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Since leaving Baylor, Jerome Loughridge’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.

Ever wondered how Honors College students spend their summer? For junior Ella Pursley, senior Mark Mills, and senior Kaitlyn Tremble that looked like an elite internship and the chance to study the subjects they love abroad. These three students share a glimpse into what their summer held and how the Honors College helped prepare them for it.

With Baylor’s national profile continuing to rise, the Honors College looks to welcome one of its most academically impressive classes this fall. With over 350 students hailing from seven different countries and 32 states, this year’s class boasts 22 valedictorians, a median ACT score of 33, and 58 different majors being pursued in colleges and schools across Baylor’s campus.

The Honors College is excited to announce that Dr. Alejandro Castrillón has accepted appointment as Assistant Professor of Political Science in the Baylor Interdisciplinary Core (BIC). He is set to begin service this fall.

The Baylor University Honors College announces the appointment of Dr. Kristen Drahos as Assistant Professor of Great Texts and Theology. Dr. Drahos will begin teaching this fall.

After a highly competitive search, the Baylor Honors College announces the appointment of Dr. George Njung as Assistant Professor of African Studies in the Baylor Interdisciplinary Core (BIC). Dr. Njung will assume his new role this fall.

Earlier this spring, Honors College Dean Douglas Henry announced the launch of the Undergraduate Research Assistant Program. This new program, which directly supports Pro Futuris and Illuminate, will provide support for research productive faculty and give Honors College students the opportunity to learn and be mentored as they assist professors.

The Honors College is excited to announce that Dr. Darren J.N. Middleton, John F. Weatherly Professor of Religion at Texas Christian University, has accepted appointment as Director of the Baylor Interdisciplinary Core. In addition to his administrative role, he will hold a tenured faculty appointment in the BIC as Professor of Literature and Theology. He is set to begin service effective August 1.

Seven months ago, Baylor’s Honors College embarked on a journey to create the world’s largest Dante reading group through 100 Days of Dante. With the help of Biola University, Gonzaga University, Whitworth University, the University of Dallas, and Eastern University, the project led over 15,000 people from across the globe through the Divine Comedy.

Honors College graduates Samuel Aker, Benjamin “Jack” Young and Angelo Wong were recently named the 2021 recipients of the F. Ray Wilson II Award for Best Thesis, a recognition that rewards excellence in scholarship honoring undergraduate thesis writers in Baylor’s Honors Program.

Do you know Christina Rossetti’s moving Good Friday poem? It's entitled "Beneath the Cross." Her plaintive self-indictment begins with the first line, continues in the middle stanzas through contrasts with mortal and cosmic lament at Christ’s passion, and gathers at the end with an appeal to the mercy of the Lord. On this day, may we weep for love of Christ, sorrow for sin, and hope of redemption. Happy Good Friday, my friends.

Each year, hundreds of high-achieving students apply for the chance to be named a Getterman Scholar. Along with the prestige of selection comes an annually renewable scholarship that covers full tuition, fees, room and board, along with summer study abroad, research internships, and mission/service trips.

Baylor University’s Honors College is pleased to share that Dr. Matthew Whelan, Assistant Professor of Moral Theology in the Honors Program, has been selected as a Campion Hall Laudato Si’ Research Institute (LSRI) Visiting Fellow.

Thirty-three years ago, a gifted professor nearly persuaded me down the road not taken. Frank Smist’s political science course took stock of a world of Cold War conflict. Those days held relentless awareness of the prospect of nuclear annihilation. To be sure, as the 1980s wound down, Mikhail Gorbachev’s efforts at glasnost and perestroika were welcome, and rumors of a McDonald’s planned in Pushkin Square were sensational. Yet such developments tamped down rather than resolved superpower tension. In spring 1989, no one imagined staggering changes coming later that year when the links of the Iron Curtain broke apart.

