News

Baylor University’s success for highly competitive fellowships and awards continues to skyrocket as a record 20 Baylor students and recent alumni have been selected for 2025-2026 Fulbright U.S. Student Grants. 

Through Instagram captions, viral memes, and reels that capture the messiness of daily life, many mothers are using humor to talk about something deeper than overtired toddlers. For Sarah Walden, Ph.D., associate professor of rhetoric in the Baylor Interdisciplinary Core, these posts represent a significant cultural shift.

Camille Watson, B.A. ’22, has won the prestigious Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Graduate Fellowship – one of the U.S. State Department’s flagship initiatives for recruiting top-tier talent for Foreign Service careers. 

Baylor University students were awarded scholarships and fellowships, including Boren Awards, Critical Language Scholarships and a Fulbright UK Summer Institutes award.

When Lauren Jarvis arrived at Baylor as a first-year student, she was uncertain about where her path would lead. What she found in the Honors College, particularly through the University Scholars program, set her on a course that would eventually take her across the Atlantic as a Marshall Scholar.  

 

Earning recognition as a Master Teacher at Baylor is a rare honor — the highest a BU professor can receive for his/her teaching. In January, President Linda Livingstone announced the lifetime designation for four Baylor professors, increasing the roll of Master Teachers to 33 since the honor was first bestowed more than 40 years ago.

Among the newest honorees is Dr. Lenore Wright (MA ’95), an award-winning philosophy professor in the Baylor Interdisciplinary Core (BIC) and director of Baylor’s Academy of Teaching and Learning from 2011-24. Wright came to Baylor in 1994 as a graduate student, joined the Baylor faculty five years later, and has been a BU fixture ever since.

Honors College graduates Jeffrey Black, Olivia Gray, and Josiah Zeigler were recently named the 2024 recipients of the F. Ray Wilson Award for Best Thesis, a recognition that rewards excellence in the scholarship of undergraduate thesis writers in Baylor’s Honors Program.

Baylor undergraduate STEM researchers have kicked off the spring major fellowships and awards season by earning a record four Goldwater Scholarships, the preeminent undergraduate award that supports outstanding undergraduates interested in pursuing STEM research careers.

Baylor’s Honors College is ushering in a new era with the introduction of the Bachelor of Philosophy (B.Phil.) degree. In this Q&A, Dr. Scott H. Moore, Associate Dean for Strategic Initiatives in the Honors College, shares insights into the inspiration behind the degree, what sets it apart from other academic opportunities, and the unique role that research will play in students’ journeys. 

Learn how receiving a scholarship strengthened a student’s academic success

The Honors College is pleased to announce the appointment of Chad Thompson, M.D., as Clinical Assistant Professor of Pre-Health Education, beginning March 1, 2025. In this new role, Dr. Thompson will mentor Honors College pre-health students and lead courses on population health while bridging Baylor’s long-standing partnership with Waco Family Medicine (WFM).

Eleven Baylor University professors have been honored with Outstanding Faculty Awards for teaching, scholarship and contributions to the academic community for the 2024-2025 academic year.

Nicholas Sparks' Counting Miracles features an epigraph, a line from the book of Job: “He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted.” The book reminds us that while we live in a fraught world of calamity, in which war, wildfire, famine, disease, death are present, we also live in a miraculous world, one governed by God’s beneficent providence. May we have eyes to see, ears to hear, and tongues to tell.

The Honors College is excited to announce the launch of a Bachelor of Philosophy (B.Phil.) degree. Designed for students seeking rigorous honors-level study united with deep interdisciplinary learning and meaningful research, the B.Phil. offers a pathway for students to stand out academically while preparing for competitive post-graduate opportunities.

Baylor University is excited to launch the Examined Life Scholars (ELS) Program, a two-week summer initiative aimed at empowering underserved high school students in Waco to pursue higher education. Funded by a grant from the Teagle Foundation’s Knowledge for Freedom initiative, the program—led by Assistant Director of Undergraduate Admissions Kristy Brischke, MS Ed, Honors Program Director Elizabeth Corey, Ph.D., and Associate Professor in the Baylor Interdisciplinary Core Samuel Perry, Ph.D.—seeks to close the summer opportunity gap and cultivate critical thinking, communication, and decision-making skills through a liberal arts-focused curriculum.

