Administrative History

On the morning of September 5, 1908, 39 students and three instructors began the first session of Tabor College in Hillsboro, Kansas. This beginning came as Mennonite Brethren and Krimmer Mennonite Brethren Churches of North America recognized the need for an institution of higher education. Henry W. Lohrenz and Peter C. Hiebert were the primary two initiators and served as Tabor College’s first president and vice president, respectively. Before the first school year ended, enrollment grew to one hundred and four with a faculty of five.

The school experienced increasing enrollment during the first ten years. On April 30, 1918, fire destroyed the building which had housed the College for its first ten years. Two new buildings, a dormitory–dining hall and administration–classroom building, replaced the first.

In 1928, Tabor College was accredited as a four-year college. During the early 1930s, the depression caused difficulty with regards to the financial situation of the college. The school closed the junior and senior programs and the state withdrew the college accreditation. In an attempt to save the school, the Tabor College Corporation, which had owned and operated the College up until 1934, transferred the College to the Conference of the Mennonite Brethren of North America. The College closed for one year as the Conference was organizing administration and opened again in 1935.

Due to the beginning of the second world war in 1941, attendance dropped dramatically, but rejuvenated again in 1946 and reached record enrollment. In 1959, the College once again received four-year accreditation by the state. During the 1960s, several new buildings were built, including a library, a gymnasium, and two new residencies. Tabor College continued to grow in numbers and in curriculum. In 1981, the campus underwent a $3.8 million dollar renovation.

The College now operates under its own charter. Its Board of Directors are responsible to the churches which make up the Central, Southern, Latin American and North Carolinian Districts of the Mennonite Brethren Church Conference.

Following Henry W. Lohrenz as president was Peter C. Hiebert, Abraham E. Janzen, Peter E. Schellenberg, John N. C. Hiebert, Frank C. Peters, Leonard J. Franz, Roy Just, Vernon E. Janzen, David Brandt, and Larry Nikkel.