C.S. Lewis is ubiquitous. He routinely turns up in conversation. Students know his work and refer to it. Our faculty and staff trace his influence in our lives, sometimes incorporating his books or essays into courses. Alumni and donors frequently bring up Lewis when I see them, calling attention to his accessibility and relevance for ordinary people. Just last week, I spoke with a magnificently generous couple about their love of Lewis. In him they recognize a kindred spirit, a person whose faith and mind work together and whose writing edifies and elevates them.

In 2021, the Baylor Board of Regents approved the renovation and improvement of the Honors Residential College (HRC) along with the development of space in nearby academic facilities for Honors College faculty and staff offices. Spanning both sides of Founders Mall, the Honors College’s new home will create a hub of honors education at the historic heart of the University.

A Baylor University faculty member will use a prestigious grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to make the ideas of one of the greatest medieval philosophers more accessible and understandable to modern readers.

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day! I’m reflecting today on a challenging new book by Roosevelt Montas, known for his past leadership of Columbia University’s celebrated core curriculum. Rescuing Socrates: How Great Books Changed My Life and Why They Matter for a New Generation unites memoir, a defense of liberal education, and critical reflection on Plato, Augustine, Freud, and Gandhi—"four companions . . . [who] speak with intimate familiarity about human experiences that we all share.” Written in first-person voice and full of touching anecdotes, the book is warmly personal and inspiring. It is also attuned to critical identity issues that cut through the heart of American life.

Over the last several months, headlines haven’t shied away from what they call a crisis in the Classics. Some criticism of the great books, echoed in the New York Times Magazine, calls for removing canonical works of epic poetry, drama, and literature because they are tainted by racism.

I recently finished Eric Adler’s The Battle of the Classics: How a Nineteenth-Century Debate Can Save the Humanities Today. It opens with an anecdote from a general education debate that it was Adler’s misfortune to witness.

With humanities education being examined on a national scale, the Honors College is embarking on a year-long initiative to re-envision humanities education through a faculty mentoring program led by Honors College Dean Douglas Henry.

What happens when you thread together autobiography, literary criticism, pedagogical reflection, and travel literature, with Homer’s Odyssey as an organizing principle of it all? One finds out in Daniel Mendelsohn’s touching book, , An Odyssey: A Father, a Son, and an Epic (Knopf, 2017). Luke Slattery describes the book as Mendelsohn’s “attempt to braid Homer’s fantastical seafaring tale into his own life; his own family story. It’s at once a lit lesson and a travel tale, an autobiography and biography: a double portrait of father and son echoing the bond between Odysseus, eponymous hero of Homer’s tale, and his son Telemachus.”

Much of last week and the coming one, I’m traveling to bring good words about the Honors College to alumni, friends, and donors in the Houston, Washington, DC, and Boston areas. It’s a joy to hold high our accomplishments and to invite others to embrace and support our aspirations. Admiration of the Honors College runs high. I always hear spirited praise of our faculty and staff, and the stories recounted of our students’ successes are touching.

Everyone has a cancer story. Whether they have battled cancer themselves, know someone who just received a diagnosis, or lost a loved one to the disease, no one escapes unscathed.
This summer, nine Baylor Honors Program students were given the opportunity to work shoulder-to-shoulder with MD Anderson cancer researchers hoping to make those cancer stories fewer and further between.

Ken Follett’s Pillars of the Earth was published in 1989, translated into 30 languages in over 27 million copies, and adapted into an acclaimed miniseries. It begins and ends with a somber line: “The small boys came early to the hanging.” The first hanging, in 1123 A.D., is of an innocent commoner, a penniless minstrel accused of theft. The second hanging, a half-century later, is of guilty aristocrat, a sadistic nobleman involved in Thomas Beckett’s murder. Between the two deaths, Follett limns the lines of a soaring cathedral while he explores the foundations—the pillars of the earth—on which life, longing, and love are built.

