Bishop George R. Brunk Sr., stated that "the world standard of education is self-centered, self-exalting, and materialistic." By contrast, he advocated a form of Christian education that "expands and develops the God-given powers both natural and spiritual, guides them [students] into channels of activity most conducive to God's glory and the blessing of mankind."
Eastern Mennonite's first registrar, John Early Suter, believed that the university should offer secular academics in addition to Bible classes, and he was one of the first two such teachers. The Suter Science Center was named in honor of J. Early Suter's son, Daniel Suter, who taught in the Biology department from 1948 to 1985. In 1947, the school began to offer bachelors degrees in subjects other than theology and changed its name for the first time, becoming "Eastern Mennonite College".
In 1948, EMU admitted a local African American student, becoming one of the first historically white colleges in the U.S. South to integrate prior to the Civil Rights …
