Students from 28 states and 10 countries arrived on the Hesston College campus the week of August 17. Soccer and volleyball players started practice and members of the college’s Bel Canto Singers rehearsed selections for Opening Weekend events.

Hesston’s Student Life staff trained 31 sophomores serving as resident assistants in the dormitories this year. Students registered and new students participated in academic and student life orientation activities August 20-22, with classes beginning August 24.

The college’s Parent Council hosted a breakfast and information session for all parents on campus for the weekend and President Howard Keim invited Hesston College President’s Scholars and their parents to an afternoon reception. Students interested in the performing arts attended an open house for the Music and Theatre departments.

President Keim opened Hesston College’s Centennial year with reflections on the college’s motto – “The truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). He presented the meditation at Opening Worship on Sunday, August 23.

Keim reflected on the life of the college’s motto, first suggested in 1916 and adopted soon thereafter, and on the era in which it was adopted. “That 1919-20 academic year – 90 years ago – was of note in a variety of ways. There were 157 students were enrolled, at a cost of $15 per term for tuition. There was a spirit of wanting to be true to scripture as well as an adherence to high academic standards…. Women students wore head coverings to class and to worship activities. Organized athletic activities were limited to five public basketball games, with the restriction of no organized yelling during games. The curriculum included four levels of German and two levels of French. Classical languages included five levels of Greek and six levels of Latin.

“There was also a spirit of mission and service. Several Hesston leaders were instrumental in forming the Mennonite Central Committee at that time…. Hesston faculty and students also helped to organize the Yoder Meetinghouse, near Hutchinson. Alta Mae Erb’s missions class conducted an every home survey in Hesston and determined that there was a higher than expected number of persons who claimed no religious affiliation. Hesston graduates were serving overseas in relief and mission work.

“So this text was chosen as a motto for the college during its first decade, at a time when there was a strong emphasis on being faithful, on having high quality academics, and on students being charged to serve the church and the world. And while a lot has changed – tuition rates, rules, extracurricular activities – many of the core values remain: a strong academic program, faithfulness to scripture as we understand it, and an impulse for service.

Keim turned his focus to explaining the verse in John then connecting the verse and motto and Hesston College at the time the motto was approved to the Hesston College of 2009. “We do believe in truth. We do believe that it can be understood. We do believe that it is best found in the person of Jesus. We do our best to create a community where the standards we set are in the spirit of the gospel and for the good of all.

“We want to train researchers, educators, artists, performers, coaches, health care workers, counselors, builders, engineers, entrepreneurs, managers, and yes, pastors and missionaries. Our vision is that Hesston College graduates change the world as they serve through their vocations, churches, families, and individual commitments to follow Christ. Hesston College is a transforming community where students, faculty, and staff dedicate their intellect, passion, and skill to a future where hope replaces despair, the poor are clothed and fed, the sick are made whole, peace replaces war and conflict, justice replaces oppression, creation is renewed, and the gospel is proclaimed.

The service also included several selections by the college’s Bel Canto Singers, directed by Bradley Kauffman, as well as words of anticipation for the coming year by Dave Osborne, instructor and international student advisor. Osborne invited the college community to see the world from others’ perspectives in the year ahead.

“I anticipate that this is a year in which all of us will seek the perspective of someone who has a perspective not just like yours,” he said. “We have more than 400 U.S. students from nearly 30 states with a lot of different backgrounds. We have 38 international students from 10 countries. Surely this year each of us can connect with someone whose perspective is not just our own.

“God had granted us the moment of this year. It’s a great opportunity. It’s also a little scary. It takes a special effort. But we shouldn’t be content to with just confirming our own understanding of the truth by hanging out only with those whose perspective is the same as ours.”

Other weekend events included intrasquad scrimmages for the men’s and women’s soccer teams, an alumni vs. varsity volleyball scrimmage, and a campus picnic for students, faculty, and staff. The weekend came to a close with Hesston’s annual mod olympics, a decades old tradition of “Almost Anything Goes” style games and relays for all students living in the dorms. “Our purpose for mod olympics is to have fun,” noted Vice President of Student Life Lamar Roth, “but the games also break down barriers and quickly create a sense of belonging to the community.”