News
It seems as if good news has been hard to come by for the past month or so, but I have some great news for our undergraduate students with tomorrow’s launch of Baylor’s new Summer of Discovery program.
As we continue our journey with Jesus to the cross, let us remember that it is He who brings us the hope of something new and beautiful to emerge even in the midst of our hardest days, doubts and suffering. We can be confident in our faith that Jesus will be with us, day after day, to the end of the age.
Over the past couple of weeks, I have heard of people hijacking the Wikipedia pages of several prominent universities, indicating they were a “private online university based in …”. I am happy to report that no one has commandeered our Wikipedia page so far. Baylor continues to be “a private Baptist Christian university in Waco, Texas.”
I am glad to be writing again to you on a Thursday afternoon for our weekly Presidential Perspective. Like me, I hope you see this as a sign of a return to normalcy, although it is indeed a new normal for Baylor.
As I mentioned last week, our COVID-19 Task Force continues to actively monitor guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state and local public health agencies to ensure the continued health and safety of our community. Let me reiterate that there are NO cases of coronavirus at Baylor, in Waco or Central Texas. Updates on any impact to the University – for example, the recent postponement of University-sponsored travel to Italy – are posted online at www.baylor.edu/coronavirus, along with important Baylor resources for students, faculty and staff.
Updates regarding the coronavirus (COVID-19) continue to evolve rapidly as its impact begins to circle the globe. I want to assure you that Baylor’s Department of Public Safety and Center for Global Engagement and other members of our University COVID-19 Task Force are actively monitoring the situation internationally and domestically.
Waco is Basketball Capital, USA! Both Baylor basketball teams are 24-1 overall and 13-0 in Big 12 play, with the men ranked #1 and the women #2.
Thank you to everyone who participated in Baylor Giving Day yesterday. With a theme of “One Day. One Family. One for Baylor.,” Giving Day was a wonderful way to celebrate Baylor’s 175th anniversary and to support areas of the University that you care most about.
I hope you have enjoyed the launch of Baylor’s 175th anniversary over the past week. From the banners and exhibits across campus to the many stories told on social media – and, of course, the birthday party with our Baylor Family at the men’s basketball game last Saturday – we have a proud history to share and a bright future ahead.
We will commemorate Baylor’s 175th on Saturday at the men’s basketball game vs. TCU, complete with party favors, special giveaways – including free popcorn – and the singing of “Happy Birthday.”
One of the distinct characteristics of our University is the dedication, service and passion of the Baylor Family. Today it is my honor and privilege to announce the recipients of the 2019-20 Baylor Alumni Awards.
Before the holiday break, I shared with the Baylor Family that one of our beloved live bears, Lady, had been diagnosed with a benign mass in her chest called a thymoma. Thanks to the proactive treatment of our bear caregivers and the wonderful veterinarian staff of our partners at the Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital in College Station, we can happily report that Lady’s tomotherapy treatments appear to have halted any further growth of the mass.
Welcome to the first Presidential Perspective for 2020!
This is my last Presidential Perspective for 2019 – I can’t believe it! Looking back over the past 12 months, I have a great sense of honor and pride in our collective accomplishments as we continue to advance toward Tier 1/Research 1 status as the preeminent Christian university, as well as excitement for what 2020 holds.
I can’t believe that the fall semester has come and is almost gone. It was great seeing so many familiar faces yesterday afternoon as the First Gent and I passed out breakfast tacos at Moody Memorial Library and extended our well-wishes for final exams.
"It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas … everywhere you go." That’s certainly true on the Baylor campus, as we celebrate the birth of our Risen Savior, Jesus Christ.
Serving as President of Baylor University has provided many “firsts” for me. My latest “first” was pardoning a turkey at the beginning of last night’s All-University Thanksgiving meal!
There is so much buzz on campus about Saturday, and I am just as excited as all of you.
I can’t believe it’s been a year since the public launch of Give Light, Baylor’s $1.1 billion philanthropic campaign in support of our efforts to become the preeminent Christian research university.
Happy Halloween, Bears … or I should say, Growl-O-Ween! I am looking forward to a special Thursday night football game at McLane Stadium as we face West Virginia in Big 12 play at 7 p.m.
I’ve been traveling this week, and I am currently en route to California to meet with several members of the Baylor Family and prepare for Saturday’s Give Light event at the Paramount Theatre in Hollywood.
What a great Homecoming we had last week! I suspect my favorite moment is shared by many of you – Coach Matt Rhule and our Bears’ 33-30 Big 12 win over Texas Tech in double overtime.
Homecoming Week is off to a great start, as 2,200 students joined the First Gent and me on our front lawn for Dinner with the Livingstones Tuesday evening. The entire campus is decked out in green and gold and certainly abuzz with a full slate of Homecoming activities – and our annual fall invasion of Texas field crickets!
I can’t believe that Homecoming is next week – it’s so early this year! Here we have some Homecoming notes and other spotlights for this week.
Yesterday was certainly exciting as we celebrated our faculty and research community as part of National Research Administrator Day.
