Message from the PresidentGustavus ACTS

President Rebecca Bergman

In 2016, the Gustavus community launched the ambitious Gustavus Acts Strategic Plan. Built on the foundation of the College’s unwavering mission and developed through an inclusive model of shared governance, Gustavus Acts has moved us forward together in pursuit of a new vision to equip students to lead purposeful lives and to act on the great challenges of our time through an innovative liberal arts education of recognized excellence.

In alignment with our mission and core values, this bold vision has energized and focused our work. For five years, members of the Gustavus community—from students to trustees to professors to alumni—have united under the banner of this vision and in support of the goals of the strategic plan to advance the College in diversity, equity and inclusion; grow in academic and co-curricular excellence; and achieve financial, institutional, and environmental sustainability.

As a liberal arts institution, this is what we do: we act, then evaluate and consider new sources of information, discuss the context of various issues, explore challenges from an interdisciplinary lens, and use that information to inform our approach moving forward. All of this work has resulted in the development of Gustavus Acts 2.0, the next three-year phase of our strategic plan.

2019 marked the end of a decade that saw Gustavus Adolphus College grow and change in remarkable ways. 2020 was the beginning of our next chapter. What does the future hold for Gustavus? Let us dream and build it together.

—Rebecca Bergman
President, Gustavus Adolphus College