Dr. Robert Baird dedicated 47 years of his life to Baylor — and he’s worried that the University’s history is repeating itself.
Baird, professor emeritus of philosophy, earned his degree from Baylor before the University was even desegregated, and by the time he graduated, Baylor was still not admitting Black students. Although Baylor eventually integrated in 1963, Baird said the University was a follower rather than the leader it could have been, and perhaps should have been, in light of its Christian mission, during the civil rights movement.
Now, Baird is worried Baylor’s pattern is recurring – only this time, in response to the LGBTQ+ rights movement.
“As a devoted student and devoted faculty member, it has always grieved me that Baylor — way back then with regard to civil rights, and now with regard to gay rights — has been a follower, not a leader,” Baird said. “In fact, a very reluctant follower at best.”
Baylor’s statement on human sexuality, published in 2002, has guided its positioning regarding LGBTQ+ representation on campus. The statement has been wielded in conversations and decisions regarding how LGBTQ+ students are allowed to gather, what speakers are invited to campus, and the research the University participates in.
Baird said he was delighted when a coalition of Baylor student organizations invited Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson and Interfaith Alliance president and Baptist minister Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, two openly gay Christians, to speak at Baylor’s All Are Neighbors event, hosted in response to a Turning Point USA event taking place on campus the same day.
However, while the speakers’ arrivals were called “unprecedented” and the event led the Baptist General Convention of Texas to reinvestigate its relationship with Baylor, Baird said this is not the first time Baylor has hosted LGBTQ+ speakers.
In 2019, Baylor hosted Justin Lee, an author and advocate for the LGBTQ+ Christian community, on campus.
“[Lee] said, ‘There will come a time when we Christians will apologize for the way we have treated gays, as we now apologize for the way we treated [Black people],’” Baird recalled.
That comparison stuck with Baird. Drawing on his own recollections from attending Baylor before it was integrated, his understanding of the Christian faith, and his love for the University, Baird wrote multiple articles for the Waco Tribune-Herald calling Baylor to higher standards of inclusivity — warning it against behaving as it did in the civil rights era.
But it was more than love for Baylor that motivated Baird. For him, the issue of LGBTQ+ rights is not a matter of university politics but one of faith.
“It seems to me that caring for one’s neighbor as one would want to be cared for means our being open, responsive, and supportive of gay people is part of what the Christian mission ought to be,” Baird said.
However, Baird is worried that politics dominate Baylor’s decisions regarding its LGBTQ+ students more than its Christian mission.
“I think in all those issues, political matters get involved, and political pressure gets brought, which tries to move the University in the direction of whatever that political power thinks the University ought to be moving in,” Baird said.
He suspects that politics played a significant role in Baylor’s decision to return a research grant intended to fund research on LGBTQ+ inclusion within churches. Baird also alluded to the role of high-paying donors regarding the decision.
“Surely political pressure was being brought,” explained Baird concerning the rescinded grant money. “The political pressure could have originated with the board of trustees, or the political pressure could have been outside and brought to bear on the board of trustees.”
When Baylor rescinded the research money, Baird wrote a letter to the Waco Tribune-Herald, calling the university out for its lack of courage.
“Conservative voices have shut down vital research. Courage is standing up to those who would coerce you into being something you know, in your heart, you ought not to be. There is so little courage today in the political arena. How I long for Baylor to courageously stand up to those who would keep Baylor from being all that she could be,” he wrote.
But Baird did not wait until after he left Baylor to advocate for students. He championed inclusivity not only through word but also through action. When Dr. Baird taught at Baylor, students and faculty knew he was a resource for them. He had an open-door policy, and it was widely known that LGBTQ+ students could speak with him about their experiences and their place at Baylor.
“I remember being in the library, and the person at the desk who was helping me, out of the blue, said to me … ‘Oh, I understand that you’re one of the faculty members who would be willing to have gay students come to your office to talk to you about their situation here,’” Baird recalled. “Obviously, there were some faculty members’ names who were sort of out there, who, if a gay person needed just to come by and have a conversation, there are faculty members who would be open to that.”
Baird is hopeful. He said the University’s attainment of R1 status in 2021 will continue to bring in a diversity of perspectives and backgrounds.
“If you’re going to be a Tier 1 research institution, when you’re hiring faculty, I’m sure you may ask some religious questions, but you’re really more focused on their research and publication and what they’re going to bring to the University in terms of national standing with regard to research and publication…,” explained Baird. “When you’re bringing in people who are already heavily involved in research … some of them may not be from particularly strong religious backgrounds.”
He envisions a future for Baylor where all students feel accepted, supported, and celebrated – and for him, that vision is grounded in faith and Christian love.
“I love Baylor so much,” he said. “It’s hard for me not to be optimistic.”
