Since 1851, Baylor’s motto, Pro Ecclesia, Pro Texana, or “for the Church, for Texas,” has served as a grounding tenet for Baylor University. In our early years, educational programs were shaped to affect Texas, partnerships were formed to more fully serve Texas, and our student population largely came from cities and towns across the Lone Star State.
Through the years, the University’s size has grown as has its influence and impact to extend across the United States. We began to speak about Texas as a proxy for the world. In her October 2017 Inauguration Address, Baylor University President Linda A. Livingstone, Ph.D., proclaimed that “The World Needs a Baylor.” This bold statement reflected Baylor’s distinct position and voice in higher education as a comprehensive Christian university with an enrollment of more than 20,000 students, an expanding research portfolio, highly competitive athletics teams and a global network of more than 160,000 alumni.
As part of this strategic planning process, we determined to take a bold step into our future – elevating our sights and pursuing endeavors Pro Mundo – “for the World.” We officially add Pro Mundo to the University’s motto as a reflection of our rootedness in a Christian community that is global in scale and our commitment to strategies throughout this plan that deepen Baylor’s impact beyond state and national borders to countries and peoples around the globe.
This expanded motto also strengthens a resolve to our mission: “To educate men and women for worldwide leadership and service by integrating academic excellence and Christian commitment within a caring community.” This Strategic Plan will intentionally create a larger network of relationships across the globe, increasing student and faculty mobility and elevating Baylor’s research aims to global issues of high impact.
Pro Ecclesia. Pro Texana. Pro Mundo.
Baylor launches this Strategic Plan from a position of strength. Illuminate, Baylor’s previous strategic plan, resulted in transformative results across the campus and a strengthening of the University’s Christian mission. Some of the most notable outcomes include Baylor achieving Research 1 recognition by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education three years ahead of schedule, significantly increasing the number of endowed faculty chairs, raising more than $1.5 billion via the Give Light campaign and opening signature buildings such as the Mark and Paula Hurd Welcome Center and the Paul and Alejandra Foster Pavilion.
The new plan, developed through a campuswide strategic planning process launched in July 2023, sought answers for the question: “What does the world need Baylor for?” Thousands of faculty, staff, students, alumni and others participated in the process through listening sessions, interviews, online submissions and the development of white papers. A common idea developed from this effort: Baylor has a significant opportunity to adopt a global perspective that also fulfills its scriptural calling.
Baylor has the resources, scope and scale to impact the world as a place and community where we prepare ourselves and others to teach, serve, love and care for all people in ways that shine a light so others may see our good deeds and give glory to our Father in heaven. The world truly needs a Christian university to develop faith-based leaders of character, to bridge gaps of cultural needs and divisiveness, and to help solve some of the world’s greatest challenges.
As Baylor embraces this renewed, enhanced global perspective and calling, four Commitments have been identified as key to the University’s growth and development as part of this plan:
Through stakeholder input as part of the strategic planning process, specific strategies were developed for each of the Commitments.
As we pursue the Commitments and Strategies set out in this plan, we must set our hearts and minds on the end goal. Baylor University will truly make a difference in this world so that others see Christ in us – through our students who seek to lead with a broader view of their neighbors, our alumni who see the world through a global lens, and our faculty and staff who are engaged in research with partners on every continent and in subjects that bring a wide range of voices to the table to find lasting solutions to worldwide concerns.
