•  
  •  
 

Abstract

Taylor University, a small, Christian, liberal arts institution in the Midwest, utilizes a lifestyle covenant which outlines expectations for campus life to promote character development and fulfill the university’s mission. In pursuit of exploring community members’ perceptions of the Life Together Covenant (LTC), the larger qualitative study, consisting of individual interviews with ten senior students, ten staff members, and ten faculty members, found that participants generally perceived the LTC as a guide or set of expectations to live cohesively at Taylor. This article focuses on the student findings and analyses. Students generally perceive and experience the LTC in a legalistic manner yet appreciate its intent in creating the Taylor community, varying in their understanding of the document. These differences of perception and experience provoked a further analysis of these variations related to one’s role on campus, maturity of personal development, and familiarity with the LTC.

COinS