February 17, 1999

The value of a Christian university
___By Jeff Huett
___Special Correspondent
___The decision was final as Julie Parrish made the walk toward her assigned seat among the others tagged for her fellow high school graduates. As with most any other senior, the months leading up to graduation were

The campus of Houston Baptist University.

anxious ones, filled with campus visits and hours spent poring through volumes of university mail-outs.
___Choosing a school meant weighing the ups and downs of college programs nationwide. It meant finding the right mix of class sizes and campus life. Most importantly, however, it meant finding a school that would show an interest in her and work to see that her educational experience was all she wanted it to be.
___She found that school, a Christian school, and committed herself the night before graduation.
___Now a senior biology and pre-med student at Baylor University, she never has looked back. Balancing a pre-med curriculum and responsibilities as a student leader at the Baptist Student Ministry, Parrish has received the benefit of an educational philosophy she believes differs from state universities in many cases.
___"I narrowed it down to Texas A&M and Baylor, but decided I wanted to go to a school that was small and Christian," Parrish said. "I figured there wouldn't be as many pressures to do certain things, although I know Christian schools have the same pressures that any other school would have but to a lesser degree."
___Like Parrish, Jayme Collins has found her experience at Dallas Baptist University to offer purpose more specific than just academics.
___"The primary benefit of a Christian education is the integration of faith and learning," explained John Plotts, executive vice president at DBU. "A Christian education is not just a youth camp, though there is naturally a Christian element here. At a Christian university, we are able to bring academic subjects such as math and science into the context of who God is."
___Just a couple of weeks into her first experience at a Christian university, Collins already can see the benefits of her decision to transfer from a junior college. What began to eat away at her was the day-in, day-out drudgery of going to class and finding students and faculty members strictly interested in finishing their business and then leaving campus.
___"My main purpose in coming to Dallas Baptist was to actually be a part of what's going on here," she said. "Getting involved in activities and doing on-campus work helps get me motivated to do my best."
___In getting involved, she has found the faculty's outlook and mission are of utmost importance.
___David Strickland, an associate professor of religion at DBU, requires his students to schedule a conference with him to help ensure a strong student/ teacher relationship. Once he opens the door to students early in the semester, they often overcome their fear of coming back and return throughout their days at the university. Conversation that begins strictly in terms of academics soon turns to their goals in life, Christianity and personal matters such as boyfriend or girlfriend problems.
___"Unlike today's educational system that is based on a naturalistic view, we take a different view," Strickland said. "Part of our goal is to think about how God fits into life--not to separate faith and academics. Obviously that affects how you react to students and how you teach."
___As a former faculty member at a state university, Pepper Dill fully appreciates the nurturing, Christ-centered classroom environment Christian universities provide their students. It's not a "product" he is trying to sell as the current director of enrollment services at Howard Payne University; instead, it's an opportunity for an education with a faculty and staff steeped with a longing to do things out of a servant's heart.
___"I know faculty members at state schools are often discouraged from discussing faith," Dill said. "In a Christian school, professors are able to combine faith with academics, and that develops the whole person. There is a concurrent flow of spiritual and academic life."
___For Parrish, who hopes to enter medical school after graduating from Baylor in August, there was nothing more surprising than when she went to talk to a chemistry professor about her class work and the professor asked if she had prayed about the situation. "I thought, 'You're a chemistry professor; you're not supposed to ask those sort of things.'"
___To Baylor University President Robert Sloan, it's the fact the Christian university professors do ask those questions that makes a Christian education what it is.
___"We at Christian schools have greater academic freedom and can ask profound, significant questions. How can you read Shakespeare, the modern novel, or do scientific research in physics or biology and not be driven to ask significant questions?"
___With the aid of Christian professors and Christian friends alike who have been through the same struggles and periods of joy she has been thorough, Parrish continues to form her plans for the future. What began at age 10 as a dream to impact the world for Christ through missions has developed into a tangible goal that also includes her love of caring for others' medical needs.
___"I was a summer missionary in Washington last summer and learned that the Northwest is the most unchurched area in the country and has the fewest number of doctors per members of the population," Parrish said. "This is a great example of a way God could use me."
___Jeff Huett is a journalism major at Baylor University

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