Former Provost Offers a Hopeful Middle

Polarization in our culture and politics has led to division, tension and hostility in our churches, workplaces and even our families. Shirley Mullen, former Westmont provost and history professor, encouraged the Westmont community to instead claim the powerful, redemptive potential of the courageous middle.

“It’s one of the hardest things you’ll ever do, but it’s making your entire story available to God to use you in those spaces in your life where you have people on both sides of you who trust you more than they trust others,” she said. 

Mullen has written a new book, Claiming the Courageous Middle: Daring to Live and Work Together for a More Hopeful Future. She emphasized the importance of Christian liberal arts institutions in preparing graduates to navigate redemptive middle spaces while recognizing and resisting the pressure to shut out complexity. She stressed the role of historical perspective and scriptural understanding in fostering respect, dignity and humility. 

Mullen, president emeritus of Houghton College, served for more than two decades at Westmont, winning the Bruce and Adaline Bare Teacher of the Year Award three times. She spoke in chapel and later at a lecture on Sept. 30 in the Global Leadership Center.

“Sometimes it’s inviting a community to focus on what they share rather than how they’re divided,” she said. “In times like ours, everyone is thinking first about what others don’t agree with, and there’s so much that we have in common in any of the arenas we’re in.”