Baylor At The Crossroads [Hardcover]

This is a book about the enormous changes that took place at Baylor University from 1991 to 2003, as seen through the perceptive eyes of its provost at the time, Donald D. Schmeltekopf. On the front end was the charter revision, a change that permanently restructured the legal governance of the university. On the back end was Baylor 2012, a grand vision for the university issued by the Board of Regents on September 21, 2001. There were several critical crossroads along the way to what has now been created at Baylor, a Christian research university, one of a kind among church-related universities in the Protestant orbit. These memoirs tell the story of this transformation from the perspective of one who was leading at the crossroads. With Baylor at the Crossroads, Don Schmeltekopf has provided a splendid record of how best to negotiate the tough choices all church-related schools face today. . . . Don's service is instructive to all of us who care deeply about the life of faith and its inextricable relationship to the life of reason. --Mark R. Schwehn, Professor of Humanities in Christ College, Valparaiso University Having watched and written about Baylor's remarkable rise to a research university while simultaneously strengthening its Christian character, I hungered for the story of that ascent by its architect, Provost Donald Schmeltekopf. My hunger was satisfied by this exciting account that reads like a novel while offering important teachings about how schools might achieve quality with soul. --Robert Benne, Jordan-Trexler Professor of Religion Emeritus, Roanoke College Schmeltekopf's vision, integrity, and courage helped drive Baylor forward during a period of enormous change. . . . May this memoir guide and inspire a new generation of academic leaders at Baylor and beyond. --Wilson D. Miscamble, Professor of History, University of Notre Dame A must-read for anyone interested in the past struggles of Christian higher education and its futurl