Diversity

Northwestern College values diversity and is committed to providing a Christian liberal arts education in an undergraduate, intercultural and residential environment. That commitment finds expression in numerous ways:

Our student body

Despite its setting in a small, rural Midwestern community, Northwestern's student population is becoming more racially diverse. The number of ethnic minority students has doubled during the past 6 years. More than 10% of the freshmen who enrolled in the fall of 2010 were students of color.

A global community

• Northwestern's student body includes students from 17 different countries.
• Among our faculty and staff are individuals from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Guatemala, South Africa, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Taiwan.
• A number of our faculty and staff have lived, studied or served in countries that include:
  • Australia
  • Austria
  • Belgium
  • Botswana
  • Cameroon
  • China
  • Costa Rica
  • Denmark
  • Ecuador
  • England
  • France
  • Germany
  • Greece
  • Honduras
  • Hong Kong
  • Hungary
  • Iceland
  • Italy
  • Japan
  • Kuwait
  • Marshall Islands
  • Mexico
  • Pakistan
  • Peru
  • Romania
  • Russia
  • Scotland
  • Spain
  • Switzerland
  • Thailand

International experiences

• Northwestern hosts its own semester-long study abroad programs in Oman and Romania. We also have partnerships with approved study abroad programs in 20 other countries, enabling students to study in countries like Belize, China, England, Mexico, Russia and Uganda.
• Spring Service Project trips offered each March give students cross-cultural experiences here in the U.S. and at four international sites.
• Northwestern's Summer of Service program gives students the opportunity to spend up to 10 weeks serving in an overseas hospital, school, refugee camp or other mission setting.

Multi-Ethnic Resource Team (MERT)

Since 2004, the Multi-Ethnic Resource Team has promoted the biblical values of intercultural competence and racial reconciliation. The eight-member team of faculty and staff is dedicated to strengthening multicultural education and awareness through student programs, curriculum development, diversity training, and campus-wide structural change.