{"id":19880,"date":"2017-05-23T11:56:28","date_gmt":"2017-05-23T16:56:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/?p=19880"},"modified":"2017-05-23T11:56:28","modified_gmt":"2017-05-23T16:56:28","slug":"thank-you-dr-garland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/2017\/05\/thank-you-dr-garland\/","title":{"rendered":"Thank you, Dr. Garland!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Dr.<\/p>\n

If you want to get a sense of David Garland’s place in the Baylor family, just read through the comments left on Facebook<\/a>\u00a0earlier this month when Baylor Regents announced the establishment of a $5 million scholarship fund at Truett Seminary<\/a> in\u00a0his honor.<\/p>\n

Over and over again, you’ll see one phrase pop up: “servant leader.” And I can’t think of any better way to describe the man who has led Baylor University through the last year.<\/p>\n

First, consider that, when he was asked to take over as interim president\u00a0last May following the release of significant failings in the university’s response to sexual violence in our community,\u00a0Dr. Garland was actually on sabbatical, writing a book and\u00a0recovering from\u00a0the loss of his wife, Dr. Diana Garland<\/a>, to cancer just a few months earlier.<\/p>\n

Consider also that he absolutely knew what the job would require,\u00a0having\u00a0already served as\u00a0interim president once\u00a0before — from 2008-2010, when he took the role\u00a0amidst internal university struggles over academic freedom and alumni relations.<\/p>\n

Yet Dr. Garland still agreed to serve, out of his love for Baylor and what this university stands for. And he wasn’t content to just keep the seat warm for his eventual successor; here are just a few\u00a0of the significant\u00a0accomplishments we’ve seen this year\u00a0under his leadership:<\/p>\n