Why Baylor, Why Waco? Finding a Place to Build, Belong and Flourish

Erik Carter is one of the nation's leading scholars on disability, belonging and faith, serving as The Luther Sweet Endowed Chair in Disabilities and Executive Director of the Baylor Center for Disability and Flourishing. Before he and his family moved to Waco, Carter spent more than 20 years at major research institutions in metropolitan cities, Vanderbilt University in Nashville (where he held The Cornelius Vanderbilt Chair in Special Education and co-directed the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities) and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Entering his fourth year at Baylor, Carter shares more about how Baylor and Waco exceeded every expectation as a vibrant community in which to live, work and put down lasting roots.

I’d spent two decades in higher education at Vanderbilt and Wisconsin, but there was something about the opportunity at Baylor that felt different. It was an invitation to build something brand new that could tackle a deeply important question related to disability: How do we create communities where every person belongs and contributes? And to be at a university that encourages me to integrate my scholarship, my teaching, and my community engagement with my faith is really unique and compelling.

Like a lot of people, I wondered a lot about what it would be like in a place I had heard about for various reasons but didn't really know firsthand. So candidly, I began with a lot of wonder about Waco. In the second season of my career, I wanted a place where a family could put down permanent roots.

I began to notice that Waco actually did have so many of the kinds of amenities and opportunities that would be in a larger city while still feeling personal and approachable, which these larger cities were ceasing to feel. Waco felt immediately livable to us, way less hurried and definitely less traffic. And it introduced more opportunities to come to know our colleagues and our neighbors. We started to discover all the new restaurants – we’re three years in and there are still unique local restaurants we're discovering that we haven't repeated – all the local businesses, the artists, the creative energy. I was struck by how many nonprofits and civic organizations are all working on making the city and community stronger. And I was personally drawn to the city's growing commitment around becoming more accessible and welcoming as it relates to disability.

Cameron Park is a treasure, and I still can't believe that a park like that sits in the middle of town. The walk down the Brazos River to it and from it, which we can do from our campus and from our home is incredible. We love walking. We live adjacent to Baylor, so walking across Baylor's campus early in the morning or the evenings is beautiful, the sun setting and rising and the students and all. We're also big state park people because we love the hiking. You can get your hiking fix in Cameron Park, but within an hour you can also be in four different state parks like Meridian, Lake Whitney, Mother Neff and Fort Parker, which has taller trees that make me almost feel like I'm back in Tennessee.

With regards to gathering places, Fabled Bookshop is one of my favorite places to just linger and get a book. And then of course, Bitty and Beau's Coffee is a place I go for much more than the coffee. It reflects the kind of community that I hope we continue building where people with disabilities are fully included and contributing. And there's easily another Waco six or more incredible coffee shops in Waco if I need to mix it up.

We're Saturday morning Waco Downton Farmers Market people. It offers maybe one of the best snapshots of the community because you see artisans and local food vendors and neighbors and people from all across Waco coming together in one place.

Being from Nashville, we love the music scene, and Waco has some big names for concerts. I just purchased front row tickets for my family for Mount Joy. We see a lot of concerts in Austin and  Dallas. But we also saw concerts with Willie Nelson and Lauren Daigle in Waco this past year. I love that more artists are starting to come to Waco.

Nearly everything that I thought I would miss, I'm able to find here in Waco or a short drive away. We feel like we have gained a whole lot of good things we didn't even know we were missing in Nashville, so it's been wonderful. We're all in.