“It is my conviction that the well-being of any country depends much upon the culture of her women, and I have done what I could to found a university that would provide for women a thorough and liberal education, so that for them, the highest motives may become clear purposes and fixed habits of life; and I desire that the instruction and influence of Converse University be always such that the students may be enabled to see clearly, to decide wisely, to act justly; and that they may learn to love God and humanity, and be faithful to truth and duty, so that their influence may be characterized by purity and power.
“It is also my desire and hope that Converse University will always be truly religious but never denominational. I believe that religion is essential to all that is purest and best in life here and hereafter. I wish the University to be really, but liberally and tolerantly, Christian; for I believe that the revelation of God in Christ is for salvation; and I commend and commit the University to the love and guidance of God, and to the care, sympathy, and fidelity of my fellowmen.”
—Dexter Edgar Converse