President Cureton and Fulbright Scholar Jessica Peterson

What has marked the uniqueness about Northwestern throughout the years is our sense of community. It is our strength. Through classes, daily chapel or conversations in the residence halls, the genuine connectedness among students and professors has always been a hallmark of the Northwestern experience.

This strength of community has grown steadily over the years even though the campus has not had a place exclusively for building and nurturing community.

As more students desire Northwestern’s Christ-centered, biblically based educational experience, we need additional student space. Wise and appropriate leadership first built the student residences, then the Totino Fine Arts Center, the Berntsen Resource Center, the Ericksen Center and the Mel Johnson Media Center. Now, it is time to build a place for students, faculty and staff to gather together as a community of believers. The Envision Excellence Campaign has as its centerpiece the creation of the Community Life Commons, a building designed specifically to further enhance Northwestern’s strong sense of community.

Ecclesiastes 3:3 identifies a “time to build.” For Northwestern, the time is now. As God continues to send students to Northwestern seeking an education grounded in a biblical worldview, we must provide an environment that will help to shape students as they prepare for a lifetime of service to the Living King of kings.

Winston Churchill said it well when he stated, “First we shape our buildings, thereafter they shape us.” Our goal and prayer is that the hearts and minds of our students will be shaped by this place so they may shape the hearts of generations to come.

His servant,



Alan S. Cureton, Ph.D
President