An Evening with Baylor Leaders: Honors College Hosts Dialogue in Dallas

On a pleasant September 9 night in a packed banquet room, the Honors College hosted An Evening with Baylor Leaders in Dallas, Texas, bringing together alumni, parents, and friends for a dinner and panel discussion on the changing landscape of higher education. The program, moderated by Dean Douglas Henry, Ph.D., featured Baylor President Linda Livingstone, Ph.D., and Dean Emeritus Thomas Hibbs, Ph.D., in a wide-ranging conversation about public trust, leadership, affordability, and the role of Christian universities.

“In addition to enjoying table fellowship with treasured alumni and friends, we hoped to do two things at the Dallas event,” Dean Henry said. “First, we sought to acknowledge real challenges within American higher education, knowing they form a context for our efforts at Baylor. Second, we wanted to celebrate our beloved university, with special attention to the Honors College’s contributions in educating undergraduates, cultivating their moral imagination, and preparing them for lives of leadership and service in the light of Christ.” 

The discussion began by acknowledging the national mood around higher education. While recent surveys show a slight rebound in confidence, skepticism toward universities remains high. Families continue to wrestle with questions of cost, purpose, and value. About these issues, President Livingstone drew on her extensive experience, including as chair of the American Council on Education Board of Directors, to provide balanced, clear insight. She pointed to the attention given at Baylor to affordability, and to its commitment to a Christian education of incalculable lifelong value.

Hibbs, the inaugural dean of the Honors College (2003-2019), said Baylor’s distinctive, integrative mission positions it well to meet concerns that stymie other universities. “I have always seen the Honors College as attempting to integrate elements in higher education that have in recent years been kept apart: faculty research and the teaching and mentoring of undergraduate students; learning and faith; student life and academic life; classical liberal arts and professional training,” Hibbs said. “At the same time, we were able to speak at the event honestly about the troubles, and they are legion, afflicting higher education. While Baylor has not solved all the problems or can claim success in every area, we are particularly well situated to meet the challenges of the present moment, especially in how the Honors College educates and forms undergraduate students.”

That integrative vision struck a chord with alumni who have witnessed the Honors College’s growth over the past 25 years. Honors College Advisory Council chair Jerome Loughridge (BA,’ 95) said the evening was a reminder not only of the College’s continuity of leadership but also of its central role in Baylor’s larger mission.

“As President Livingstone says, and as I believe, ‘The world needs Baylor.’ And for Baylor to achieve its full potential to illuminate the world as a distinctive R1 institution, generating new knowledge through interdisciplinary research while educating the next generation of leaders in the world and for the Kingdom, it needs the particular excellence embodied in its Honors College. The Honors College has been blessed with outstanding leadership from its inception, which not only impacts its potential but sets before its students exemplars of faithful excellence.”

That focus on leadership and mission threaded throughout the evening’s conversation. While Drs. Henry, Hibbs, and Livingstone addressed challenges of cost and public perception, they also emphasized Baylor’s unique opportunity as a Christian research university to shape students both academically and spiritually.

“I was greatly heartened by the overflowing roomful of attendees for such a thoughtful conversation focused on the future of Christian higher education,” former Honors College Advisory Council chair Joseph Armes (BBA ’83, MBA ’84) said. “The discussion among President Livingstone, Dean Henry and Dean Emeritus Hibbs reminded me of the nobility in pursuing dialogue, discovery, and understanding, anchored in a Christian view of reality — which is one of the most important distinctives of the Honors College.”

The evening’s impact was larger than one night’s dialogue. For those gathered, it reaffirmed Baylor’s conviction that higher education must go well beyond conferral of degrees and career preparation to form deeply thoughtful, character-driven leaders whose lives are grounded in biblical wisdom, selfless service, and faith in Christ.