Ut Omnes Unum Sint: Examining the Presence of the Catholic Intellectual Tradition at a Baptist University

Abstract

This research collected firsthand accounts of faith and teaching from both Catholic and non-Catholic faculty at Baylor University in order to prove that Baylor has intentionally sought and hired additional Roman Catholic faculty in order to strengthen the university’s religious identity. The appeal of Catholics was found to be the Catholic intellectual tradition, which holds that faith be integrated with learning in all aspects of academia. The research revealed four major commonalities of Baylor’s Catholic hiring: 1) the university hiring process, 2) the integration of faith and learning in the classroom, 3) the positive and/or negative experiences faculty have had at Baylor, and 4) the faculty’s perspective of Baylor 2012 and its future.