Greetings alumni and friends,

I am excited to now be on campus full time as the president of Hesston College. Since being selected to this role earlier in the year, I have looked forward to a full immersion into the close-knit and encouraging community for which our campus is so well known.

This sense of community combined with our diverse culture, nurturing relationships and focus on developing passionate learners and leaders, truly sets us apart and culminates in what we affectionately call the Hesston Experience.

While I did not have my own Hesston Experience as a student, I’m well aware of the lifelong impact through my wife DeeDee’s experience here as a student, as well as my professional time with the college from 2013 to 2019.

It’s clear from the stories you are about to read that the Hesston Experience is still very much alive and well. The experiences themselves may vary from student to student and from decade to decade, but all resonate with the Christ-centered, welcoming community that is Hesston College.

We’ll hear about how the Bills and Normas played a role in student experiences, as well as the cultural diversity found with early acceptance of international students and students of color. Our featured alumna shares about her time at Hesston which encouraged critical thinking and how it shaped her for her role today in helping others and uncovering unconscious bias. Many of the experiences students have are thanks to generous donors, and we’ll hear from two who make it possible as a way to pay it forward. Even the addition of sports teams over the years plays a role as we’ll see in a quick review of Hesston’s time as a two-year college in athletics.

As we continue to blaze a trail into the future as a bachelor’s degree-granting institution, it’s great to know that at the core, the Hesston Experience can and will endure. I am grateful to be on this adventure and being a part of many more stories yet to come of the Hesston Experience.

Sincerely,

Mark Landes
President