Judge Starr visits Africa to see students' and alums' work firsthand

Baylor President Ken Starr spent several days in Africa in July to get a first-hand look at the work being done by Baylor students through discipline-specific mission trips, study abroad and partnerships with missions groups like Buckner International.

In Kenya's capital city of Nairobi and the border town of Kitale, Judge Starr saw both the bad and the good, visiting local slums but also touring programs run by Buckner, a Christian charitable organization started by a Texas Baptist in 1879. In a column for the Waco Tribune-Herald, President Starr described what he saw:

"This is what Baylor students are learning first-hand through action. They work with women building small businesses. Our pre-med students serve in community clinics and carry on the Christian ministry of healing. Baylor engineering students help bring reliable, sustainable energy sources and clean water to impoverished communities. Student-athletes coach and teach orphans through collaboration with universally respected ministries such as Buckner International. ... This is Baylor at its best -- preparing students through transformational education for lives of worldwide leadership and service. Their work is making the world a better place."

In Kitale, he also visited a site with deep Baylor connections. Katy Reynolds, BSEd '75, daughter-in-law of former Baylor President Herbert Reynolds, has generously supported schools and ministry centers named for her father-in-law, Dr. Reynolds, and her grandfather, Roy Kay. The programs, part of Buckner's Seed of Hope Academy, serve hundreds of students. They benefit further from Baylor students who serve through Buckner's Project Go, a summer program that enables college students to serve the world's neediest children.