Baylor Professors Kevin D. Dougherty, Andrew P. Hogue, Wiff Rudd and  J. Lenore Wright receive the lifetime designation of Master Teacher, the highest honor granted to Baylor faculty for sustained excellence in teaching.

Teaching is difficult. We attempt mastery of our subject, acknowledging that our reach often exceeds our grasp. We strive to understand our students, with all the complexities of their lives, because we teach persons, not material. And while striving to master our subject and understand our students, we also need abundant self-knowledge, lest we get in the way of the subjects and students we serve.

When University Scholar Dayna Smith walked into a research lab at Tübingen University Hospital in Tübingen, Germany last summer, she was stepping into more than just a professional opportunity. She was embracing a unique intersection of her academic passions: cancer research and the German language. 

For the first time in years, I read Pico della Mirandola’s “Oration on the Dignity of Man.” Hailed as “the most succinct expression of the mind of the Renaissance,” it’s brash in ambition. He was aware that his speech “would be irritating and offensive” and that he would be resented for daring, “at my age, a mere twenty-four years, . . . to propose a disputation concerning the most subtle mysteries of Christian theology.” Pico’s ambition exceeded his ability. His bravado further undermined his reception. Yet he gets some important things right.

Jennifer Atwood’s journey to her calling began with a simple curiosity about the past. What started as a dream to become a museum curator turned into a passion for great books. Now a teacher at The Academy of Classical Christian Studies in Oklahoma City, Atwood credits Baylor’s Honors College with shaping her approach to teaching and learning.

Four Baylor University students have been named University Innovation Fellows, a nationally competitive global program run by Stanford University’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design that empowers student leaders to increase campus engagement with innovation, entrepreneurship, design thinking and creativity.

Luke Padon is no stranger to Baylor—he was raised by two Baylor alumni. Now, as a freshman, he’s not just stepping onto campus; he’s following in his father’s footsteps by joining the Baylor Interdisciplinary Core. As the BIC approaches its 30th anniversary, Luke and his father, Dr. Derek Padon (BA ’99), are making history as the first father-son duo to participate in the Honors College’s alternative core program.

Baylor University’s newest strategic plan, Baylor in Deeds, spanning 2024 to 2030, reaffirms and advances the University’s commitment to its Christ-centered academic mission. Inspired by Matthew 5:16, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven,” Baylor in Deeds emphasizes student flourishing, interdisciplinary excellence, global impact, and Christian stewardship. Baylor’s Honors College is poised to advance these strategic aims by leveraging the gifts of its faculty and staff, and utilizing the far-reaching scope of its distinctive curriculum and residential college.

The Baylor Interdisciplinary Core was honored to welcome Priya Chandna, B.S. ’21, as the speaker for its annual Homecoming Lecture. Her talk, titled “A BIC Advantage: Merging Liberal Arts, STEM, and Nursing Excellence,” highlighted her transformative BIC experience and the ways the program’s interdisciplinary approach has empowered her to excel as a compassionate and skilled nurse practitioner.

Baylor University today dedicated the newly renovated Honors Residential College during a morning ribbon-cutting ceremony, marking the official opening of the Honors College’s new home and the grand opening of the Carona Family Commons.

Two of the oldest residential halls on campus are recently reopened after a $48 million renovation and expansion project. The Honors Residential College (HRC) has been given a revitalized home within Memorial and Alexander halls. 

Last week, I joined our new faculty and postdocs to discuss Mark Schwehn’s Exiles from Eden: Religion and the Academic Vocation in America. With guidance from Jonathan Tran, associate dean for faculty, our small group pondered Schwehn’s personal narrative and the intellectual history he offers in the book. We also talked about our personal academic journeys and Baylor’s place in Schwehn’s account of American higher education. 

The Honors College has appointed Erika Abel, Ph.D., Clinical Professor in the Honors Program, as Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies. In addition to her administrative role, Abel will continue her teaching responsibilities within the Honors Program. Her appointment is effective immediately. 

Honors College renovations are an investment in transformational undergraduate education.

A cadre of Honors College faculty is bringing new attention to Boethius’ book, The Consolation of Philosophy, in honor of its 1,500th anniversary. Led by Sarah-Jane Murray, Ph.D., professor of great texts and creative writing, they want not only to commemorate Boethius’ life (he was executed by the emperor in 524), but to recover and lift up the wisdom of his greatest book. This effort, The Boethius Project, made a soft launch earlier this year, with milepost events scheduled in coming months. 

