long-running Appalachian seminar and tour. These two experiences allow the community to learn more about two of eight historic Great Commitments of the College.
The Civil Rights Tour includes a week of travel to various locations associated with the Civil Rights movement, including stops in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee. Along the way, participants toured Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birth home, attended church service at Faith Chapel in Birmingham, and visited Civil Rights institutes and museums in Birmingham, Montgomery, Selma, and Jackson. The tour also featured a special stop at the Edmund Pettus Bridge, the site of the Selma to Montgomery Marches.
The Black Cultural Center
The Black Cultural Center provides services that support the needs of African American people at Berea College. It does this through co-curricular programs, leadership development, intercultural/interracial understanding opportunities, academic excellence strategies, and a range of other experiences.
The bell hooks center
The bell hooks center is an inclusive space where historically underrepresented students, including but not limited to women, LGBTQPIA+, and sex and gender non-conforming students, can come to be as they are, outside of social scripts. It curates programs, collaborations, and events that affirm these students’ sense of self and belonging—on campus and in the world. The center is named for bell hooks, who was Distinguished Professor in Residence in Appalachian Studies at Berea until her death in 2021.
