MISSION STATEMENT

The mission of New College Madison is to stimulate "prophetic inquiry" at the University of Wisconsin, in Madison and around the state. Our aim is to focus on the gap between the "is" and the "ought" in a number of important areas of contemporary life, addressing the question of how we get from one to the other. Furthermore, New College Madison hopes to bring to the solution of these problems the theological and experiential resources of the Christian faith and the community in which it exists.

Why is an exercise in "prophetic inquiry" needed? In today's world, value-free scientific and technical knowledge, which is the fruit of an educational system like that of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is obviously necessary. But it is becoming increasingly apparent that the "value-free" university, by itself, is no longer sufficient to help us solve the some of the deepest problems of our society:

1. The breakdown in sexual ethics and the crisis of the family
   
   
2. Drug, alcohol, food, and sexual addiction
   
   
3. The continuing persistence of poverty, homelessness, and marginality, at home and around the world
   
   
4. The environmental crisis
   
   
5. The corruption of democratic politics
   
   
6. The threat of religiously based terrorism around the world and the decline in national security

New College Madison can help to stimulate the dialogue between the university, the larger community, and the church that will be necessary if these and other basic problems are to be overcome.