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Bluffton University has again been named to the top tier of Midwest Regional Colleges in the “U.S. News & World Report” rankings. Results were recently released for the 2024 “Best Colleges” guidebook.

The publication ranks Bluffton 22 among comparable institutions in the Midwest region improving 14 spots from 2023. Now featured in the “U.S. News” rankings for 26 consecutive years, Bluffton has consistently ranked in the top tier of Midwest colleges.

The report overview reads, "Bluffton University is a private institution that was founded in 1899. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 664 (fall 2022), and the campus size is 235 acres. It utilizes a semester-based academic calendar.... Its tuition and fees are $36,298." The university's acceptance rate is listed as 96%.

Bluffton is also recognized with a ranking of nine in Best Value Schools for Midwest Regional Colleges and seven for Top Performers for Social Mobility in Midwest Regional Colleges.

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Dr. Amy Mullins, associate professor of education and director of graduate programs in education, and Katrina Stone ’25, Bluffton University information technology major, will present the Colloquium, “Phonics Innovations: Technology and Education Departments Collaborating to Provide Literacy Tools” at 4 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 22 in Centennial Hall’s Stutzman Lecture Hall.

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Rehearsals for Bluffton University’s 129th performance of Handel’s “Messiah” will be held from 7-8:30 p.m. on Tuesdays each week starting Oct. 3.

There are a total of nine rehearsals, as well as the dress rehearsal on Saturday, Dec. 9 and concert on Sunday, Dec. 10. Rehearsals will take place in the Gilliom Room of Mosiman Hall.

All singers, from high school students to adults, are invited to join the chorus, which includes Bluffton students, faculty, staff and community members. There is no cost to participate. 

Rehearsals will lead to the traditional Advent-season performance in Yoder Recital Hall at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 10. Dr. Bo Young Kang, director of choral activities, will conduct the performance, also featuring regional soloists and an orchestra. 

For more information, contact Dr. Kang at [email protected] or the music department office at 419-358-3347. 

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Bluffton University’s Grace Albrecht Gallery will host the art exhibit “A Line is a Point” by Kathleen Pahl, from September 25-Oct. 22, 2023.

Using color, organic forms and lines, Pahl explores the complex intersections of life and death and our relationship with the unknowable.

The exhibit, featuring oil on canvas paintings, is free and open to the public. Gallery hours in the Sauder Visual Arts Center are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and 1-5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.

A reception for the artist will be held from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, Oct. 21 with an artist talk scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m.

Arts at Bluffton events are made possible due to generous support from donors including David Bertsche ’57 and James ’83 and Rhonda (Louis ’84) Fox.

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During her 15-year career in marketing, 2005 Bluffton University graduate Charlene Coughlin has witnessed (and participated in) a shift in the industry toward positive marketing and advertising which can make an impact on a community.

“As marketers, we have the responsibility to do not only what’s right for the client but also for their customers,” explained the president of TWIST Creative. “We can both positively and negatively start a conversation. Our team often talks about how we can change culture through our advertising campaigns, and I think that’s what we’ve seen the last few years.”

Coughlin, who’s worked with companies ranging from Sherwin Williams to the Cleveland Natural History Museum, shared several examples of positive marketing during the Sept. 12 Forum “Marketing and Mental Health–The Industry’s Impact on Individuals and Communities.”

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Bluffton University welcomed its 124th class of students as official members of the campus community during Opening Convocation on Aug. 29, 2023. A Bluffton tradition, Convocation signifies the formal beginning of the academic year.

During Convocation, 1972 Bluffton graduate Thomas E. “Tucker” Lott provided the address “On Becoming You.”

A businessman, storyteller and mentor from Kansas City, Mo., Lott shared stories from his time in college, encouraged students to make positive choices, and reminded them they can always get back up if they fall “because falling happens.”

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