WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR STUDENTS AND PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS?
What can students expect from the CUW experience?
Truth
The Lutheran Church (and the Reformation) started when a German professor sought discussion about issues of faith. So the search for truth is an important one on Concordia's campuses. It isn't just about preparing for a job or a career (as important as that is); a university education at CUW means that students will be challenged with large, difficult questions. It also means that CUW prepares students to answer those questions in their search for life's truth.
Concordia acknowledges Jesus Christ's claim that He is the Truth. Thus, questions about life's important issues cannot be discussed without taking seriously Jesus' claims about Himself and His mission. Concordia respects what the Bible says about humans, sin, redemption, and sanctification. Concordia also honors the Lutheran Confessions as a correct explanation and description of Biblical truths.
That doesn't mean that all of our questions will be completely answered or that we don't have to make sense of sometimes seemingly-conflicting truths. Lutheran theology teaches the limitation of human reason, the contingency of human knowledge. While human reason is truly a gift from God, we must recognize that it has its limitations. This also explains why truth sometimes seems to shift (for example, until fairly recently in human history it seemed perfectly moral in many cultures to own a slave). Nevertheless, God calls us to use our reason to search out the truths of our world, always recognizing the limitations of reason.
Beauty
Life is about more than just getting and spouting back the right answers to a question. Jesus teaches us about the abundant life, not a mere existence, and His desire for all people to enjoy that life. God in His infinite wisdom created a world that contains innumerable examples of beauty and wonder. Lutheran theology encourages us to enjoy these gifts from God, to recognize them as evidence of his great design for His creation, and to use these gifts to acknowledge our thanks to the Creator.
Concordia's course of studies encourages students to explore beauty in many different forms. Its liberal arts core specifically introduces to practice a fine or theatrical art, and all students experience good literature through a core English course. Of course, Concordia students are able to pursue undergraduate programs in the fine arts. In many other majors and programs, students directly address the affective domain as well as the objective domain.
The abundant life at Concordia also refers to a student experience that balances studies with activities meant to encourage artistic achievement. There is a wide variety of opportunities for theatrical, musical and artistic expression, both in and out of the classroom.
Goodness
Jesus calls us to goodness, not necessarily to greatness. Greatness has a self-serving quality about it whereby all activity points back to us. Instead, Concordia emphasizes the Lutheran idea of "vocation," which emphasizes that God has apportioned gifts to all humans and asks that we use those gifts in our service to others. Our vocations are the ways in which we use our talents and gifts to serve others.
Concordia University Wisconsin encourages goodness by promoting servant leadership in all vocations. Servant leadership is the use of our vocations to serve Christ by serving others. Leadership takes many forms; it is tied together by the concept of using one's gifts and talents to serve Christ in the church and the world. Concordia?s education emphasizes opportunities to explore and exercise such leadership opportunities.
Unity
Many institutions highlight the goal of diversity. Concordia University Wisconsin, however, starts - not with diversity - but with unity. Concordia recognizes the unity of humankind that God created. All humans share a common creation, common rights, common concerns, a common problem with sin, and many common experiences. Christians share a particular unity as members of the body of Christ.
Within that human unity, nevertheless, is an amazing diversity. Diversity is a good thing in an academic community, because important learning takes place where ideas and beliefs confront and intersect with each other. Learning how to learn with each other is a significant aspect of our educational experience. Concordia recognizes diversity within unity as community, a group of distinctively unique individuals gathered together for the shared goal of Christian education in a Lutheran context.
