LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT

The institution now known as Huntington University began with a fearless, strategic vision for a plot of land, a mission to educate future generations, and a God who does great things for His people:

“The founding of Huntington College has been called a work of divine providence. In 1896, the General Board of Education of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ laid plans to open a new institution of higher learning. Before these plans were made known, an unsolicited proposal was received from the Huntington Land Association. Three entrepreneurs (among them a United Brethren minister) proposed a strategic partnership: the Land Association would donate a three-story brick building, additional campus grounds, and operational cash. In return, the Church would equip and operate a school, and sell lots in the surrounding neighborhood.”

These words, written for the University’s 75th anniversary in 1972, are a testament to the legacy we are still honoring today with new initiatives. 124 years after we first opened our doors to students for the first day of class, the fearless, strategic vision that became Huntington University is alive and well and being recast to keep “Christ, scholarship, and service” relevant for the next generation of Foresters.

The 2020-2021 academic year provided a fantastic opportunity to operationalize that vision. In a year full of worldwide challenges, we did our best in true Forester fashion to overcome and even grow in spite of those challenges. We celebrated the largest enrollment ever in Forester history, with 1,402 students choosing to study in a diverse offering of programs such as occupational therapy, business, nursing, agriculture, film, and over 60 others — each building off an academic core centering on a liberal arts tradition. In fact, as a response to the needs of the market and to address workforce shortages in occupational therapy, leadership, and agriculture, we added new programs and developed certificates to offer Foresters the most useful and marketable skills relevant to their areas of interest.

We also completed high-impact capital projects in 2020-2021. The largest example of this with arguably the greatest impact for our home campus was the renovation of the Huntington Union Building, or the HUB, as it’s lovingly called. Students, faculty, and staff can now enjoy all 20,000+ square feet of reimagined space dedicated to Forester Family fellowship.

Each of these developments in the last year came out of our strategic vision as a University. Strategic vision, however, depends in part on the legacy of the past. Without an awareness of where we have been, our strategy for moving forward falls flat. As we look back on the strategic vision that has informed where we are now and where we are going, we see evidence of God’s incredible faithfulness. His presence in the legacy of Huntington University for 124 years in turn inspires us to remain viable, faithful, and relevant for the next generation of Foresters.

Sincerely,

Dr. Sherilyn R. Emberton