The Honors College has appointed Jennifer Howell, Ph.D., currently Director of the Theology, Ecology and Food Justice Program at George W. Truett Theological Seminary, as a new Clinical Assistant Professor of Theology in the Honors Program. In addition to her teaching responsibilities, Howell will continue her role at Truett Seminary. 

 

The Honors College is pleased to announce the appointment of Erika Abel, Ph.D., as clinical professor of health sciences in the Honors Program. Abel returns to the College after serving at Baylor College of Medicine.

Last week’s retreat and strategic planning launch for the Honors College encouraged and inspired me, as I trust it did you as well. I was blessed to share time with you, thinking and dreaming and speaking at leisure, guided by the mission and promise of Baylor, with an eye on ways we can support the University’s strategic plan. 

Since reading Huckleberry Finn as a child, Huck’s adventures—and his awakening, if halting awareness of Jim’s humanity—have stuck with me. Now, Percival Everett has brought Jim to life in his masterful new novel James. In it, we reexperience the story from the vantage of the fugitive slave Jim. My imagination and understanding have been enriched by including the book in my summer reading.

To kick off the summer, Honors Residential College (HRC) students traveled to Costa Rica to continue a partnership with One More Child. Since 2017, the HRC has hosted a mission trip to help extend the service happening within the walls of the HRC out into the world. This year’s program, led by HRC Faculty Steward Jason Whitt, Ph.D., served alongside two One More Child partners: Iglesia Biblica Conce-Sion (IBCS) and Transforma.  

Every year, the Honors College grants a select number of full-tuition scholarships through the Getterman Scholars Program. This highly competitive initiative draws some of the nation’s most exceptional high school seniors to Baylor University.

As three Getterman Scholars recently completed their journey at Baylor, the Honors College invited them to reflect on their transformative experiences.

Honors College professors Victor Hinojosa, Ph.D., Lenore Wright, Ph.D., and Davide Zori, Ph.D., have been honored with Outstanding Faculty Awards for teaching, scholarship, and contributions to the academic community for the 2023-2024 academic year. 

The Outstanding Faculty Awards recognize the best all-around professors on teaching capabilities, research achievement, effective committee service, time spent with students, and civic and church involvement. 

Continuing Baylor University’s year-long focus on civil discourse, 31 Baylor students – newly commissioned as the inaugural cohort of “Bridgebuilding Fellows” – joined together April 23 at the Hurd Welcome Center for a university-wide demonstration of a model for bridging these divides by cultivating curiosity, deep listening and story sharing. 

Honors College graduates Rahul Banka, Sophie Cope, and Robbie Ridder were recently named the 2023 recipients of the F. Ray Wilson Award for Best Thesis, a recognition that rewards excellence in scholarship of undergraduate thesis writers in Baylor’s Honors Program. 

Alagu Subramanian, B.A. ’23, a University Scholar with concentrations in biology, medical humanities and business administration, is Baylor University's fourth consecutive Churchill Scholar, an unprecedented achievement for the prestigious and highly selective scholarship in science, mathematics and engineering.

The Honors College looks forward to welcoming Honors Program and Great Texts alumna Robin Landrith, (BA, ’16) back to campus on April 19 as she gives the keynote address for this year’s Academic Honors Convocation. Landrith, known for her four-year tenure as starting catcher on the Baylor Softball team, exemplified unwavering competitiveness both on and off the field throughout her time at Baylor. 

After nearly one year at the helm, Great Texts Program Director William Weaver, Ph.D., reflects in this Q&A on his new role and expands on what makes studying Great Texts so transformative. 

In a showcase of three distinct journeys, Honors College students recount their spring break adventures. Their stories testify to the varied ways in which students seek enlightenment, growth, and connection during their breaks from academic pursuits. 

Last year, Barbara Kingsolver won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for her novel, Demon Copperhead. Inspired by Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield, Kingsolver lays bare the woeful lives of orphans in drug-addicted America. Her setting isn’t London, but southwest Virginia; her critical target isn’t first wave industrialism, but big pharma. Narrated by the grownup title character, nicknamed Demon Copperhead, Kingsolver’s novel is brutal and beautiful.

The Honors College has appointed Scott Moore, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Philosophy and Great Texts, as Associate Dean for Strategic Initiatives. In addition to his administrative role, Moore will continue his teaching responsibilities within the Great Texts Program. His appointment is effective March 1. 

