Gustavus Adolphus College

Gustavus Adolphus College is a residential, liberal arts college in St. Peter, Minnesota, that prepares 2,550 undergraduate students for lives of leadership, service, and lifelong learning. The oldest Lutheran college in Minnesota, Gustavus was founded in 1862 by Swedish Lutheran immigrants and named for Swedish King Gustav II Adolf. Gustavus Adolphus College is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Throughout its history, it has valued its Lutheran and Swedish heritages.

The Gustavus culture derives from our founding traditions and offers a distinctiveness of feeling and deed on the campus and in the greater world. Students and faculty pursue academic rigor and service in an atmosphere of close-knit relationships, serious work, spirited enjoyment of life, and uncommon mutual support.

At Gustavus, students receive personal attention in small-sized classes and engage in collaborative research with their professors. The College is fully accredited and known for its academic excellence and strong music, science, writing, athletics, study-abroad, and service-learning programs. We maintain a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa and are widely admired for our annual MAYDAY! Peace Conference-an event devoted to topics relating to human rights and social justice.

Gustavus is internationally recognized for its annual Nobel Conference. This signature event was launched in 1965 following a gathering on campus of 26 Nobel laureates for the dedication of the Nobel Hall of Science in 1963. The conference brings cutting-edge science issues to the attention of the public, engages world-renowned science speakers, and provides opportunities to explore the moral and societal impact of scientific issues.

Gustavus has always prized community and has been marked by a pervasive sense of concern for every member of the College community. Civility, mutual respect, cooperation, shared governance, and caring have long been hallmarks of the College. Freedom to express a broad range of ideas is central to our sense of community, and resolution of conflicts in the broader society has long been a fundamental concern for us.

Gustavus has a commitment to high quality, even to excellence, in all that we do. In the words of Eric Norelius, founder of the College, "Whatever we do, let us do it well." Given our other values, it should be clear that this commitment to excellence is neither a code word for elitism nor a rejection of the best in Gustavus's heritage. Indeed, our distinctive heritage demands nothing less than excellence.

Gustavus holds the conviction that religious faith enriches and informs learning and is a fundamental notion underpinning our emphasis on community, ethics, and service. While strongly Lutheran in tradition and character, conformity to that specific faith tradition is not expected. In it mission statement, the College does declare an intent to develop in students "a mature understanding of the Christian faith". People of all faiths are welcomed and engaged here.

The Swedish and religious heritage of Gustavus, specifically its Lutheran roots and bonds, have ensured that justice and fairness are primary institutional values. The College strives to be a just community in all of its actions and to educate its students for morally responsible lives. Relations within the College community are guided by high moral principles, and those graduating from Gustavus are expected to understand the full moral implications of their actions.

The College values service as an objective of life and of education. We embrace the notion that true leadership expresses itself in service to others, and affirm the classical ideal of a liberating education, an education that frees one to serve God and humanity to the best of one's ability.