Service is a big part of a Christian’s call to engage with the world. At Baylor, students learn to connect their technical and professional skills with the needs of others — specifically, those in the Waco community.
Baylor Magazine recently highlighted three such discipline-based services offered by different Baylor departments, ranging from law and tax services to music classes:
* The Baylor Law Veterans Clinic allows law students to help address the legal needs of veterans in Waco. The clinic combines traditional clinical legal education with legal advice clinics and pro bono referral services. It connects veterans with students and faculty once a month for free legal advice on a variety of non-criminal legal issues, including family law, real estate, bankruptcy, landlord-tenant, probate, and estate planning. In October, the Veteran Clinic reached an impressive milestone, serving its 2,000th veteran.
* The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program helps low-income taxpayers prepare their tax returns for free. Every spring, Baylor accounting students help provide tax preparation through this program. Volunteering for the program allows students to apply their skills through tax return processes and interacting with clients. Last year, the VITA program completed more than 500 tax returns, generating over $1 million in refunds for individuals in the community.
* The Baylor University String Project allows Baylor music education students a platform to grow as instructors, while also making learning a musical instrument accessible to young people in Waco. Baylor music education majors teach grade school students how to read music and play the violin, viola, cello or bass. The program offers low-cost group instructions to students from third to 12th grade and lowers the economic barrier that can prevent children from accessing music.
Service programs such as Steppin’ Out and summer mission trips have been a part of the Baylor fabric for generations; these sorts of academic programs build on that foundation by helping students learn to use their Baylor education to serve their local community in practical and innovative ways, applying their skills to solve problems in the real world.
Sic ’em, Baylor students!
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