Institutional Impact

"The support that I have received from the Baylor in Washington Program has significantly impacted the Reuniting Families Project. I founded the program at Baylor in 2003 and worked for over a decade with little effect at the national level. We received quite a bit of media attention through the years but were not effective at communicating with our elected representatives or influencing policy.

Through our Baylor in Washington initiative, I was able to present our work along the border to elected officials as well as non-governmental human rights organizations and other important entities. As a result, I was able to help secure funding for revision of the Department of Justice, National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) that will better accommodate our cases of undocumented border crossers. One outcome of these D.C. efforts is the creation of the National Institute of Justice, NamUs Missing Migrant Working Group, which includes the FBI, INTERPOL, International Commission on Missing Persons, Washington Office on Latin America and others such as myself.

Lastly, the result of a greater connection to D.C. has given me the opportunity and credibility to have meetings with Congressmen that would have not been possible under other circumstances. As a result (of a recent meeting), Senator Cornyn included language in the Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations bill that would provide support for the forensic work along the southern border. These breakthroughs for me are monumental, as I have worked for so long seemingly in a vacuum. I look forward to seeing the impact these opportunities will have on other Baylor programs and collaborations. It seems a very direct way to have a significant global impact." 

"The February 22, 2016 event with Greg Jones was remarkable. It allowed Baylor (through IFL) to partner with Christianity Today in hosting a significant conversation about how a Christian vision of social innovation might help to deepen how Christians engage culture and institutions. Jones’ presentation was a powerful example of how Christians might think constructively about culture; that the event was held before a standing room only crowd in the nation’s capitol demonstrates the potential for Baylor to play a role as a keystone institution of higher learning in the days ahead." 

"The Department of Film & Digital Media strongly supports the notion of a sustained Baylor presence in Washington, D.C. for the following reasons: It enables us to support and cultivate relationships with Baylor alumni in key positions in that area (US Department of Energy, FEMA, etc.); It enables us to continue and strengthen long relationships we have already established with industry organizations and professionals in the area as well as build new ones, such as the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), the Federal Communication Commission (FCC), US delegation to the Department of State, and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA); It allows us to showcase the groundbreaking research and production work that we do to all of the above connections and to legislators, producers, corporate executives and more. Our research track includes management of technology, diffusion of innovations, and social impact of media. The Washington DC program provides us with rich opportunities to cultivate policy research." 

"The Baylor in Washington program allows Baylor University yet another national stage from which we can promote our brand. This allows us to assemble topical panels in Washington, D.C. that we could never assemble in Waco. Further, it allows us access to a fundamentally different audience than might travel to Waco as well. The Baylor in Washington program allows us the opportunity to connect national voices with high-level audiences on a faith-centered topic of our choosing. It also allows us to connect to a new donor pool." 

"Sustained programming in Washington, D.C. is one key to showcasing our strengths. (In the fall of 2015), the Baylor Law School sponsored and hosted a panel discussion at the National Press Club entitled, "The Judge's Objective: Prediction or a Preferred 'Correct' Rule?" Along with Judge Ken Starr and Judge Tom Reavley, a senior judge on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, the panel included Judge Sri Srinivasan of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.

In the summer of 2016, we hosted in D.C., as part of the Viewpoints series, a panel discussion on the emerging issue of cyber security. In addition, we are planning an intellectual property focused mini-conference for the spring of 2017 as part of the Viewpoints series. The panelists for this event will include some of the most prominent judges and legal practitioners in this sector of the practice, many of whom are Baylor lawyers. Additionally, through our Leadership Development Program, we aim to create internship opportunities for our students in offices throughout the federal government and Washington, D.C."