“Everyone saw the value in being here, even though they came from so many other places and backgrounds.”

“I really, really appreciated that the university took the initiative to allow us to have an official voice and an official presence,” Jortner said. “There’s a big difference between one professor in the theater program arguing for something and an organization of faculty saying, ‘We speak as one, and this is a concern.’”

A little over a month out, the 2024 presidential election is quickly becoming a reality for many first-time voters on Baylor campus. The question is, will these students be ready to make a confident, informed vote by the time Nov. 5 rolls around?

“A lot of students want to have their pictures taken [at Founders Mall] because of how pretty it is, and how Baylor-esque it is. And so with not being able to go around there at all, you have to re-plan your entire set of locations and rethink how you can still have a Baylor senior photo shoot without a location that’s so central to Baylor,” campus photographer Catherine Kramer said.

Lyon is a Baylor alumnus and has been part of the faculty at Baylor since 1975, starting out as a professor of sociology up until 1998 when he became dean of the Graduate School and has been in that position since. When he retires at the end of this academic year, he will have completed 50 years at Baylor. During his tenure as dean, he has witnessed the transformation and contributed to the growth of the graduate school.