Beacon Magazine: Celebrating our Founders

October 15, 1895: A Special Day in Bushnell’s History

Celebrating Founders Day every October 15 is our chance to reflect on God’s faithfulness over decades and the service of His people to the mission of the University. This year, students in Dr. Steve Andes’ HIST 207 Exploring Your Community class dug into the archives to learn more about our founders and tell the century-long story of the school through an interactive history display for alumni and friends to enjoy. The class assignment was to plan, create, and display their own Bushnell museum installation with the learning goal of “connecting the past to the present for a wide audience.”

Each season of our journey was represented – from our earliest days as Eugene Divinity School in 1985, through our decades as Northwest Christian College, to our new identity as Bushnell University. Students found delight in discovering old audio recordings of the NCC Male Quartet from the 1940’s, video footage of the college during the earliest days after WWII (1947), and even old grade books from our first Dean, E.C. Sanderson. An original letter from James Bushnell announcing the purchase of the land which became our signature building, Goodrich Hall, was displayed along with early architectural drawings of the concept and photos of our first students laying the first stones. One particularly special discovery was a personal photo album of student Marjorie Knott (1915-1916) whose memories provided a window into how college students are still very much the same as they were over 100 years ago, with friendship and fun, making memories and experiencing new adventures all marking their college years.

Celebrating Bushnell Together

The broader Bushnell University community gathered at Venue 252 to celebrate Founders Day and the successful completion of the Venture Forward campaign on Saturday, October 19. Current campus leaders, including Dr. Womack and others, shared about the state of the University, the effect of the campaign on student life, and the vision for Bushnell’s future. The University Choir brought the best of their musical talent to the room and the inspirational evening marked both our long history and our forward progress.

To be sure, the legacy of Bushnell University stands strong, and Founders Day lives on as our chance to celebrate the bold wisdom, faith, and service of those who sought to establish a University to help spread the Word of God throughout the pioneer west. Today, our mission remains very much the same. It is the goal of our Christ-centered higher education community to help each other grow in our knowledge, love, and obedience to Jesus Christ. Just like our earliest days, all students are exposed daily to a Christian worldview, are encouraged toward pursuit of a Christian faith commitment, and study scripture and Christian doctrine as a part of their core curriculum.