Skip Navigation
search icon Open Search Field

Shaw University Mission Statement

Shaw University exists to advance knowledge, facilitate student learning and achievement, to enhance the spiritual and ethical values of its students, and to transform a diverse community of learners into future global leaders.

(Approved by the full Board on October 16, 2008)


Expanded Statement of Purpose 

Shaw University was founded in 1865 by the American Baptist Home Mission Society of the Baptist Church to provide theological education to freedmen after the Civil War.  It is a private, coeducational, liberal arts institution of higher learning with the main campus located in Raleigh, North Carolina, and four satellite campuses dispersed throughout the state.  Shaw University is committed to providing educational opportunities to all segments of society without regard to race, creed, or ethnic origin.  However, as the oldest historically African-American university in the south, it has maintained a special interest in the education of minorities from diverse backgrounds, with academic potential for success. Consistent with its motto, Pro Christo et Humanitate (For Christ and Humanity--that religion and learning may go hand in hand, and character grow with knowledge), Shaw University seeks to empower students with a sense of moral purpose based on Christian principles that provide guidance for intellectual and personal growth.

Shaw University is committed to the transformative educational process of preparing graduates for citizenship in the twenty-first century workplace and for graduate or professional school, and seeks to instill in its students a philosophy that values lifelong learning, leadership, and service.  In order to meet the challenges of a global society, Shaw University endeavors to develop graduates who are broadly educated in the liberal arts and sciences, possessing the knowledge and skills required of all disciplines, and the competencies associated with their chosen fields of study.  Students who successfully complete undergraduate degree programs at Shaw University will demonstrate proficiency in critical and creative thinking, an ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing; proficiency in mathematical reasoning skills, scientific inquiry, technological and information literacy, an awareness of and commitment to ethical judgment, awareness of global issues, knowledge of diverse human cultures, and a commitment to personal and social responsibility.  Students enrolled in graduate degree programs will, upon graduation, be able to demonstrate advanced knowledge in their chosen discipline.

The mission of Shaw University is to advance knowledge, facilitate student learning and achievement, to enhance the spiritual and ethical values of its students, and to transform a diverse community of learners into future global leaders, by providing quality educational programs and services to students that prepare graduates to lead productive lives and successful professional careers as citizens in a globally competitive society.

Central to the accomplishment of this mission is the recruitment and retention of qualified faculty and staff, who possess the qualifications and expertise to actively support students in the learning process. The University demonstrates its commitment to teaching and learning by providing quality educational programs and services in a safe and supportive learning environment, which meet the needs of students, promotes personal growth and development, and fosters academic achievement and student success. In addition to teaching and learning, Shaw University strives to create and maintain an academic climate that promotes the scholarship of research and the pursuit of new knowledge through active research programs. The University also recognizes its responsibility to instill in students, the importance of making a difference, not only in their own lives, but in the lives of others, by partnering with local communities to provide services that improve the human condition and contribute to the betterment of society.

(Approved May 7, 2010)