I returned last night from a few days in Tampa Bay at a meeting of the American Conference of Academic Deans (ACAD). Cue the jokes about how many deans does it take to ______, and I’ll laugh right along with you. However, it’s easy for me to identify benefits of attending the ACAD meeting. For one thing, I want to be an effective dean and always have more to learn.

When students visit “Sparky” Matthews’ office on the first floor of the Baylor Sciences Building, they often find themselves looking at all the stuff instead of paying attention to the conversation.

Honors Program alumnus Benjamin Aguiñaga (BA, ’12) was recently appointed as Louisiana's solicitor general. With a proven track record of legal excellence, Aguiñaga is set to bring his expertise to bear on critical issues facing the state. 

This January, 14 Honors College students embarked on a two-week journey through Italy, immersing themselves in the Great Texts in Italy program. Guided by the expertise of Associate Professor of Philosophy and Great Texts, Scott Moore, Ph.D., Rayzor Professor of Philosophy and Dean Emeritus, Thomas Hibbs, Ph.D., and Senior Lecturer in the Honors Program Stacey Hibbs, Ph.D.,  students explored the various locales depicted in Dante’s Divine Comedy and visited culturally significant sites from the Italian Renaissance.

Under Dr. Elizabeth Corey's guidance, Baylor's Honors Program has thrived with a 25% increase in program retention and an uptick in prestigious award winners. In this Q&A, Dr. Corey addresses the program's unique qualities, discusses mentorship, celebrates the rewarding experience of teaching, and shares how leading the program has influenced her scholarship. 

Recently, I’ve benefitted from a reading group discussing Vincent Lloyd’s Religion of the Field Negro: On Black Secularism and Black Theology. My attendance is marred by conflicts with other meetings, but when able, I’ve learned much from exploring the book with Barry Harvey, Jenny Howell, Wemimo Jaiyesimi, Steve Reid, Christopher Richmann, and others.

Since leaving Baylor, Jerome Loughride’s (BA,’ 95) career path has been anything but linear. Having held key positions in higher education, private equity, the energy sector, and public service, Loughridge credits his time as a University Scholar for helping him to succeed in vastly different lines of work and leadership--and to do so with a grounded understanding of his calling.

The first time University Scholar alumna Libby Feray (BA, ’20) saw First Baptist Amarillo she was sitting in Dr. David Jeffrey’s Masterworks of Arts course. After looking at dozens of photos of ancient cathedrals scattered across Europe, Feray was captivated the most by a church built during the 1920s in the Panhandle of Texas.

As graduation approaches, seniors Emma Merrill, Robbie Ridder, Kaitlyn Vana, and Anna Louise Wages share how their time in the Honors College impacted and prepared them for the future.

Dr. Douglas V. Henry, Dean of the Honors College and Associate Professor of Philosophy, has been elected to a four-year term on the National Board of the Lilly Network for Church-Related Colleges and Universities.

As the years of my life accumulate, the scope of my gratitude has also grown. Like you, I have much for which to give thanks. I acknowledge and feel gratitude more profoundly than at any prior point in my life. When we see everything within God’s divine economy, wherein gift and plenitude are watchwords, how can we not give thanks from the bottom of our hearts and the depths of our minds?

The Baylor Interdisciplinary Core welcomed Ross Natividad, B.A. ’10, M.A. ’12, J.D. for their annual Homecoming Lecture. In his talk titled, “Lessons Learned after the BIC,” Ross shared valuable insights drawn from his experiences within the BIC program and illuminated on how those lessons continue to shape his life today.

During the annual Drumwright Family Lecture, Vincent Lloyd, Ph.D., Professor of Theology and Religion at Villanova University, delivered an engaging talk titled "Pursuing Justice in Toxic Times." At the heart of his lecture were deep insights about challenges in the modern pursuit of justice.

Three years ago, I led an Honors Colloquium on Will Campbell’s Brother to a Dragonfly, a National Book Award finalist. Little did I know that within a few days, I would receive a student’s strident complaint. We live in times in which disagreement too often leads to distrust and disengagement, or worse. But happily in this case, honestly expressed doubts and openness to conversation led to understanding. I’m grateful for the student’s complaint and her desire to discuss it with me.

