“I hope that they all keep reading poems,” Hanchey said. “It’s such a gift to get inside another person’s experience and get to hear so many different ways of being in the world. I think it makes you a compassionate person, and it also reminds you that you’re a part of a community. There are universal experiences to us.”

“If you can do anything in your power to just help someone in need or help your community, take full responsibility, go out, volunteer in your community,” Khushal said. “You never know how much your small hour of service can change someone else’s life.”

“I firmly believe what’s so special about a Baylor education is the way that we can walk into the faith component and talk about things in an open fashion that you really can’t talk about the same way at publicly supported institutions. That’s distinctive of Baylor,” Mortenson said.

Deep within the pages of the course catalog are classes covering unfamiliar and head-turning topics. Here are just a few of them.

In January 2013, Baylor’s reaction to active duty opportunities was not entirely positive, according to The Baylor Lariat. A female member of the ROTC said back then she did not want to obtain an active duty position, and was unsure if that was where she would be placed now. Responses have changed over the past 10 years — Baylor ROTC female cadets now view this opportunity as empowering.