Presidential Perspective - July 25, 2024

Baylor Students, Faculty, Staff and Parents:

The quarterly meeting of Baylor’s Board of Regents is happening this week outside of Austin. Because this gathering also serves as an annual retreat for strategic discussions about the University and higher education, the Regents are focusing on topics of importance such as value, affordability, governance and artificial intelligence.

During the July meeting, we are always reminded that Baylor is truly blessed. At the end of this fiscal year, we concluded Give Light, our comprehensive philanthropic campaign that raised more than $1.5 billion to support Baylor students and faculty. And in May, the Board affirmed a new strategic plan that we are looking forward to rolling out at the start of the fall semester.

The Board and University leadership will continue to work to ensure we maintain this incredible momentum while staying true to our mission of “educating men and women for worldwide leadership and service by integrating academic excellence and Christian commitment within a caring community.”

Board Chair Bill Mearse, B.B.A., ’78, M.B.A., ’79, and I will follow up with you with a summary of the Board meeting early next week.

Some updates for this week:

• FIRST NURSING ENDOWED CHAIR: Baylor’s Louise Herrington School of Nursing is welcoming Karen J. Foli, Ph.D., RN, ANEF, FAAN, as the inaugural holder of the LHSON’s first endowed faculty chair, the Louise Herrington Endowed Chair in Mental Health Nursing. The chair supports innovative research and teaching within the LHSON, with a special focus on mental and behavioral health research, including the need for more mental health professionals. As an established researcher in the mental health of adoptive and kinship parents, as well as nurses’ psychological traumas, Dr. Foli will support new and early investigators at the LHSON, build interdisciplinary collaborations with other scholars at Baylor and work alongside the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner track within the Doctor of Nursing Practice graduate degree online program. Welcome, Dr. Foli!
• THE SUMMER GAMES: The Summer Olympics begin tomorrow, and all eyes will be on Paris – and on our seven Baylor Olympians and a Team USA track coach – through Aug. 11. Since the Olympics is considered the world’s biggest stage, several Baylor faculty members have shared their research and expertise on Olympic topics that range from faith to fashion and brand moments to how the Games can unite us. Also, did you know that we have a three-time Olympic swimmer on our faculty? We do! Read more about mechanical engineering professor and Olympian Alex Yokochi, Ph.D., on Baylor Proud.
• iENGAGE CIVICS CAMP: The campus has been abuzz this week with incoming students taking part in our final Orientation/Line Camp sessions, along with nearly 80 rising middle school students attending our nationally recognized iEngage Summer Civics Institute. Since 2013, iEngage has immersed more than 1,500 students in learning about the structure of government and their role as active and engaged citizens. They’ve spent the week exploring primary sources at Poage Library, meeting with local leaders, working together on projects and playing iCivics games. iCivics was founded by Justice Sandra Day O’Connor in 2009 to ensure that all Americans have the knowledge and will to participate in the country’s unique experiment in self-government. I appreciate our School of Education’s leadership role with this innovative civics education model.

Here’s to a good remainder of the week!

Linda A. Livingstone, Ph.D.
President

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

The cross atop Robbins Chapel in Brooks College beckons students, faculty and staff who are drawn to the chapel as a place for solitude, meditation, peace and singing the praises of the Lord.