With his book, Called Into Questions, hitting shelves today, Assistant Professor of Ethics and Theology in the Honors Program, Matthew Anderson, D. Phil., invites readers on a captivating journey into the realm of Christian faith and a posture of questioning. In this interview, we sit down with Anderson to explore the intricate interplay between faith and inquiry, shedding light on a profound relationship explored in his latest release.

When offering advice to aspiring physicians, Catherine Harrell, M.D. (BA ’06), a seasoned dermatologist and University Scholars alumna, advocates for a unique approach: do not major in a science.

 

Faculty and staff members are the heart and soul of any academic institution, shaping the educational experiences of students and driving the pursuit of knowledge. Baylor University's Honors College stands as a shining example of the transformative power of exceptional faculty and staff.

After celebrating his one-year anniversary as the Director of the Baylor Interdisciplinary Core, Darren Middleton, Ph.D. reflects in this Q&A on his first year with the BIC and shares his hopes for the future. 

I’m an easy mark for campus novels. Give me Lodge, McInerny, Russo, Sayers, Snow, or Tartt—no matter which, fictionalized collegiate life fascinates me.

Rebecca Kuang’s Babel is the latest entry. Principally set in 1830s Oxford, but in an alternate reality, the novel’s protagonist, Robin Swift, is the Cantonese ward of a renowned Sinologist. Spirited away from destitution to posh Hampstead, Robin receives an education that fits him for Oxford. There, he pursues a degree through the Royal Institute of Translation, aka Babel. Robins’s soaring dreams are plausible in a period Oxford that enchants. Until it doesn’t.

Every summer, Honors College students set out to fling their green and gold afar.  For junior Elizabeth John, senior Lily Weir, and junior Devin Gann that looked like an elite internship and serving on mission in Kenya and Greece. These three students share a glimpse into what their summer held.

Honors College Dean Douglas Henry, Ph.D. is pleased to announce the launch of a new, nationally competitive Postdoctoral Teaching Fellowship Program. Beginning this fall, recently minted PhDs will be mentored by Honors College faculty while gaining experience in interdisciplinary classroom instruction.

The Honors College is pleased to announce the appointment of Matthew Anderson, D. Phil., as Assistant Professor of Ethics and Theology in the Honors Program. He is set to begin August 1.

I’ve made at least a dozen trips to what Pindar praised as “splendid, honorable Athens.” Cumulatively, I’ve spent more than six months in Greece. For all that time, however, I had never visited the site of Plato’s Academy. On a free day last month, I took a leisurely walk to see what I could, and to do as Horace proposed: to “seek for truth in the groves of Academe.”

WACO, Texas (June 1, 2023) – Baylor University today announced a $5 million gift from John and Helen Carona of Dallas, providing significant momentum and support for the renovation and construction of the Honors Residential College, as well as the University’s other major capital priorities through the Give Light Capital Fund.

During the last two weeks of May, 10 Honors College students traveled to Athens for two weeks of ministry, service, and learning. Led by Honors College Dean Douglas Henry, Ph.D. and Classics Lecturer Joe DiLuzio, Ph.D., students served with joy while deepening their own sense of Christian calling, responsiveness to the Lord, usefulness in Christ’s church, and awareness of the challenges for people in Greece, Europe, and the wider world.

Each year the Honors College awards a select number of full-tuition scholarships through the Getterman Scholars Program. The highly competitive program attracts some of the country’s best and brightest high school seniors to Baylor University.

With four Getterman Scholars just completing their time at Baylor, the Honors College asked each of them to reflect on their experience.

Robert Bulwer-Lytton’s poem ‘Athens” evokes a greatness to which humanity aspires, yet which despite high-flown vision, falls short of what’s most desired. That, Plato recognized, is the gift of being united forever to divine beauty, And as St. Paul told the Athenians of his day, human art and imagination cannot achieve this highest good, but must yield to the one in whom we live and move and have our being, the Lord who is hailed and harked by lark and nightingale.

WACO, Texas (May 3, 2023) – Baylor University today announced a $1.5 million challenge grant from the J.E. & L.E. Mabee Foundation of Midland, Texas, providing significant momentum and support for the renovation and construction of the Honors Residential College. The grant will fund a significant portion of the more than $7 million needed in philanthropic support to complete the project, one of many capital projects funded through the Give Light campaign.

Baylor Honors College recently hosted alumnus Samuel Chen (B.A. ’09, M.A. ’11) as the keynote speaker for Academic Honors Convocation. Chen—an award-winning political scientist, consultant, and strategist—gave a powerful address to this year’s honorees in his talk titled, “What Does Washington have to do with Waco?”

