Prospective students learn history, academic offerings during spring Preview Day

Elizabeth Bennett April 3, 2023

Prospective students from across the United States and the world took part in spring Preview Day at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and Texas Baptist College on March 31. Students and families interested in the seminary’s graduate-level programs and undergraduate college learned about the academic programs while experiencing the Fort Worth campus’s community atmosphere through worship, interactions with professors, and a campus fair.

With 111 prospective students, it was the largest Preview Day in at least the last four years, which was 44 percent higher than spring 2022 and 19 percent greater than fall 2022, reported Chandler Snyder, interim vice president for enrollment and student services. Including family members of prospective students, 210 participated in Preview Day.

David S. Dockery, interim president, welcomed the prospective students and their guests over lunch at the Naylor Student Center. In his remarks, Dockery spoke about the history of Southwestern.

“Southwestern is a very special place and has been for 115 years,” Dockery told prospective seminary students over lunch. Recounting the history of the institution, Dockery explained Southwestern was founded in 1908 and moved to its current location in 1910. He explained to the prospective students the foundation the seminary’s founder and first president, B.H. Carroll, laid was “founded upon Holy Scriptures.”

“We need people going into ministry today who can finish well,” said Dockery, a 1981 Master of Divinity graduate of Southwestern. “You cannot finish well if you do not prepare well. The opportunity for that kind of preparation is here.”

At a second lunch for prospective TBC students, Dockery said he “hopes this has been a wonderful day for you. We want it to be informative and helpful. We pray that God would guide your steps here today and make it very clear that Texas Baptist College would be a wonderful place for you to reside.”

Earlier in the day, all prospective students were led in worship by a band from the School of Church Music and Worship. In his welcome, Director of Admissions Armando Hernandez told prospective students and their families, “I want you to know, on behalf of the Admissions department, we pray diligently for you that God would do something for you today to confirm the calling on your life.”

Matt Queen, interim provost and vice president for academic administration and professor of evangelism as well as the L.R. Scarborough Chair of Evangelism (known as the “Chair of Fire”), emphatically told the participants, “God’s got a plan for you as you live your calling. A call to ministry is a call to prepare.”

A native of North Carolina, Queen explained he first came to the campus of Southwestern 13 years ago. He said the first two things that he pondered when setting foot on the campus and saw the “iconic beautiful dome,” were the history that had already been made and the history that was yet to be made.

Queen told the assembly, “You are going to help make history, help push back darkness by your ministry being refined and trained here at Southwestern Seminary and Texas Baptist College.”

After the welcome and worship, prospective students went on campus tours with different information stations. Next, lunch was served in the Naylor Student Center and a student panel shared their perspectives on their time of study at Southwestern and TBC.

Todd Bates, dean of Texas Baptist College and professor of philosophy, spoke to prospective TBC students about the “joy of being at TBC.” He discussed the “high level of academic rigor while never losing sight of our Christ-centered commitments.” He said the top two “themes” he hears students talk about when discussing their “experience at TBC is community and being discipled by professors.” Bates noted, “Our faculty is very intentional about cultivating in our students a deep passion for God – loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.”

Paul King and his dad made the eight-hour drive from Garden City, Missouri, to attend Preview Day. He said he was interested in attending Southwestern and is “striving to become a pastor” and was looking forward to seeing the layout of the campus.

Sean Hively from Denison, Texas, attended Preview Day as he said he is interested in studying biblical studies at TBC. He discovered Preview Day through correspondence from the Admissions office.

Penn Eichorn, from New York City, is completing his master’s degree in Christian Ministry at Abilene Christian University and hopes to enter the Doctor of Philosophy program at Southwestern. Eichorn said he has struggled with having a special need and being on the autism spectrum and has a heart for kids with different challenges. He wants to work at a Christian school and start a ministry to help special needs students from kindergarten through 12^th grade for “the sake of the Gospel” and “mentor” them. Eichorn said he was “really encouraged by the vision of what” professors are “training students to be.”

June Choi*, originally from Southeast Asia, wants to study intercultural studies at TBC and was “hoping to see different classes” during Preview Day. Choi’s interest in TBC was sparked through attending a conference on campus with her youth group.

Caleb Rice, a 15-year-old from Joshua, Texas, hopes to study missions at Texas Baptist College. He said he was excited to look around the campus and hear people talk about missions. Rice discovered TBC through Queen, who has mentored him at church, and received a postcard in the mail to welcome him to Preview Day.

McKinley Copeland, a student at the University of North Alabama from Russellville, Alabama, is interested in studying at Southwestern in the School of Church Music and Worship. Copeland desires to become a music and worship leader and was excited to see the “experience of the students here at the seminary and see their day-to-day life.” Copeland discovered Southwestern by attending the Pursue conference in Montgomery, Alabama, which is “what sparked my interest,” he said.

Hugh Peiser, from Saginaw, Texas, is a middle school teacher, husband, and father and is excited to start attending Southwestern this summer where he will pursue his Master of Divinity degree. Peiser was attending Preview Day with his wife and all 10 of his children, who range in age from 18 all the way down to a nine-month-old baby. He is “hoping to move on campus” with his family, attend classes, and work at a nearby middle school.

A father-daughter duo from Watauga, Texas, were in attendance at Preview Day and both ready to attend school at the same time. Dustin Remmers has been on staff at Eagles View Church in Saginaw, Texas, for the past 15 years and desires to earn a Master of Divinity or Master of Theology. He is seeking further education as he is looking into becoming a Next Generation pastor or in senior leadership. His daughter, Rachel Remmers, said she wanted to attend Texas Baptist College and be a children’s minister. “I really do think this school is the campus I’m attending. I think the history is really cool,” said Rachel.

The day included academic preview sessions in Mathena Hall, and a time of fellowship in the Jack D. MacGorman Chapel and Performing Arts Center. Afterward, a campus fair took place in McGorman where there was a professor meet and greet, photo opportunities, giveaways, and the opportunity to enroll in school at Southwestern or TBC.

*Name changed for security reasons.