Guided by this inclusive Christian message of impartial love, Berea's founders held fast to their radical vision of a college and a community committed to interracial education, to the Appalachian region, and to the equality of all women and men from all "nations and climes." This scriptural heritage compelled Berea College to serve all persons regardless of race, creed, color, gender, or class and led the College to draw its students from two immediate constituencies: African-Americans freed by the American Civil War and "loyal" white mountaineers.