Q&A [ By Claire Moncla
]
with the 1st lady
Alice Starr
The BU Missions Kenya Womens Leadership Team
On June 1, 2010, Kenneth Winston Starr, J.D., became the 14th president of Baylor University and his wife, Alice Starr, became the first lady. Standing beside such an impressive figure as Judge Starr, some may think Mrs. Starr would be overshadowed. But that is simply not the case. Mrs. Starr also has more than 30 years of experience in business, public service and charitable leadership. She formed Starr Strategies in 2005 to help nonprofit organizations and start-up companies manage public relations, marketing and fundraising. She has served on numerous boards for corporations and organizations, and has raised millions of dollars for nonprofits through strategic marketing campaigns. Now that Mrs. Starr is Baylor’s first lady, she has become an eager participant in the Baylor family. She and Judge Starr attend almost every home sporting event and tirelessly work to expand the President’s Scholarship Initiative. This summer, Mrs. Starr is traveling to Kenya with a BU Missions team to minister and provide care to African women.
What is the BU Missions Kenya Women’s Leadership Team?
“A group of 15 undergraduates that is part of a team of 70 Baylor students going over to Kenya during the last two weeks of May. Our students will live close to poverty, yet in a unit that is safe and is guarded. This team will help women become leaders and grow in their faith.”
How did you get involved with BU Missions? “Melanie Smith, International Student Relations Coordinator, read that Ken and I had been to Rwanda and Uganda and how we loved helping the children and working with the judicial ministers and how we would love to do that at Baylor. She contacted me early last summer to ask if I would lead a group of students with her.”
Which trip activity are you the most excited about? “I’m excited about all of the activities. Students will be learning about different leadership models. They’ll assist in the daily needs of an HIV/AIDS orphanage. They’ll also have the opportunity to work with churches, encourage leadership of social service agencies and microfinance organizations and help women and children in the Kenya slums. I think working with the HIV-inflicted kids in the orphanage is going to be unbearably sorrowful, but yet so wonderful and spiritual for these Baylor students. I know they’re going to love doing that. Also working with the micro-finance groups really excites me. Microfinance has really become important in Kenya, and Baylor has been right there at the forefront. There’s a Baylor graduate student, Edward Simiyu, who’s director of the Grameen Bank for Africa now, and he’s getting his PhD from Baylor. He’s been so involved in this program. We want to be as much help as we can in microfinance. We’re there to help and inspire.”
Why is the leadership team helping women specifically?
Women in developing countries are the ones who end up supporting the families. It is the women who take care of the children and find a way to support them. Women face HIV/AIDS, which is so prevalent, severe poverty and single parenthood. In these situations, women are willing to work hard and persevere with just a little help; with just a leg up, they’ll make it. They are the ones that truly believe God will take care of them if they persevere.”
Were you involved in any of the trip planning? “My only two cents was, ‘let’s not just go and come back. We need to follow up.’ I think in the past, they have gone into these orphanages, developed these incredible relationships with these children and then they had to leave. What I would like to see is that after we leave, we keep up with them and write them so that they don’t feel abandoned. It’s hard to keep up because we get so busy, but we have to make an effort. I think we need to develop long-term relationships.”