Word on Fire’s Zimmerer to Join Benedictine College’s Transforming Culture Team

Monday, January 23, 2023

Jared ZimmererBenedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, announces that Dr. Jared Zimmerer, a national leader in mission-focused content marketing, will join the college starting Feb. 1, 2023, to help in the efforts of the college’s new Strategic Plan, Transforming Culture in America.

After serving for years as the Director of the Word on Fire Institute, Zimmerer will join the college as Director of Extension Strategy. He holds a doctorate in Humanities from Faulkner University and a Master's Degree in Theology from Holy Apostles College and Seminary. He and his wife, Jessica, will move with their family of six children from North Texas to Atchison, Kansas.

Zimmerer will help direct the efforts of Benedictine College’s Transforming Culture in America plan to share with off-campus audiences the college’s mission of community, faith and scholarship through video, courses, podcasts, articles and other media.

“We are excited to have Jared on board. What he has done at Word on Fire is truly outstanding and a great blessing to the Church. We hope that Benedictine College’s complementary efforts will benefit from his intelligence, energy and experience,” said Benedictine College President Stephen D. Minnis.

Zimmerer also hopes to teach courses for Benedictine College’s Sheridan Center for Classical Studies, which includes the college’s Great Books Program, Honors Program and preparation of Classical Education teachers.

“My family and I are looking forward to joining the team at Benedictine College and the Atchison community. I am honored to join Benedictine's inspiring mission and Transforming Culture plan,” Zimmerer said. “We couldn’t be more grateful for the great gift of working with Word on Fire, and I am glad that the Word on Fire Institute will be left in capable hands and a position of strength.”

Benedictine College’s Transforming Culture Plan was launched last year. The college sees its students as the bright future of the nation and hopes to equip them with the college’s mission of community, faith and scholarship. The college’s plan has four priorities:

  • Formation. By forming students in the mission through the Raven Standard, an intentional faith life, and the Catholic intellectual tradition, the College will create experts in dynamic community, thriving faith, and inspiring scholarship.
  • Profession. By advancing students professionally with the Raven Walk, internships, career preparation, and alumni formation, the College will prepare students to bring the mission to their careers, communities, churches and families.
  • Extension. By extending the mission beyond campus, Benedictine College will share the importance of community, faith and scholarship with audiences nationwide.
  • Excellence. By endowing scholarships, professors, programs and facilities for excellence in all aspects of the college, Benedictine College plans to put itself at the service of generations of Ravens.

The Transforming Culture plan was produced by a process that began in 2018 and in which the college’s faculty, Board of Directors, staff and administration met with regional and national leaders from all walks of life.

“We had spent 10 years with the goal of building one of the great Catholic colleges in America and had made huge gains,” said President Minnis. “So, we started asking the question: Why?”

The resulting plan, visible at Benedictine.edu/transform online, was launched on Sept. 8, 2021, with a Memorare Army prayer campaign that lasted until Dec. 12 and committed the effort to the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The plan follows St. John Paul II’s recommendations in The Church in America and takes seriously the Holy Father’s prediction in that document:

“Through [Our Lady of Guadalupe’s] powerful intercession, the Gospel will penetrate the hearts of the men and women of America and permeate their cultures, transforming them from within.”

Founded in 1858, Benedictine College is a Catholic, Benedictine, residential, liberal arts college located on the bluffs above the Missouri River in Atchison, Kansas. The school is honored to have been named one of America’s Best Colleges by U.S. News & World Report, the best private college in Kansas by The Wall Street Journal, and one of the top Catholic colleges in the nation by First Things magazine and the Newman Guide. It prides itself on outstanding academics, extraordinary faith life, strong athletic programs, and an exceptional sense of community and belonging. Benedictine College has a mission to educate men and women within a community of faith and scholarship.

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