By Zach Babajanof-Rustrian | Intern
Every year at orientation, the incoming class gets to learn its class hymn. Each class hymn is about the transformation of incoming freshmen as they become adults, allowing them to get a glimpse of what is to come as Baylor Bears. For the class of 2027, they learned “There’s More.”
“This year turned out to be a special one for us,” university chaplain Dr. Burt Burleson said. “It’s deeper. It’s broader. We want it, in addition, to kind of [be an] invitation [to] bringing this class together. We all know it. We’re all singing it together.”
The lyrics of “There’s More” include, “here in this world of wonderment through holy longings and laments.” The hymn speaks to freshmen, and Burleson said the image of God is present within everyone.
“Lament’s this idea of, by the time you’re 18, you’re going, ‘There’s some things that are not right,’” Burleson said. “Whether you’re thinking about society or the world or your own journey, there’s some things you’re already aware of that you’ve got to be healed from or move beyond things that you want to do better.”
Freshmen have taken the song to heart and have even put their own spin on what it means to them.
“The style of the music is very traditional and very folk,” Tulsa, Okla., freshman Dominic Rodriguez said. “It feels like it’s paying homage to the long history of Baylor. Throughout the song, I hear, ‘find our faith again,’ and I take that as a way that we need to go back to being a Christian. And it refers to our current class — that we need to find our faith again or find it for the first time.”
One major thing Burleson said he wants the class of 2027 to take away from the hymn is that even though something 10 years ago may have nurtured them, that may not be what they need at this moment.
“You find your faith again and again, which is to say it’s over and over and over,” Burleson said. “It keeps going. And what nurtured you, what held you, what was enough [for you] when you were 10 years old is not what you need when you’re 18 years old. It’s not what you need when you’re 66 years old. There’s always more.”
