“I love Taylor intramurals more than a million dollars, a box of chocolates and a lover serenading me day and night,” freshman student Aden Duell said.
Taylor is ranked as No. 8 in the nation for intramural sports by The Princeton Review. However, The Princeton Review did not award Taylor a high rank for intramurals alone. Among other things, The Princeton Review ranked Taylor as No. 3 in the nation for happiest students, No. 11 for best-run colleges and No. 25 for most-loved colleges.
Taylor is one of few small Christian schools The Princeton Review recognized.
“A blend of academic excellence and relational learning is a key factor in our high ranking,” Will Hagen, vice president for strategy and chief of staff, said. He said he appreciated Taylor’s student leadership and relationally committed faculty.
Hagen is pleased about Taylor’s rankings. They foster alumni pride, increase national visibility and strengthen appeal to potential students, he said. However, Hagen is more thrilled about Taylor’s heart to glorify God than he was about the results displayed in The Princeton Review.
“Our focus is on honoring Christ — not seeking recognition,” Hagen said.
Hagen expressed gratitude at the acknowledgement of Taylor’s rigorous education.
Hagen said The Princeton Review’s recognition is based on factors such as student satisfaction, academic quality and campus life. He is not the only faculty member thrilled about Taylor’s results.
Holly Whitby, vice president for Enrollment Management and Marketing Departments, said she gives credit to Taylor students for the impressive results.
“The students did this,” Whitby said. “Marketing did not. This was you guys, your feedback, your scores and your vote of confidence in Taylor. The marketing team will use this, but this was on the students.”
Whitby and Hagen said The Princeton Review’s evaluations are based on student surveys.
Clearly students evaluating Taylor life appreciated its unique culture. Briona Graham, student body vice president, appreciates faculty efforts to facilitate this community. Graham, a senior, said the faculty’s success is due in part to their prayerful lifestyles.
“Senior leadership is really big on prayer,” Grahsaid. “Everything involves prayer. When I interact with them, they always mention how prayer comes first, and that really shows the culture that the staff has on campus, that prayer is just really important.”
Graham said she believes prayer invites the Holy Spirit into faculty’s lives, allowing God to guide classrooms, relationships and research. She said she appreciated the Taylor faculty’s intentionality when forming relationships.
“They actually care about you, and they know your name,” Graham said. “And not only that, but they invite you to spend time with them. They invite you to get to know them on a more personal level.”
She said the faculty’s mentorship is a process of pouring into students. She sees these students responding by pouring back into Taylor community, she said.
Graham said she is ecstatic but unsurprised about Taylor’s results in The Princeton Review.
“There is something special here,” Graham said. “That's the spirit of God.”
