Baylor in Deeds!

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.

“Baylor in Deeds invites creative insight united to a collaborative spirit and energetic action,” said Douglas Henry, Ph.D., Dean of the Honors College. “The Lord has blessed Baylor with a unique capacity to understand and respond to the world’s great needs through teaching and research that are informed by both reason and Christian faith. Together with the Honors College’s amazing faculty and staff, I’m excited about the ways we will help the University fulfill its bold strategic plan.”

Equipping Students to Flourish

Baylor in Deeds seeks for students to “grow in character as they acquire the virtues indispensable for learning and for lifelong flourishing.” From its founding in 2002, the Honors College has placed front and center the cultivation of authentic human flourishing through a curriculum grounded in primary sources and great texts that challenge students to discern true flourishing from superficial ideals. This mission extends into its newly renovated Honors Residential College (HRC), where students engage in spiritual, social, and intellectual growth. Programs within the HRC—including chapel services, service initiatives, and mission trips—promote a life of love of God, love of neighbor, and love of learning.

Plans under discussion to support Baylor in Deeds include new staff-supported student leadership and engagement activities, as well as additional intellectual, moral, and spiritual formation opportunities for all Honors College students. Curriculum that further distinguishes and elevates a Baylor Honors College is also in the works, with an eye on appealing to the highest aspiring, highest ability prospective students anywhere to be found. Special attention is being given to honors-level interdisciplinary study that responds with timeliness and relevance to the needs of the world, and that includes pathways for undergraduate research. Also in the works are a new degree, an ethics curriculum, and the development of special pathways for Honors College pre-health students—who garner Baylor’s highest MCAT scores and best medical school acceptance rates. Through these efforts, the Honors College aims to foster an environment where students from all backgrounds can pursue a life of purpose, service, and connection.

Advancing Interdisciplinary Research and Impact

Our work “must be informed, first and foremost, by [our] faith commitment,” Baylor in Deeds says, preparing us “to participate in God’s redemptive work in the world.” The world’s needs and problems do not fit into boxes, but require multi-faceted, interdisciplinary wisdom. Both in its Christian vision and its interdisciplinarity, the Honors College is poised to support the strategic plan. The Honors Program, Baylor Interdisciplinary Core (BIC), University Scholars, and Great Texts have provided students with theologically grounded, interdisciplinary perspectives for decades. The College will deepen its historic strengths by supporting collaborative research, translating its impact to wider constituencies through public engagement, and providing expertise around the intersections of faith, technology, and human flourishing.

Building a Global, Caring Community

Baylor in Deeds lifts up a “vibrant, caring, global community” as a “cornerstone of the Baylor experience.” The Honors College will embody Baylor’s motto, pro ecclesia, pro Texana, pro mundo, by cultivating a growing network of educational and service opportunities worldwide. Central to this vision is the development of new international study programs, such as the Orbis Honors Scholars, designed to identify, inspire, and support entering students who are committed to overseas studies. The College also aims to strengthen connections with the global Church, particularly within the Global South, through new efforts to host international Christian leaders and scholars at Baylor, and by enhancing existing partnerships in locations like Costa Rica, Greece, and Kenya. Locally, we will continue to offer leadership in the areas of civic engagement and civil discourse.

Greater engagement of our academic community with the cultural and fine arts is also a priority. With new showcase public spaces available across the new home of the Honors College on Founders Mall, art exhibits and curriculum-inspired collaborations with colleagues in music and theatre arts are under discussion. 

In these ways, the Honors College will “partner with our Waco neighbors” and “open doors of understanding and hospitality that will transform our campus, our hometown, and our world,” as Baylor in Deeds puts it.

Demonstrating Christian Stewardship

The University’s strategic plan ends by reminding us that “Baylor belongs first and foremost to God, as we are instruments for God’s work around the world.” We are called to a great stewardship.

The Honors College seeks to model responsible care for our common home. Through a thriving program in Theology, Ecology, and Food Justice, established at the George W. Truett Theological Seminary and now a collaborative effort with the Honors College, we will spearhead efforts to understand and respond to one of the world’s most urgent challenges with Christian grace and justice.

Our sense of stewardship also calls us to find new ways of bridging the gap between gifted students’ desire for the depth and power of an Honors College education and their ability to fund it. Additional scholarship resources,especially new endowed funds to support high-need and first-generation students, will ensure that Baylor’s educational offerings are accessible to all qualified students, regardless of financial background.

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In Baylor in Deeds, the Honors College finds both affirmation and invitation—a call to continue its rich tradition of equipping students for lives of character, scholarship, and service while embracing new opportunities for flourishing, interdisciplinary exploration, and global engagement. As Baylor charts a path toward the future, the Honors College remains a beacon of light, advancing the University’s mission to serve both the Church and the world with unwavering dedication and grace.