The University’s official fall enrollment contains plenty of great news: Our freshman class of 3,307 students is the most academically qualified first-year class in University history and also among our most diverse freshman classes ever.
It’s hard to believe that 18 years have passed since the harrowing events of 9/11.
Earlier this week our President’s Council had a retreat in which we charted our priorities for the academic year and discussed our journey to become a Research 1/Tier 1 university. Our team is fully committed for Baylor to achieve recognition as the preeminent Christian research university and have a distinct, much-needed voice in higher education.
I am having a hard time determining what has been my highlight of the first week of the semester so far.
Today we live in a world in which it seems people struggle to get along with one another. Everyone has a “hot take” on current issues, opinions are at polar extremes and compromise is nearly non-existent. And while it may seem to the contrary, we embrace diversity of thought on university campuses, including here at Baylor.
Campus is abuzz with preparations for the fall semester, which begins Monday, Aug. 26.
In just a few weeks, after we cheer on our newest Baylor graduates during Summer Commencement, we’ll begin to see the exciting signs of the fall semester and the start of a new academic year.
As I spent some time this week reflecting and preparing for the upcoming fall semester, I was re-inspired and re-energized about what lies ahead for Baylor. I am glad that you are on this journey with me, as we shine our light boldly and brightly.
The excitement is building as we roll out our campus-wide Baylor United brand before the fall semester.
Greetings from Dallas! I am with our Regents today at Baylor’s Louise Herrington School of Nursing for our annual Board Retreat and Summer Meeting, which will conclude tomorrow.
It’s nice to email you again after a little hiatus as the First Gent, Shelby and I recently spent some time away from campus.
Father’s Day is Sunday, and it’s a day I remember my father, Doyle, who had an enduring impact on my life not only as my dad but as my coach and friend.
One of the joys of serving as Baylor’s President is being able to welcome incoming freshmen and their families – both officially and even unofficially over a hamburger.
It’s the time of year when we see a lot of new, young faces walking across our campus as either part of prospective student tours, summer camps or Orientation, which begins next week.
It was such a joy to celebrate our nearly 3,000 spring graduates during last week’s Commencement ceremonies.
While campus has become quieter as the spring semester comes to a close, our Board of Regents has been quite busy this week as part of its quarterly meetings.
These gifts – and others to Baylor as part of the Give Light campaign – will have a long-lasting impact on our campus and reflect our steadfast commitment to our historic Christian mission, a transformational undergraduate education and an exceptional faculty dedicated to teaching and research in a Christian environment.
Please join me in welcoming Nancy Brickhouse, Ph.D., to Baylor as our new Provost – the chief academic officer of the University.
Today was one of those historic days in the life of Baylor, as we held a signing ceremony to officially announce a $15 million leadership gift from The Sunderland Foundation to begin the renovation and restoration of the iconic Tidwell Bible Building.
Uniting us as a campus community, our Christian faith calls for us to love one another as Christ loves us. We are daily renewed in Jesus’ sacrifice, and as members of a Christian institution of higher education we are empowered by Christ’s compassion for all to lift up one another and serve the surrounding world.
It was great seeing so many of you around campus for Diadeloso, one of Baylor’s unique and most cherished traditions.
While Baylor is a university that supports and encourages free speech, we have an additional – and very important – responsibility as a Christian university, and that is to appreciate differing opinions and backgrounds in a respectful, compassionate manner that extends grace as Christ did.
As the pace of the spring semester picks up, please reach out if you need any assistance. We all need a little help sometimes, and Baylor has many resources available to you.
Spring has sprung on the Baylor campus, and it was nice welcoming everyone back to the University from Spring Break with warmer temperatures, tulips in full bloom and trees budding with green.
I hope everyone is enjoying Spring Break! For the First Gent and me – two former college basketball student-athletes – this may be the “most wonderful time of the year” as the college basketball postseason is fully underway.
As our students look to Spring Break next week, I hope that you will have a safe and relaxing time away from campus. You will be in our thoughts and prayers.
Yesterday we made a significant announcement with the appointment of Nancy Brickhouse, Ph.D., as Baylor’s next Provost.
I am currently in the midst of Baylor’s quarterly Board of Regents meeting, which will last through the end of the day tomorrow.
It’s been a great week to be a Baylor Bear, particularly as we celebrated Baylor Day at the Capitol in Austin on Tuesday.
It’s hard to believe that the first month of the spring semester has come and gone. We are blessed to have 16,550 students studying with us at Baylor this spring, which includes 13,290 undergraduates and 3,260 graduate and professional students.
Tomorrow is a special day in the life of Baylor as we celebrate Founders Day and the 174th anniversary of the University.
As we near the end of January, I’m wondering how many of you have kept your New Year’s Resolutions?
“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: ‘What are you doing for others?’”
Those are powerful words from the late Civil Rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., whose life and legacy of service we will celebrate beginning tomorrow through next week.
I am excited for the start of the spring semester on Monday, as 2019 already is shaping up to be noteworthy for Baylor.