The Baylor Honors College is excited to announce that William Weaver, Ph.D., Professor of Literature in Great Texts, has accepted appointment as the new Director of Great Texts. Weaver, who follows Phil Donnelly, Ph.D., in the role, is set to begin June 1.

If, per impossibile, we could become friends with fictional characters, Isabel Dalhousie would appear on my list. Over the last fifteen years, I’ve gotten to know her through Alexander McCall Smith’s novels in his Sunday Philosophy Club series. He portrays Isabel with a range of commendable qualities. Her wonder accompanies her everyday experiences and thoughts, and her wisdom-loving moves in many directions.

Earlier this spring, the Baylor Board of Regents approved a budget increase of $22.75 million for the renovation of the Honors Residential College (HRC) bringing the total project budget to $57.75 million. The project, which is slated to begin in May, fulfills key commitments of Illuminate Forward to improve students’ residential campus experience and to improve the Honors College.

Alan Jacobs, Ph.D., a longtime Baylor Honors College faculty member, literary critic and author, has been appointed as The Jim and Sharon Harrod Endowed Chair of Christian Thought. In this position, Jacobs will build on decades of past scholarship to promote deep study of the relationship between faith and knowledge, while fostering rich avenues for transformational learning among Baylor’s students within the Honors College. The Harrod Chair also will further ensure Baylor is a national leader in dialogue concerning the intersection of faith and learning in higher education.

Returning to a mainstay of pre-pandemic life, a group of Honors Residential College (HRC) students devoted their Spring Break to mission work. This year’s trip involved service alongside One More Child, an organization that exists to provide Christ-centered services to vulnerable children and struggling families both domestically and internationally, at their headquarters in Lakeland, Fla.

In 1910, on a little patch of farmland in central Oklahoma, my grandmother was born into another world. Three years prior, Oklahoma Territory had given way to statehood, but large swaths of the state remained frontier land. Then, as now, distant men commanded unfathomable wealth and power, yet the baby who would become my grandmother was as blissfully unaware of Franz Joseph I, Nicholas II, and George V as they were of her.

The Baylor University Honors College, with gratitude for sponsorship by Provost Emeritus Donald Schmeltekopf, Ph.D. and his wife, Judy, is excited to announce the establishment of the Annual Ethics and Culture Lecture Series. The first lecture of the series will feature Russell Moore, Ph.D., Editor in Chief at Christianity Today, and be held on Monday, March 27 at 7:00 p.m. at the Baylor Club Ballroom.

When Great Texts alumnus Christopher Scott, (BA, ’04) stepped foot onto Baylor’s campus, he had $600 to his name thanks to a love offering from his home church. Knowing Baylor was where he was supposed to be, Scott took a leap of faith and worked to fill in the gaps financially.

After five years of faithful work in congregations across Texas, The Soundings Project has received a two-year grant extension from Lilly Endowment Inc. Led by Darin Davis, Ph.D., clinical professor of moral philosophy in the Honors Program, and director of the Institute for Faith and Learning (IFL), Soundings will continue to serve as hub of innovation for 12 congregations as they reflect deeply and theologically about the nature of vocation.

In her recent book,
Death and Religion: The Basics, Dr. Candi Cann, Associate Professor of Religion in the Baylor Interdisciplinary Core, leads readers through a thorough and accessible introduction to dying, death, grief, and conceptions of the afterlife in world religions. In honor of the book’s release, Dr. Cann answers a few questions about her newest work:

This January the Honors College had the privilege of hosting 36 of the nation’s most academically sought-after high school seniors for Getterman Scholars Day. Since the program’s inception in 2017, 18 full-cost-of-attendance scholarships have been awarded to students from around the country and the program has grown into one of the most prominent scholarship opportunities at Baylor.

The deliverance of the children of Israel out of Egyptian bondage joins the Abrahamic covenant and the giving of the law at Sinai as a defining encounter of the Hebrews with the Lord, the one “who brought [them] out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” The Exodus, and especially the Passover, thus shaped the faith Jesus’s first disciples, as it should ours too.

Yet the late Al Raboteau points out that not all Christians have thought alike about the Exodus, especially in American political history.

