Wilkes-Barre, Pa., February 22, 2023—King’s College has been awarded a $40,000 “Reframing the Institutional Saga” grant from NetVUE to research and demonstrate how the historical mission of the College is realized within a current context.
NetVUE, administered through the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC), is a nationwide network of colleges and universities formed to enrich the intellectual and theological exploration of vocation among undergraduates. The grant program is funded through the CIC with support from the Lilly Endowment, Inc.
The College’s founding mission has strong historical and religious ties, having been founded in 1946 to educate the sons of the coal miners of the Wyoming Valley in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Today, the institution’s student body is not comprised of coal miners’ children as demographics and the surrounding community have developed. However, the fundamental mission of educating local, first-generation students remains and has great impact on student recruitment and retention, curriculum design, and composition of faculty.
“This grant will give us the resources to tell our story in a way that will resonate with our current and future students, who would love to be able to see themselves in our stories,” said Jennifer McClinton-Temple, Ph.D., professor of English and vocation committee co-chair. “It will enable us to show how our historical mission is still central to everything we do as an institution.”
Through the grant, the College’s vocation committee and volunteers will produce an updated account of the history and mission considering current cultural contexts that have evolved over its 75-year history. This will be accomplished through significant research that will be used for a series of articles, videos, and dynamic web content. This work will culminate in a Fall 2024 symposium featuring interview subjects, writers, and researchers presenting their work to the College and the community.