By Shelby Peck | Staff Writer
Baylor’s Student Body President, Hunter Walker, is preparing to walk the Ferrell Center stage at graduation and said he will take with him the courage and character he formed through his service in student government. What he leaves behind is a legacy of effort to create the intrinsic sense of belonging within every Baylor student.
“I realize I gave a lot of speeches and I wrote a lot of emails and things like that, but no one’s going to remember the words that I say. … People are going to remember how I made them feel and how I lead — more than my policy and more than my initiatives,” Austin senior Hunter Walker said.
Walker’s student government journey began his freshman year when he ran for class vice president with his continued collegiate campaign “Walk with Walker.” In a tight race, he lost.
“I came to Baylor with the desire to know and be known, and it was something that I had prayed for for so long, because it was simply just missing from my life before college,” Walker said. “‘Walk with Walker’ means I’m pledging to walk with you through my Baylor journey, and I’m just asking for you to be willing to walk with me.”
Walker said the loss shook his confidence in community until a friend reminded him of the hundreds of votes he did receive in the election. It was then Walker chose to continue forging community at Baylor, not wanting his promise to walk with his peers to return void.
After spending his freshman year observing student government from an external perspective, Walker said he was elected to serve as a sophomore senator on the campus improvements and affairs committee.
“[Baylor students] came back and they kept walking with me, and I don’t think I will ever fully understand why and I’m so undeserving of their support,” Walker said.
During his junior year, Walker ran for student body external vice president, a runoff election that resulted in another loss. He instead served in senate once again — this time on the operations and procedures committee and as chaplain.
“The fact I got to serve in that provided me with the moment of realization that this is why the Lord had me lose… I was able to have these interfaith conversations with people,” Walker said. “Not everyone in student government is a Christian; not everyone is religious. There are people who are atheists and agnostics, and so that offered me an opportunity to have conversations with people.”
Walker said serving as chaplain grew his sense of empathy, and allowed him to see the true uniqueness of each individual student’s Baylor experience. Deciding to run for student body president resulted from Walker’s vision in the togetherness of empathy and equity. He said his platform won him the election.
No matter his policies or platform, Walker said he wants the Baylor community to know he loves Jesus. Winning student body president was not about his personal gain but rather furthering his love for others, as Christ calls him to do.
“We’re supposed to share our lives with people, and student government can be an agent in creating more of a means to share lives with people,” Walker said.
In conversations with students, faculty members, administration or the Board of Regents, Walker said he viewed confidence as an essential skill in the representation of an entire student body. His goal was to create a campus where each individual, no matter their involvement, would be “championed.”
“Whenever I was first elected into this position, in my mind I was just a Baylor student, but obviously I became a student who represented the voice of 15,000 people,” Walker said.
As a medical humanities major, Walker said he is the first STEM student body president in 14 years. His experience with research and the sciences allowed him to effectively communicate with Baylor students the true importance of Baylor reaching R1 status.
“To bring that perspective into student government has been helpful to distribute information about how STEM is actually propelling the future of our university into a national scope,” Walker said. “More than anything it gave me empathy for what belonging means at Baylor.”
Furthering the sense of belonging at Baylor, Walker said one of his favorite projects as student body president was hosting an “Accessibility Week” in April. When his sister was diagnosed with a rare neurological disorder during his freshman year, his passion to advocate for those with rare and undiagnosed diseases grew.
“We hear all the time that Baylor’s campus is not accessible enough and so I wanted to build upon the accessibility cabinet that I had and give them an opportunity to have an accessibility week,” Walker said.
Accessibility Week allowed student organizations that advocate for those experiencing physical, emotional or mental pain, such as A Moment of Magic, to showcase their mission. Walker said the goal of the event was not only to show students needing accessibility resources that those resources are available, but also to show students who do not struggle with accessibility the ways they can serve and be involved.
Another initiative continued by Walker during his time in office was Baylor’s response to student deaths or tragedies. Walker said this year, he heavily felt the impact of student deaths, and whether he knew the deceased individuals or not, he saw the loss of their presence on campus.
“For the scope of loss that we were feeling… it made me sad that as a whole student population we couldn’t join in that effort. If we are a Baylor family, then how can we show support in that?” Walker said.
Walker said he began conversations that strengthened Baylor’s effort to “represent the grieving student body to a family that’s also grieving.” Woodlands junior Nick Madincea, the newly-elected student body president, said he hopes to continue Walker’s initiative throughout the upcoming academic year.
“That’s a great opportunity to meet students where they are, and I deeply love and admire Hunter’s heart behind wanting to improve that process,” Madincea said.
Madincea, who previously served as the external vice president, collaborated with Walker’s administration to create the first student government airport shuttle as well as a mental health awareness day in the fall. As Madincea transitions to his role as student body president, he said he is “truly honored to be able to follow in [Walker’s] footsteps.”
“Hunter has a deep and genuine love for people, and that has been truly inspirational for me to see. … He’s been a great mentor for me over last year and over the last couple weeks as we transition,” Madincea said.
Other projects of which Walker is proud include first-time funding for 14 student organizations, hosting Big 12 on the Hill, the creation of the Student Health Advisory Council in response to COVID-19 and Togetherall peer support.
After graduation, Walker said he is staying in Waco for a year to earn a healthcare-focused MBA. He will then move to Houston to attend the University of Texas School of Dentistry.
“I wrote a mission statement whenever I stepped into this office to keep me accountable to my endeavors. My mission was to serve as a leader by encouraging critical thinking and innovative ideas so that student government can create further efforts that will promote a sense of belonging,” Walker said. “My personal goals were to use my leadership platform in such a way that points others back to the Lord and leave Baylor student government better than I found it.”
