As we step into a pivotal year for Graceland University, I am filled with a profound sense of gratitude — and possibility. This issue of the alumni magazine reaches you at a defining moment for our institution, one shaped by both the challenges facing higher education nationally and the real momentum emerging here on “the Hill” and in our classrooms in Independence, Missouri, in Overland Park, Kansas, and online around the world.
This year, our Graceland community will be working on a new initiative: Our Time to Lead, a focused two-year, $20 million campaign to strengthen the university, extend our financial runway, and accelerate the return on key strategic investments already showing promise.
Graceland needs your support. There will be many opportunities to engage with our campus communities and with me personally, and I hope you will feel the same sense of purpose we feel each day on campus: Graceland is worth fighting for, investing in, and leading forward.
Across conversations with alumni over the past year of my presidency, one theme has emerged consistently: Graceland changed my life, and I want to ensure it can do the same for others. That sentiment — rooted in identity, belonging, and mission — is the foundation of this campaign.
Our students continue to choose Graceland for the same reasons many of you did:
• a community that sees them and lifts them,
• faculty who know their names and invest personally in their success,
• and a culture built on service, faith in human potential, and lifelong connection.
In a time when many colleges are struggling, Graceland is acting boldly. Not only are we controlling costs, but we are also raising revenue by investing in programs that meet workforce needs and deepen our mission. Our Doctor of Physical Therapy program, now fully accredited with its first graduating class, is proof that strategic innovation works and can strengthen both academic excellence and long-term financial health. Our nursing and graduate health programs continue to grow and are expanding opportunities for students called to serve.
As we’ve engaged with alumni, you have been clear about what matters most:
• Bring Lamoni nursing to the Lamoni campus so students can experience the transformational community environment that shaped generations before them.
• Expand graduate offerings in healthcare fields where Graceland is already strong and respected.
• Launch a hybrid MBA to serve both online and on-campus learners with flexibility and quality.
• Reconnect with legacy families and Community of Christ students, renewing the intergenerational bonds that built this university.
• Modernize admissions outreach and processes to ensure we are reaching the students who are meant to be here.
We have listened. And we are acting.
For the first time in more than a decade, Graceland achieved positive full-time enrollment growth this fall, along with improved retention and energy across campus. Our facilities — from the new auditorium seating and technology in the Shaw Center to the Morden Center renovations to the brand new and state-of-the-art Henson Strength & Conditioning Center — have turned former recruiting disadvantages into an advantage for our current and prospective students. These investments signal the University is preparing not just to endure, but to thrive.
This is why Our Time to Lead is so important. It is not about fixing the past; it is about securing the future — strengthening critical programs, investing in students, and ensuring Graceland is here for the next 130 years.
As you receive this magazine, I invite you to consider a personal question:
What does it mean for me, for my family, and for my community to help lead Graceland in this moment?
For some, that will mean a leadership gift to this effort. For others, renewed annual giving, reconnecting with classmates, sharing a positive Graceland story or update with a prospective student, or offering wisdom, networking, or mentorship. Leadership takes many forms, and each one matters.
Alumni before us stepped forward in their generation — sometimes against tremendous odds — to ensure Graceland’s mission endured. Today, the mantle of leadership passes to us. And I believe wholeheartedly that this community is ready.
Thank you for the many ways you already support Graceland — with your generosity, encouragement, advocacy, and prayers. I look forward to sharing more with you in the days ahead as we embark on this historic next chapter together.
This is our moment. This is our responsibility. This is Our Time to Lead.
With deep appreciation,
Joel Shrock, PhD
President
Follow me:
@GracelandUPres
