Guilford College

First established as New Garden Boarding School in 1837, Guilford College was originally created to teach the children of the Religious Society of Friends, also known as Quakers. The movement and its teachings were shaped by a progressive belief in all people's spiritual equality, and in the importance of taking socially responsible action in service to the community's greater good.

By the late 1800s the school transitioned into a four-year liberal arts college and has since served people of all faiths and secular beliefs. The school's original Quaker ideals live on in Guilford College's guiding Core Values.  Independent of governance by any religious body, in its 180th year Guilford remains the only Quaker-founded college in the southeastern United States.

Guilford College’s longstanding mission is clear and distinctive: to provide a transformative, practical and excellent liberal arts education that produces critical thinkers in an inclusive, diverse environment, guided by Quaker testimonies of community, equality, integrity, peace and simplicity and emphasizing the creative problem-solving skills, experience, enthusiasm and international perspectives necessary to promote positive change in the world.