Preview Day offers a look into life on campus for potential students

Despite some unfavorable weather conditions, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and Texas Baptist College (TBC) welcomed almost 100 prospective students from all over the country and the world to the spring Preview Day.

“If you’re looking for a place that brings together a genuine commitment to academic seriousness, genuine preparation and ministry from people who have an experience to do so, with a commitment to the church and to the taking the Gospel to the nations, I know of no better place than Southwestern Seminary and Texas Baptist College,” President David S. Dockery said during a time of welcome and worship that started the day.

Dockery told students about the numerous resources it offers its students, the staff and faculty who work with the students, and the worldwide impact the seminary has had throughout its history.

Armando Hernandez, director of admissions, also welcomed the prospective students and expressed his excitement for their choosing to visit Southwestern.

“We have been praying all semester long for you, your families, your ministries and all the things that encompass your world,” Hernandez said. “We know that you guys are here because you want to hear from the Lord. You want to confirm the next steps in your life, and you’ve set this day aside so that the Lord can do that.”

The day included tours of the campus, opportunities to participate in academic sessions with faculty, a campus fair displaying the different offices and services on campus, and panel discussions with faculty and current students during lunch.

TBC prospective students were able to hear from Carl Bradford, dean of TBC and a two-time alumnus. He spoke on the structure of the undergraduate programs and the goals that the college has of equipping its students for ministry wherever they end up called to serve, whether a ministerial position or a secular job, but especially at their local church.

“I’m not excited because of potential enrollment,” Bradford said during the lunch with TBC students. “I’m excited because of the potential that I see in the room to be on mission for God.”

In the seminary lunch, Madison Grace, the provost and vice president for academic administration, spoke and led another panel, focusing on the Gospel-centric nature of education at Southwestern and emphasizing the seminary’s commitment to unapologetically uphold the values of the Southern Baptist Convention.

“We are committed to our part here,” Grace said, “and committed to the Southern Baptist Convention.”

Ben Biles, a recruiting coordinator for admissions spoke to a group of SWBTS potential students about the history of the school, the core values of the school, and the commitment that all classes at Southwestern hold of being grounded in the Scriptures.

“In every class you take, the Bible will be your first textbook,” Biles said.

Preview Day participants used their time on campus to learn more about what becoming a student at Southwestern or TBC means and if it is the next step of their education. Some flew in from out of state while others already live near the area.

“Seminary was really the next step once I graduate, and it was just kind of a matter of which one,” said Caleb Hines, a biblical studies student at Dallas Baptist University who attended Preview Day with his father, an alumnus and the president of Howard Payne University. “And I thought about visiting some other ones, but it was really just the fact that it’s local. My church is here, my family is here, my dad’s an alum, it just really seemed right.”

Hines, who expects to graduate from DBU in May 2026 and hopes to start the advanced Master of Divinity at Southwestern that fall, said he looks forward to the intentionality and care the faculty of Southwestern have for the students.

Aubrey Marsh and her fiancé drove 10 hours from Albuquerque, New Mexico, to come to Preview Day and she said they are so glad they did as she considers a degree in music and worship studies through TBC.

“The call to ministry has been on my heart for years now,” Marsh said. “And after waiting on God’s timing, He is just beginning to open up doors and my fiancé William and I felt Him leading us every step of the way while attending Preview Day!”

Marsh said they enjoyed meeting faculty and having questions answered as they toured the campus. And near the end of the day, she was excited to be named the recipient of the $1,500 TBC scholarship.

“I was so humbled to receive the scholarship on Preview Day and overwhelmed by how the Lord seems to be lining up every detail for me to be able to attend TBC!” Marsh said.

Joshua Smith, a prospective master’s student from Mobile, Alabama, is considering pursuit of his MDiv in collegiate or pastoral ministry at Southwestern and said he was excited to participate in Preview Day.

“The academic preview sessions are probably what I’m looking forward to most, they seem like they’d be very insightful, kind of give a gauge of the professors at Southwestern,” he said.

Melody Nelson, a Preview Day attendee from Auburn, Alabama, has been involved in children’s ministry for the past five years and attended the event with the hope of furthering her education in the children and family ministry master’s program at Southwestern.

“Most of the staff at my church went to Southwestern, so there’s a lot of influence in that,” Nelson said of what led her to consider enrolling at Southwestern. “But this also took lots of research of all the different ones, and I liked the classes that Southwestern offers.”

She also said the option to do courses online is a huge draw as she continues to live and serve in Alabama.

Another attendee and hopeful student, Andrew Chiang, a Fort Worth native, attended Preview Day to get an idea of what pursuing his MDiv in biblical counseling would look like. By lunchtime, he had found himself impressed with the consideration the seminary had given all the attendees leading up to and on the day.

“I can tell the seminary goes the extra mile from the beginning,” Chiang said, remarking how impressed he had been just in being informed he should bring an umbrella the evening before the event and how the school had seamlessly adapted the day to work around the gloomy conditions.

Chiang said he particularly enjoyed a keynote session he attended with Dockery, where the president shared the six core values of Southwestern.

Southwestern also named Kenny Boyd of Tennessee as the recipient of the seminary scholarship.