Baylor regents align board with expanded motto

During its annual July retreat, the Baylor University board of regents adopted a task force recommendation to make the board more representative of Baylor’s personnel, student body and expanded motto. The change comes in response to changing denominational demographics and the need to recruit the most qualified Christian leaders.

Regents expanded the university’s motto in May to “Pro Ecclesia, Pro Texana, Pro Mundo.”

Baylor regents voted to lower the percentage of board members from Baptist churches from 75 percent to 67 percent. Baylor will continue “to be governed by a majority Baptist and entirely Christian board,” a July 29 memo to Baylor faculty, staff, students, alumni, parents and friends stated.

Regents “shared this change with Texas Baptist leaders and select pastors across the state, and they understand the rationale behind the change and remain supportive of the University and its continued role in Baptist higher education,” the memo explains.

The last time Baylor regents lowered the percentage of Baptists on its board happened in 2011. Up to that point, Baptists comprised 100 percent of Baylor regents. That percentage was changed in 2011 to 75 percent Baptist and 25 percent other Christians.

On July 29, regents also approved incorporating “other Christian leaders, including from outside Texas and internationally, given Baylor’s worldwide impact as a Research 1 university.”

Of the 33 current regents, only one—Paula Hurd of Atherton, Calif.—is outside Texas. She and her late husband Mark provided the lead gift for Baylor’s Give Light campaign, funding Baylor’s Mark and Paula Hurd Welcome Center that opened in September 2023.

Rationale for change

Baylor’s current Governance Review Task Force—as part of a regular five-year governance review—recommended changes to board size, structure, practices and policies “to help ensure the long-term viability and optimal effectiveness of the board and Baylor University,” according to a Baylor board of regents fact sheet.

The regents’ memo cited continuing change in the demographics within Protestant Christianity—and particularly among Baptists. Regents gave the same rationale in 2011.

“More than 20 percent of Baylor’s undergraduate students identify as non-denominational, followed by 19 percent Baptist and 16 percent Catholic,” the memo stated.

“Out of Baylor’s 14,401 undergraduate students enrolled for the Spring 2024 semester, 2,961 students identified as non-denominational (20.6 percent), 2,736 as Baptist (19.0 percent), and 2,313 as Catholic (16.1 percent). The balance of students represents a wide variety of denominational, religious and even non-faith backgrounds,” according to the fact sheet.

The memo and fact sheet also note declines in membership and number of churches within the Baptist General Convention of Texas and the Southern Baptist Convention. Baylor relates to the BGCT by special agreement.

In addition to making the board more representative, the change in board make-up increases the “flexibility to incorporate other Christian leaders, including from outside Texas and internationally given Baylor’s worldwide impact as a Research 1 university,” according to the memo.

“This change permits the Board to recruit from a broader pool of highly qualified Christian leaders to serve as Regents and continues the progress made to date toward a Board that is as broadly experienced and diverse as its student, faculty and staff populations,” the fact sheet explains.

In other business

Regents also reduced the number of vice chairs from three to one, reviewed the authority of the board’s executive committee to strike an appropriate balance between items reserved for full board and items able to be delegated to the executive committee, and recommended keeping the number of regents between 24 and 35.

Four new regents announced in May were welcomed during the board’s July meeting: Andrew Arterbury, faculty regent and professor of Christian Scriptures in Baylor University’s Truett Theological Seminary; Kyle Deaver, Baylor Law School graduate and Waco attorney; Charles Williams, at-large regent and president of Baylor Scott & White DFW-West Region and Baylor Scott & White All Saints Medical Center in Fort Worth; and Meghan Fletcher, student regent.

Of current regents, 29 of 33 (88 percent) “are either Baylor alumni, professors or current students.” Several are parents of current Baylor students.

Baylor University President Linda Livingstone also updated regents on the university’s admittance as a full member partner of the Baptist World Alliance during BWA’s 2024 annual gathering in Lagos, Nigeria. Livingstone noted the BGCT also is a full member partner of BWA.

BWA admitted Baylor as an associate member in 2022, “with the intent of seeking full membership once educational institutions were given access.” The first educational institutions —Dallas Baptist University and Howard Payne University—were given full membership during the 2023 BWA annual gathering in Stavanger, Norway.

Baylor regents’ next regular meeting is scheduled for November 2024.