One of the humanities’ mainstays, classics, has garnered attention in recent years over racist tropes in ancient texts, problematic interpretations, and whether or not the field should be sustained in its present form. Dan-el Padilla Peralta has voiced the view that classics is “equal parts vampire and cannibal,” and is undeserving of a future in the academy.

Critics let Robert Galbraith’s debut crime novel, The Cuckoo’s Calling, pass initially without fanfare, albeit with positive reviews. After Galbraith was revealed as J.K. Rowling’s pseudonym, reviewers rallied to see evidence of its famous author’s brilliance in the novel, some claiming to have quietly intuited it all along. Perhaps so, but it’s a strain to find consequential similarities between Cormoran Strike and Harry Potter, Denmark Street and Diagon Alley, a one-legged, ex-army private detective and an orphaned boy wizard. Character, setting, plot, style, and theme are very different under Galbraith’s hand. Rowling thoroughly reinvented herself as an author.

What comes to mind when you think of correspondence? I recently pondered this question in Fare Forward, a Christian review of ideas that takes its bearings from T.S. Eliot’s Four Quartets and seeks to “consider the future / And the past with an equal mind.”

Three weeks ago, we launched the website for 100 Days of Dante. The project honors the seventh centenary of Dante’s death. It expresses—as should everything we undertake—our distinctive academic vocation and University mission. It rallies us around a work of art that Pope Francis praises as “one of the highest expressions of human genius,” one that shows “with poetic beauty the depth of the mystery of God and love.”

Baylor’s Honors College will lead the world’s largest Dante reading group this fall in honor of the 700th anniversary of Dante’s death. Through a beautifully designed, engaging website, we’ll read Dante’s wondrous poem, the Divine Comedy, and discover how it can change our outlook, love of God, and embrace of neighbor.

Erik Larson’s new book, The Splendid and the Vile, has occupied my attention during our recent spell of rainy evenings and weekends. From Churchill’s inner circle to ordinary Londoners, the book elevates very human voices contending with amplified awareness of the thin line between life and death.

Bringing the 2020-21 academic year to a successful conclusion merits more than the usual celebration. Bon mot it may not be, but here’s the best word I have for the occasion: woohoo! I am grateful, I am proud, and I am blessed to serve with you. For all of the creative, excellent, generous, hopeful, meticulous, patient, and steadfast contributions you have made this past year, thank you.

Dean Douglas Henry has announced the appointment of Dr. Jeffrey M. Hunt, Senior Lecturer in Classics, as Director of the University Scholars Program, one of four hallmark academic initiatives of Baylor's Honors College.

As Giving Day approaches we want to thank our many alumni who continue to support the Honors College through both their time and generous giving. One such dedicated alumnus is Dr. Lang (B.A. Social Work 2004, BIC)! After receiving her BA and MA from Baylor in Social Work, Dr. Lang went on to pursue her Ph.D. in Social Work as well as her Masters of Divinity. Dr. Lang currently serves as the director of Tarleton State University’s BSW program. In her Alumni Spotlight, Dr. Lang reflects on the impact of many of her Baylor professors on her college experience and on her teaching practices now. Sic‘em, Dr. Lang!

Spring is upon us and Easter draws nigh! In these days, the grace of resurrected life bursts forth in the natural profusion of the season and in the supernatural work of God in the holy days culminating in Easter. The joyous beauty of Spring—with its echoes of Eden glory, susceptibility to ruin, and redemption through Christ—is celebrated in a sonnet Gerard Manley Hopkins called, simply, “Spring.”

Continuing our emphasis on notable Honors College graduates who have received prestigious fellowships, grants, or scholarships, our Alumni Spotlight this week is Dr. Jamie Gianoutsos! A double major in Political Science and Great Texts of the Western tradition in the honors program, Dr. Gianoutsos received the Marshall Scholarship in 2006. As a Marshall Scholar, she attended a master’s course studying Renaissance literature at the Queen’s University of Belfast and a second major in political thought and intellectual history at the University of Cambridge. Learn more about Dr. Gianoutsos’ incredible journey in this week’s Alumni Spotlight!

