Marketing and CommunicationsBrand Standards

Brand
Standards

Messaging

Positioning Statement

The rational, plainspoken, detailed articulation of what HWS is today.

  • Future-focused liberal arts and sciences
  • Led by accessible, research-active scholar/teachers/mentors
  • Dedicated to students' intellectual, professional and ethical development
  • With groundbreaking leadership in experiential education
  • Evidenced by a signature constellation of proximate campus centers
  • In a revitalized city on the shore of a resource-rich lake
  • In a collaborative community that values the dignity and potential of each individual

Value Proposition

What makes us compelling and attractive to the marketplace, or "Why choose HWS?"

HWS places its students' futures at the forefront—through mentorship that maximizes potential, experiences that spur discovery, inquiry that tackles emerging challenges, community that deepens belonging, and professional preparation that accelerates careers.

Vision

What HWS seeks to become.

An institution known for consistent success in preparing students for lives of consequence—while advancing scholarship and inquiry that examines and previews the world they will go on to lead.

Narrative: HWS's Story

These five "tentpoles" provide helpful, high-level structure for telling HWS's story.

You'll be on an adventure, and your experiences will be entirely your own—full of learning, discovery, surprises, accomplishment and joy.

You'll find places to belong within the HWS family. This community welcomes open-minded people from many and varied backgrounds and perspectives.

You'll make a plan, mentored by caring, expert guides and grounded in experiences that will let you test your interests and pave the way to a life of purpose.

You'll gain significant insights into the challenges of the emerging future world.

You will be valued as an ethical person who approaches complex problems with empathy and discernment—and in partnership with others.

Talking Points

These are the pieces of our story that we want others to remember about HWS. Think of them as guideposts; they needn't (and shouldn't) be memorized or recited verbatim.

1. Mentorship that maximizes potential

You get a lot more out of college when there's someone to show you the ropes.

Your professors will:

  • Help you choose classes and brainstorm majors
  • Involve you in research and connect you with experiences that add context to your studies
  • Encourage you to explore and make connections that might not have occurred to you otherwise

Along with administrators, fellow students and HWS alums, they take a personal interest in helping you create a college experience that relates your interests and talents to a successful and meaningful future.

It's why no two paths through HWS are the same.

In Brief

The entire HWS community works together to help you find your path, connect with opportunity and launch a successful career.

2. Experience that spurs discovery

Knowledge gains meaning when you put it to use.

HWS offers a constellation of closely situated and deeply connected centers of discovery, action and thought—all of which provide opportunities to deepen your studies through hands-on experience. Through them, for example, you can:

  • Conduct ecological research on a college-owned research vessel
  • Create a marketing campaign for a local nonprofit
  • Study and intern at locations across the globe
  • Advance social justice
  • Learn from established authors
  • Get behind-the-scenes glimpses of your future profession

The HWS centers create opportunities to connect disciplines, sharpen skills, distinguish your resume, build global citizenship and grow as a person—through meaningful experience.

In Brief

HWS is a top college with university-level opportunities for research, community engagement, global exploration and career preparation.

3. Inquiry that tackles emerging challenges

To make an impact in the world, you have to understand how it works.

In addition to being stellar teachers and mentors, HWS professors are forward-thinking scholars who bring a future-focused mindset to their teaching and research. Whatever your major or career destination, you'll consider that world through the lens of such pressing global challenges as climate change, racial inequality and geopolitical economy. You'll discover how everything connects, how the knowledge and skills of one discipline apply to another and how creative thinking and a collaborative mindset are the essential ingredients of both societal progress and personal success.

In Brief

Here you'll get to explore the world's most pressing issues while building the skills and insights you need to play a role in making its better future.

4. Community that deepens belonging

College is really fun, and it's a time of tremendous personal growth.

Here you'll do things you love and try new things entirely.

You'll find people with similar interests and background and you'll get to know people with entirely different cultures and life experiences. You'll find yourself at home in new communities as you discover new ways of looking at the world. You'll feel the spirit of our championship athletic teams and be inspired by our incredible arts program. You'll live on the banks of a gorgeous lake. You'll make friends for life within a supportive community that values and celebrates that uniqueness of each individual.

In Brief

You'll find many opportunities to explore, contribute and belong in this welcoming, diverse and supportive community.

5. Professional preparation that accelerates careers

Everything we do here gets you ready for what comes next.

  • Our comprehensive career development plan, Pathways, takes a step-by-step approach to helping you prepare to launch your post-college life.
  • Guaranteed internship funding creates opportunities to explore interests and try on careers.
  • Alums help you learn about careers and make connections.
  • Faculty mentorship helps you discover a path that relates to your interests and talents—and that points to a meaningful, successful future.

In Brief

You'll be guided by experts and supported by our entire community as you discover careers, explore opportunities and prepare for future successes.