A New Covenant

This past Graceland homecoming, we had the honor to experience the investiture of Dr. Patricia Draves as the new president. It was a ceremony of covenant, a declaration of our shared commitment to Graceland and to each other.

The worldwide Graceland family renewed our commitment to the mission and core values of Graceland University — to learning, wholeness and community, to a nonsectarian pursuit of truth as we best understand it, and to the creation of communities of joy, hope and peace.

On behalf of the board of trustees and the Graceland community, I made the following collective comments:

“We commit ourselves to honor and respect Dr. Draves in the office of president of Graceland University and support her leadership to sustain and advance the values of Graceland in a rapidly-changing world;

“We commit ourselves to lifelong learning and respect for education – in the classroom, in our careers, and in our public and private lives;

“We commit ourselves to respect the worth of all persons and to recognize the blessings of community that enable us to achieve our full potential;

“And finally, we commit ourselves to the support of this institution, Graceland University, the home of the worldwide family it has nurtured and inspired to invest ourselves in causes that enrich and dignify human life.”