The Meaning of Mission at a Catholic, Liberal Arts College

This qualitative case study research aimed to uncover how students engage with institutional mission to understand: how the mission of a Catholic, liberal arts college contributes to the development of its undergraduate students and how higher education professionals integrate mission throughout the community. Semi-structured interviews allowed students, faculty, staff, and administrative perspectives to highlight how this work happens at a Benedictine college. Participants highlighted how their experience of mission contributed to their intellectual curiosity, their sense of self through community, and their ability to connect their education to the world at large and beyond their present academic experience. The higher education professionals shared that this work is intentional, developmental, for everyone in the community, and is often embodied through not just one person or office, but through the work and culture of a whole community. By providing students with this kind of experience and conditions for development, students are well prepared to navigate the world ahead of them–certainly in their chosen fields, but also for what society will confront them with and expect of them. This research has given language to mission, something often considered intangible and has shown its transformative power for students, cementing its value in higher education.