A university is a place for the education and the nurturing of students and a center for learning, research and the dissemination of knowledge. It is important, then, to begin by addressing some of the ingredients that must be present and unshackled if a Baptist university is to be true to its calling as a university. The uncompromised pursuit of truth. The commitment to free and open inquiry. A university exists for the sake of those who study and learn there.
People are intrinsic and indispensable to the mission of a place of learning.
That does not imply that all learning involves students. Prominent research laboratories exist whose primary purpose focuses on some special area of inquiry, where the responsibility for teaching is not especially important. In an overall sense, however, this would not be true in a university. In a university the collaboration with students in learning and effective teaching is vital to the mission of the institution. A university is an environment that keeps a primary focus on the people who teach and learn.