Spring 2021 Newsletter

A Message from RPAP

The last year has been an incredible season that has both tested the strength of our Baylor Family and has given us a deeper appreciation for the caring Christian community we strive to foster here at Baylor University. The phrase “caring community” requires much consideration, at Baylor we look to stay true to the Christian values we have set forth to guide us as an institution.

caring community sees the needs of our students and seeks to meet them or to support those students in their need. As we continue to hold ourselves to that standard, we are grateful for the leadership of President Linda A. Livingstone, Ph.D., who has encouraged the University to take stock and look to see how we can better create a caring, Christian community for all students.

As you know, the University recently released the report submitted by the Commission on Historic Campus Representations. We are grateful for the faculty, administrators, students and alumni who served on the Commission and for their tireless work over the course of more than seven months to create and provide the University with their report and recommendations for taking constructive and productive steps forward in racial conciliation on campus. To read the full report and the Commission’s recommendations, please visit baylor.edu/diversity/commission.

Lastly, we want to remind you that Baylor will celebrate Alumni Week April 12-17 with a weeklong series of virtual events. Many of these events feature Baylor faculty sharing lectures and updates on their current research. We encourage you to register and learn more at baylor.edu/alumni/connect/alumniweek2021.

We are grateful that you have contributed to a caring community, and we hope you will join us in supporting these efforts.

RPAP Virtual Update 2021

With the continued roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccine, the day is coming soon when we will be able to come together and meet once again. Until that day, we will continue to reach out as we can to connect with you and to keep our community informed about the goings-on here at Baylor. While we could not come together for our usual winter meeting of the Retired Professors & Administrators Program, we hope this video will remind you of the community that awaits us!

Guiding the Way

Baylor University’s caring Christian environment is more than an aspirational mission statement. It is an intentional and profoundly held commitment to fostering learning and mentoring among Baylor’s students. As faculty and administrators, our members helped to build this community and promote this environment, something our faculty and staff continue to this day.

Recently, current faculty members shared with Baylor Magazine their reasons for being at Baylor. An excerpt of one faculty member’s experience is below. To see more, check out the Spring 2021 issue of Baylor Magazine.

When Coretta Pittman, Ph.D., was an undergraduate student at Austin State Peay University in Clarksville, Tennessee, she found it difficult to develop a strong rapport with professors in her major. She finds a different scenario as a professor at Baylor.

“Sometimes, I find mentoring students to be more rewarding than being in the classroom,” Pittman says. “Baylor students are really smart, but they can be shy. I encourage them in the classroom to express themselves and be who they want to be. When they come by my office, they are themselves, and I enjoy that relationship. I didn’t have that as an undergraduate, and I longed for it.”

Pittman, an associate professor in Baylor’s English department in the College of Arts & Sciences, teaches courses in advanced expository writing and rhetorical theory. Her research examines the social and cultural importance of language.

“I try to treat students with respect and kindness. I give students grace, and I hope they give me grace,” she says. “I’m not a perfect person, but I strive to do good work and be a decent human being. My faith very actively informs how I teach, what I teach and how I treat my students, even on my worst days.”

Read Guiding the Way in Baylor Magazine

Serving Their Communities

Students from the Louise Herrington School of Nursing are taking their School’s motto, Learn.Lead.Serve., to heart as they have helped to administer the COVID-19 vaccines at the Waco-McLennan County Public Health District vaccination clinic in Waco. Starting in February, approximately 120 nursing students and faculty have provided their time and services to support their communities.

“We are participating in these clinics as a means for nursing students to use their gifts and skills to help be a solution for this global health pandemic,” said Lyn Prater, Ph.D., R.N., CNE, Clinical Professor, Level IV Coordinator and 2020-2021 Senior Baylor Fellow. “By partnering with Baylor Health Services and the Waco-McLennan County Public Health District, we can maximize resources and live out the mission of Baylor University.”

The School also plans to assist with vaccination clinics close to their Dallas campus, at Baylor Scott & White Health in Dallas and Plano, Parkland Hospital in Dallas and several other DFW hospitals.

Called to Teach

Released earlier this year, a Baylor faculty member released his new book, Called to Teach: Excellence, Commitment and Community in Christian Higher Education is a book, edited by the Academy for Teaching and Learning Director and Assistant Director Lenore Wright, Ph.D., and Christopher Richmann, Ph.D., that has combined a series of essays penned by educators, including some members of the Retired Professors and Administrators Program! Check out the compilation that features reflections on Christian education and encouragement for educators. Available at local bookstores and online.

Read Called to Teach in Baylor Magazine

Send Us Your Retiree Photos!

We want to see what you are doing after your years of service at Baylor! Send us your photos of how you are spending your retirement – whether you’re with grandkids or gardening or writing a book. We want to see how retirement looks for our members. You never know – your photos may end up in the next issue of our newsletter! Email your image to RPAP@Baylor.edu.

RPAP Galleries