Mission & Values
The DWU Difference
Our Promise
- DWU will innovate. DWU is a restless, innovative leader in higher education.
- DWU will build communities. DWU deeply values community and will work continually to strengthen it both within, and outside of, the university.
- DWU will creates opportunities. DWU believes that education represents the key to opportunity and supports learning in a variety of forms throughout individuals’ lives.
Our Mission
As an inclusive educational community, Dakota Wesleyan University provides a transformative learning experience that cultivates enduring intellectual growth, ethically grounded leadership, intentional faith exploration and meaningful service.
We’ve intentionally created DWU to be a place where you can grow intellectually and ethically, where you can find, apply and grow your innate strengths.
DWU offers not only a transformative learning experience but a safe place to explore your faith and find meaning in community and service.
Our Values
All of this stems from a core mission based on our values of learning, leadership, faith and service. We are proud to put these values into practice in the
classroom, on the athletic fields and in all of our cocurricular activities.
This is how we implement our values:
Learning: We prepare you for a meaningful career in the context of a liberal arts education, which fosters adaptability, creative and critical thinking, artistic expression, experiential learning, innovation, collaboration and a deeper understanding of our global community.
Leadership: We challenge all members of our university community to be leaders of character who maximize their strengths in their personal and professional lives. We recognize that as a student, you can develop and display leadership skills throughout the entirety of your collegiate experience.
Faith: As an engaged, faith-affirming community, we embrace John Wesley's Christ-centered model of uniting knowledge, reason, and vital faith in curricular and cocurricular activities. We challenge you, and all of our students, to examine personal values, while respecting the diversity on campus and throughout the world.
Service: We inspire and empower our all members of the university to make a difference through creative, genuine service. Rooted in our Methodist heritage, service is a natural extension of our nurturing community.