Cormac McCarthy’s post-apocalyptic novel, The Road, has provided a sober frame of reference for my recent thinking. Have you read it? A gifted writer’s craft is powerfully at work from the gripping first words to the final poignant scene. But I’m also impressed with the depth and nuance McCarthy’s novel brings to fundamentally important questions of faith. In these respects, we do well to follow many of his cues, albeit with the freedom and joy to express a living, well-tested faith in the Way of Christ, something generally missing and certainly muted in The Road.

On Thursday, February 25th, Baylor Graduate Dr. Keister, along with his four Baylor Graduate interns, educated Honors College students about their great work in Amarillo, Texas to help the poor gain access to free healthcare. After graduating from Baylor summa cum laude with a B.A. in Biology, Dr. Keister went on to become a physician with a big heart to help those in need. Interestingly enough, Dr. Keister identified the significant need for free healthcare in his hometown of Amarillo, Texas. This realization led to the eventual creation of his non-profit, “Heal the City,” in 2013.

On Thursday, February 8th, the Director of the Institute for Faith and Learning and Clinical Professor of Moral Philosophy in the Baylor Honors College, Dr. Darin Davis, gave a Formation series lecture entitled “Some Fools Never Learn.” This lecture identified and analyzed the various forms of foolery as detailed in the book of Proverbs. A well-attended lecture by Honors College students, the contents of this Formation Series will no doubt be a prominent point of discussion for its insightful reflections on the simple, the silly, the stubborn, the scorning, and the steadfast fool.

We live in a world that needs humility and magnanimity, but often lacks them. Is there anything more ridiculous than inordinate pride, than vaunted, self-congratulatory praise? To it, humility is the answer. Aren’t we put off by excessive self-deprecation, by defeatist, woe-is-me despair? To it, magnanimity is the antidote. We need humility and magnanimity, the former so our aspiration to greatness is tempered by gratitude for divine grace, and the latter so our frailty as dust-of-the-earth creatures reflects the brilliant image of God. Above all, we need hope!

The Honors College is proud of our many accomplished alumni. Dr. Terry Lee Mills (B.S. 1992, Biology, Honors Program) has had a successful medical career. Among his numerous accomplishments, Mills served as a primary care provider and as the Administrative Medical Director for St. John Clinic in Tulsa, OK. Most recently, Mills moved into the position of Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at CommunityCare of Oklahoma, a regional provider-owned health plan. Mills also served for 23 years in the US Army Reserves as an Army medical doctor with six deployments including to Iraq in 2008.

The Honors College is proud of our many accomplished alumni. Jerome Loughridge (B.A. University Scholars, 1995) has a long history of public service. Among his numerous accomplishments, Loughridge served as the chief of staff to former Baylor president Robert Sloan, and worked as a White House Fellow for Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld on Iraqi reconstruction. Most recently, Loughridge served in a volunteer capacity as the Secretary of Health & Mental Health for Oklahoma, where he led the state's early response to Covid-19

Through the recent generosity of donor support, a new full-tuition scholarship has become available to Honors College graduates seeking a Master of Divinity at Truett Theological Seminary. To be eligible, graduates of the Honors College must demonstrate involvement in student ministry, church ministry, non-profit organizations, and/or missions. They must also be actively involved in church ministries, and Baptist students must have completed the First-Year Church Certification Form. In addition, graduates must have a minimum 3.25 GPA.

Out of the depths of vital Christian faith, MLK, Jr.'s service in the cause of social justice was rooted, grew up, and flowered. His sermons are of course a great source of insight into that faith. So also are his prayers, which are governed by the grammar of Christian faith as he praises God, confesses weakness and failure, pleas for help, seeks deliverance and guidance, gives thanks, and waits upon the Lord. His praying goes hand in hand with his public, prophetic witness.