By Piper Rutherford | Staff Writer
Students are invited to nominate a faculty or staff member who has made an impact on them both in and out of the classroom for Phi Kappa Chi’s Light Your World Award Banquet. The nomination form closes at midnight on April 15.
Friendswood junior Joey Leeper said the nomination process is simple and easy.
“For the form, all you have to fill out is which professor you want to win the Light Your World Award and provide a reason why you think they deserve it over other nominees,” Leeper said.
Leeper noted that the award is not limited to professors, as all faculty and staff are eligible.
“For instance, I invited a woman who works in the [Bill Daniel Student Center],” Leeper said. “After I told her about nominating her, she expressed multiple times how much it meant to her to be recognized and how much she was looking forward to bringing her daughter to the ceremony.”
Leeper said that is what Light Your World is about: recognizing the countless Baylor faculty and staff members whose work can go underappreciated and unnoticed.
Likewise, Arlington senior Luke Porter said he nominated professors who continuously go out of their way to develop a deeper relationship with their students.
“I thought of the professors who cared not only about a student’s grades but [also] wanted to know who they were outside of the classroom,” Porter said. “Outstanding professors like these have prepared me for life after college, where I will be pursuing a career and building a life of my own, rather than simply being concerned with the next homework assignment or previous test.”
As for the mission behind the ceremony, Leeper said he and his fraternity brothers want to shine a light on the hard work faculty and staff pour into Baylor’s campus each and every day.
“We like to refer back to Matthew 5:16, which says, ‘Let your light so shine before me, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven,’” Leeper said. “All of the nominees do this each day in the classroom and are constantly giving glory to God, which is the heart behind why we continue to host this event.”
Porter said this is why participating in the nomination process is a great way to give back.
“Pour back into a professor who has poured into you,” Porter said. “Let them know that the work they are doing is making a difference so that they can go into the next semester knowing the students they are teaching are being changed by their hard work and dedication.”
