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Though Muslims make up just 3 percent of HBU's 2,200 students, this proportion far outpaces other Christian schools in large, Muslim-rich cities. HBU is one of 110 member schools of the Council of Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU). A calculation of America's largest Muslim-populated cities, by percentage of total population, helps to put Houston Baptist in context. They are Los Angeles, San Jose, Chicago, San Diego, Dallas, and Houston. CCCU member schools with similar undergraduate enrollment in Muslim-rich cities include the Lyman Stewart—founded Biola University, on the edge of Los Angeles, and North Park University, on Chicago's North Side. Biola reports no known Muslim students on campus (because prospective students must declare Christian faith upon admission), and North Park estimates less than 1 percent Muslim enrollment.

Like North Park, HBU does not require students to sign a Christian faith statement, though it does require it of faculty and staff. Sloan sees this as a setup ripe for evangelism. "As long as we maintain our confessional association with the body of Christ, then we have a built-in opportunity to be at the frontiers of Christianity and the world," he says. "Interfaith dialogue is not our goal; sharing Christ is. While we don't want to single out certain groups, we're also not apologetic about who we are."

Muslims choose to enroll at Christian schools for pragmatic reasons, not theological ones, says Stephen Heyneman, professor of international education policy at Vanderbilt University. "Muslims are social conservatives," Heyneman says. "Where can they go to find a good education and a safe social situation? A Christian college. Parents care less about the preaching than the safety of the social atmosphere."

"The campus is a comfort to Muslim families," Chaplain Cross says. "It's a safe environment where students have an opportunity to express their faith, in the classroom and over pizza." Christians and Muslims' shared moral values provide a bridge over which the gospel can be expressed in a way that resonates with students like Hassan.

One way faculty build bridges is through theological coursework. HBU requires all students to take an Old Testament course, which Hassan says does not bother her, since Islam is an Abrahamic faith. But HBU also requires New Testament and Christian Doctrine, material considered heretical to Muslims. Honors students like Hassan must also take Christian Intellectual Tradition. David Capes, chair of HBU's Christianity and Philosophy department, teaches the required Christian Doctrine course—which may be Muslim students' first in-depth encounter with specifically Christian truth-claims. President Sloan believes Capes is uniquely qualified to make these accessible to Muslim students, since he co-hosts a call-in radio show featuring leaders from each Abrahamic religion discussing their similarities—and deeply held differences. "Capes's program is not soft interfaith dialogue … I think that's good, because for Christians, interfaith dialogue is not our end goal," says Sloan.

While students and even guest speakers occasionally fail to treat Muslims with respect, Hassan says she has felt little prejudice at HBU. "We're more open to talking about [Muslim] faith on this campus," she says. "We talk about things I might not agree with, but there's discussion. We are willing to argue for the sake of learning, but not necessarily to bash each others' beliefs." Still, Hassan says her experience has got her thinking. "The way I look at it is I can take the things I've learned about Christianity and go back and look in the Qur'an to ask why I believe the things I do."

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July 2009, Vol. 53, No. 7