Koinonia: Experiences Of Cultural Diversity in the Andrews University Theological Seminary

The Andrews University Theological Seminary has a long standing history of attracting students from around the world seeking to acquire a Masters of Divinity (M.Div.). However, it is unclear how students of various backgrounds experience the seminary’s diversity. This study conducted an online survey with M.Div. students to examine the seminary’s performance according to the respondents as a whole and based on different ethnicities. The first hypothesis was that students of various ethnicities experienced the incorporation of diversity into the curriculum differently. The second hypothesis was that seminary events did not reflect the diversity of the student body and were experienced differently based on ethnicity. The survey assessing the seminary was centered on these six categories: demographic profiles, the students’ willingness to discuss ethnicity and culture, diversity of programs, diversity of the curriculum, respect and acceptance, and culture of inclusion. Respondents answered questions derived from each category to provide an overall evaluation of the seminary’s diversity. A one-way ANOVA test was used to treat the data. The results supported the two hypotheses. Students from different backgrounds do not share the same experience of how well the seminary manages diversity.