Donald S. Metz, DRE, PhD, professor and dean emeritus , MidAmerica Nazarene College 1967-74; 1976-1983
When MidAmerica Nazarene College was little more than a dream and a few sketches on paper, Don Metz and newly elected President R. Curtis Smith began the monumental work of starting a college in Olathe, Kansas in the socially and politically turbulent 1960s.
Drawing on extensive education, his background of 12 years in pastoral ministry, and 16 years of teaching and administration at Bethany Nazarene College, Metz had the qualifications to accept the challenge of becoming the college’s first academic dean.
Not one to make a hasty move, Metz prayed about the offer on the ground that would become the campus and emerged from that prayer with a vision for what the college could become. Metz knew the college had to differentiate itself to draw students. The late 1960s were rife with anti-establishment rhetoric among the young. Metz made the bold move to embark on what he called American Heritage Education when promoting the college to academics he hoped would become professors. He knew there was a contingent of students and professors that would be drawn to Christian values and the dream of education for all.
Metz recruited the original professors and continued to draw others to teach at MANC due to his academic and administrative reputation. Metz had earned multiple degrees and while a distinguished scholar and prolific writer, he also loved to innovate.
He was highly involved in the decision to use a cohesive, colonial style of architecture that has served the university and surrounding community so well. There was no library, so Metz donated 1,000 of his own scholarly books to start the collection. By the fall of 1968, the college was off to a successful start by enrolling its first class of 263 students.
His vision for an innovative approach to education led to numerous firsts at MidAmerica, such as adopting the early semester calendar (a then unusual practice of ending first semester before Christmas break). He started named academic scholarship programs, with many Nazarene colleges following suit. He spearheaded financial support of faculty for doctoral study so that many could pursue postgraduate degrees while teaching.
Most surprising for Metz and those around him was leading the college through the arduous process of becoming “accredited in the shortest time possible—six years.” Since 1974, MNU has enjoyed accreditation by the Higher Learning Commission, an independent corporation founded in 1895 as one of six regional accreditors in the United States.
MNU’s third president, Dr. Richard Spindle had this to say about Metz, in the first 25-year history of MidAmerica Nazarene College.
“I would describe him as gentle, yet tough; conservative yet innovative; serious, yet witty. Above all, I would be compelled to call him a man with a deep love for the cause of Christ and for the truth of the Christian faith.”
While this article mentions some of the accomplishments Metz attained at MidAmerica, it does not touch on the extent of his ministry as a teacher, in the pastorate and to the church at large as a writer and theologian. When he retired in 1983, after two stints as academic dean and many years as a professor of religion, Metz was honored with the title of professor and dean emeritus.
