Elizabethtown College History

Supported initially by contributions from individual churchmen, the College in time became the responsibility of the Eastern (now the Atlantic Northeast) and Southern District of Pennsylvania of the Church of the Brethren. The Church Districts officially assumed the responsibility for operating the College in January 1919. With the advancing years, the College grew in the size of its enrollment, the extent of its physical facilities, and the quality of its academic program.

Formal accreditation was granted in 1921 by the Pennsylvania Department of Public Instruction and in 1948 by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. The rate of growth increased significantly from the end of the Second World War. Student enrollment has more than quadrupled since that time. The academic program has been expanded and is continually revised to meet changing needs of students.

In 1993, the Church of the Brethren relinquished its governance role at the College. Since then, Elizabethtown has been governed by an independent Board of Trustees. The College's bylaws call for five of 40 Board positions to be Church of the Brethren members. They are elected by the Board, not the church.

The campus community takes pride in the fact that its foundational values have become embedded in the life of the College. The commitment to peace, non-violence, social justice, and human dignity are manifest in the     Center for Global Understanding and Peacebuilding , the Ware Colloquium on Peacemaking and Global Citizenship, the     Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies , and the increased emphasis on study-abroad, civic engagement, and peace and justice.

Launched in 2004, the Center for Global Understanding and Peacebuilding focuses on international programs, peacemaking, and civic engagement. Every year, the Center supports more than 100 students who study abroad, 45 international students who take classes at Elizabethtown College, and more than 1,200 students engaged in service and outreach locally, nationally, and internationally. Through these experiences, it provides opportunities for students to interact with cultures and peoples different from their own while they develop a sense of their responsibilities as global citizens.

The Center for Global Understanding and Peacebuilding presents programming associated with the Ware Colloquium on Peacemaking and Global Citizenship. The annual Ware Lecture on Peacemaking—a highlight of the Ware Colloquium—brings notable speakers to campus. In past years, the lecture has been presented by Mary Robinson, the first woman president of Ireland and former U.N. high commissioner for human rights; F.W. de Klerk, Nobel Prize recipient and former president of South Africa; Jody Williams, Nobel Prize recipient and chair of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines; and Terry Waite, former hostage negotiator and cofounder of Y Care International and Hostage UK.

The Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies, named for Dr. Galen S. and Jessie M. Young, is an internationally recognized scholarly research institute that fosters contemporary and historical investigations of Anabaptism and Pietism, the theological traditions from which the Church of the Brethren developed. The Center seeks to interpret the cultural and religious heritage of groups emerging from these movements through exhibits, public lectures, workshops, and conferences. The Center's staff regularly teaches undergraduate courses, offers occasional public lectures, and directs research projects. Its Fellows Program supports junior and senior scholars and graduate students on leave from other institutions.