On Thursday, Sept. 9, an email was sent to the Baylor community announcing the members of the Baylor University Presidential Search Committee. This email introduced the members of the committee as well as reassured the Baylor family of the university’s commitment to identify the next leader of our beloved university, who will lead Baylor into the future.

After reading through the bulletin, I was disappointed to see the lack of racial and socio-economic diversity in the Presidential Search Committee. This committee is comprised of twelve members. However, only three of them are women and only one member is a person of color. Over the course of my time at Baylor, I have seen a great deal of effort and initiative to increase diversity on campus. I am so excited and proud to see the tremendous growth in diversity at Baylor over the past two years. Now with the class of 2020 on campus, it’s amazing to see a much more diverse and manifold Baylor than ever before. I am disappointed that the committee to select our next leader does not reflect the work that has been done to increase diversity on our campus.

Diversity is not about giving the minority a chance or including them because it gives good publicity, it is about including a perspective that is absent from the general narrative. Diversity is about moving past yourself and seeing the world through the lens of someone else. Diversity is integral to moving forward into an ever-changing global society. The university has made it clear that it is committed to inclusivity across racial and ethnic boundaries and I would hope that the group of people that have been charged with selecting our next leader would take this into consideration as they make their decision.

Pablo Gonzales

Dallas Junior