Baylor University’s Honors College has appointed Jonathan Tran, Ph.D., formerly Associate Professor of Philosophical Theology and George W. Baines Chair of Religion in the College of Arts and Sciences, as Associate Dean for Faculty. In addition to his administrative role, Dr. Tran now holds a tenured position as Associate Professor of Theology in the Great Texts Program. Tran’s appointment was effective January 1.

Next week brings us to the Thanksgiving holiday. Here are blessings within the Honors College for which I’m thankful.

I’m thankful for you, a faculty and staff who are known for ability, brilliance, character, dedication, effectiveness, faith—I could easily carry on through the rest of the alphabet, but you get the point.

In his recent book, Why We Kiss Under the Mistletoe, Dr. Michael Foley, Professor of Patristics in the Great Texts Program, dives deep into the history of Christmas and the customs that surround the beloved holiday that celebrates Jesus’s birth. Throughout its pages, Foley guides readers through the history of our favorite Christmas carols, foods, and drinks and even digs into the Yuletide season’s dark and ghoulish side.

This year, the Honors College achieved 20 years as an academic unit at Baylor. With 1500 students pursuing dozens of academic majors and pre-professional programs around the university, the Honors College has grown into an extraordinary community of accomplishment, friendship, and vision, all in service to Baylor’s Christian mission. As this year comes to a close, we wanted you to know some of our key facts and figures as we launch into our next season of academic life.

Todd Buras, Ph.D., Department Chair and Associate Professor of Philosophy in the College of Arts & Sciences, and Phil Donnelly, Ph.D., Director of the Great Texts Program and Professor of Literature in the Honors College, have received a $189,999 National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) grant to build on the success of their 2021 summer seminar titled Disputatio and the Pursuit of Wisdom in the Humanities.

This year was a record-breaking year for prestigious international scholarships at Baylor with 14 students – eight of which were Honors College students - receiving Fulbright scholarships. Five of our recent alumni share about their experience abroad so far as Fulbright English Teaching Assistants (ETA), and how the Honors College helped equip them for the journey ahead.

Before Baylor Interdisciplinary Core graduate Matthew Pierce (BBA, ’09) enrolled at Baylor, he and his mother had a conversation about how they would fund his undergraduate education. Unsure of where the money would come from, Pierce’s mother reassured him that God would give him more on the journey than at the start.

Baylor University Honors College recently hosted Jessica Hooten Wilson, Ph.D., Visiting Scholar of Liberal Arts at Pepperdine University, for its annual Drumwright Family Lecture. Wilson’s talk titled The Little Way through the Apocalypse centered around Saint Thérèse of Lisieux and her Little Way.

In Reading Walker Percy’s Novels (LSU Press, 2018), Jessica Hooten Wilson frames her interpretation of Love in the Ruins, this way: "The end of the world has been lamented repeatedly throughout history: in Mesopotamian culture, in ancient Rome when the barbarians ransacked the capital, in the headlines of British news during World War I. Every age has suffered crises that have pushed some prophets and artists to don metaphorical sackcloth and cry out, 'This is the end!' Even now, the twenty-first century is rife with apocalyptic terror . . . The question is, what to do when the world crashes down around you? How to live and love in the ruins of civilization?"

If you spend any time in the Honors College, it does not take long to hear Dr. Alden Smith’s name. Since 1994, the longtime professor and Master Teacher in Classics has served as the Director of the University Scholars Program, Director of the Honors Program, and Associate Dean of the Honors College, but if you ask him what he loves most about his time at Baylor, it is the connections he makes with his students.

With millions, I sadly received news of Queen Elizabeth’s death, and I mourn as she’s laid to rest today. All grasp the staggering longevity of Her Majesty’s service. Many have honored her grace and fortitude through national and personal tragedy. Some have noted the magnanimity and humility borne of her Christian faith, itself central to her monarchical vocation.

Baylor Honors College seniors, Alison Jung and Mary Mersereau, were recognized for outstanding contributions during MD Anderson’s University Outreach Program’s poster competition on August 11. Every student who participated in MD Anderson’s internship program was responsible for creating a poster presentation of the research they conducted throughout the summer. Their posters were presented to MD Anderson faculty and staff to conclude the 2022 University Outreach internship program.

I hope you enjoyed a good summer. After two years of limited travel, I made up for lost time with visits to cities as far away as Athens, Greece (work) and Reykjavik, Iceland (vacation), and as near and familiar as Amarillo, Dallas, Houston, and Tulsa where I met alumni, friends, and donors of the Honors College.