Osler's Razor

This afternoon in a jam-packed room at Baylor's Student Center, Ken Starr introduced himself to the Baylor community. It was the most electric atmosphere here since the speeches by Bill Underwood and Randall O'Brien referred to in my previous post.

It was an excellent speech. There were some subtle things I really enjoyed. For example, he described himself as the kind of leader exemplified by Barnabas in the Book of Acts. He made this reference but did not explain it; he assumed (correctly) that nearly all of his audience would recognize the figure of Barnabas as one best known for providing encouragement and support in the very early church.

That reference told me two things. First, he did know his audience and spoke at exactly the right level to them. Second, his speech was not highly religious (those who think it was should look up some video of other talks at Baylor), but still signaled his faith as a source of his worldview.

The remainder of his speech was consistent with his allusion to Barnabas, too. There was no negativity-- no one was attacked, and he clearly conceives of the University as one unified and worthwhile whole. The buzz in the room as we left (I stood in the very back, and had a great view of the crowd, if not Dean Starr) was very positive.

After the speech, the Noze Brothers appeared to do something involving nose-glasses.

It was a good day for Baylor.

What are you hearing? Are people warming up to this pick?