I am already looking forward to our sleepy campus coming alive with students for the arrival of the spring semester on Jan. 14. Here’s to a great 2019!
My prayer for the Baylor Family this Christmas season is that you will behold the Light of the World that shines upon and within you by faith. This is a gift of grace to celebrate and share at Christmas and always.
It’s always sad to peek out my office window and see the stillness of campus, signaling that another semester has come and gone. But I always look forward to Commencement, and this Friday and Saturday we will confer approximately 970 degrees, welcoming a class of new alumni into the Baylor Family.
It’s Finals Week, so I promise not to take too much of your time with today’s Presidential Perspective!
It’s hard to believe that the fall semester is rapidly coming to a close. Tonight you have an opportunity to experience a special and memorable Baylor tradition – Christmas on 5th Street.
I enjoyed having the opportunity to visit with many of you last night at one of Baylor’s special traditions – our All-University Thanksgiving. We truly have so much to be thankful for as a community of faith here at Baylor.
Our campus continues to be aglow from last week’s launch of Give Light, The Campaign for Baylor.
Next week is shaping up to be both exciting and historic in the life of Baylor University.
This week reminds me of a popular nursery rhyme: "Rain, rain, go away. Come again another day …"
I am excited to report that interest among prospective students in attending Baylor continues to be incredibly strong. In fact, Saturday’s Fall Premiere event is “sold out” and is expected to be one of the largest Premiere days ever at Baylor.
Greetings from 30,000 feet somewhere between San Diego and Nashville! We are making a couple of stops this week with the Baylor Conversation Series as we visit with alumni, parents of current and prospective students, and friends about Baylor’s progress and Illuminate, our academic strategic plan.
I am looking forward to opening up our campus for Family Weekend this Friday and Saturday. This is such a special time now that the fall semester is in full swing and we have an opportunity to showcase several student performances, athletic competitions and the Waco community.
Our campus community kicked off National Hispanic Heritage Month yesterday with a luncheon and special guest speaker. Suzette Quintanilla Arriaga, the sister of the late singer Selena, shared her family’s story and reminded those in attendance of the importance of celebrating one another’s cultures.
Yesterday we hosted our annual Fall Staff Forum over the lunch hour at the Ferrell Center, where I provided an update on Illuminate, our University’s strategic plan, and we also learned a few tips on how to receive feedback from others.
Baylor holds an unwavering commitment to fostering and nurturing the diversity of our students, faculty and staff. More than that, we celebrate our diversity, which lies at the core of our mission to transform lives and serve others.
Today I am up in Dallas for the dedication of an amazing, completely renovated building that will serve as the new academic home of Baylor’s Louise Herrington School of Nursing.
What a great start to the fall semester! It was so good to see our returning students and welcome our new freshmen, transfer students and graduate students to campus. So many smiling faces!
I cannot believe the fall semester is here! It is great to see our beautiful campus come back to life with the hope and excitement that a new semester brings. And to the Class of 2022, we are so excited to have you as part of the Baylor Family.
“Our glowing possibility comes to life in the hands of a craftsman who knows what He is doing, who made beauty and brightness with handpicked glass, a unique plan and His own breath. In our Creator’s hands, we burn brightly in a dark world.”
This is my prayer for all of you – that our lights will shine brightly this fall semester for the glory of our Creator.
It has certainly been a busy, productive summer as the University community has continued building out our Illuminate Academic Strategic Plan, while also preparing for the upcoming fall semester. Baylor is definitely moving forward in a big way.
We are fortunate to have such a remarkable natural science and cultural history museum that engages our community and inspires learning through rich collections, vibrant programs and hands-on experiences.
We are experiencing nearly record-breaking temperatures in Waco, so I hope you are staying cool wherever you may be this summer!
Pastors from several denominations, religions and races throughout Waco and Central Texas joined me yesterday in the Powell Chapel at our Truett Seminary to gather in prayer for area students, families, teachers and faculty in preparation for the rapidly approaching fall semester.
I hope everyone had a great Fourth of July holiday yesterday! As many of you know, the First Gent is a history buff, and we’ve learned that two Baylor faculty members have done quite a bit of research on Benjamin Franklin, one of our Founding Fathers. Did you know that Franklin was a businessman, entrepreneur, inventor, journalist, author, printer, editor, politician, postmaster, statesman and ambassador, in addition to being a signer of the Declaration of Independence?
The Livingstone Family is already looking forward to the July 4 holiday next Wednesday and celebrating the freedoms we enjoy here in our great country. We should never take these for granted. I hope you will join us at Touchdown Alley on the banks of the Brazos River for the City of Waco’s annual Fourth on the Brazos Celebration. We thoroughly enjoyed last year’s event with all the music, food and fireworks, as well as the opportunity to engage with the Baylor Family and other community members.
As we near the midpoint of the summer break, I am longing for many things … the hustle and bustle of our students on campus, the engagement and interactions with faculty, the start of football season and a Dr Pepper Float!
It’s exciting to see members of #BU22, our incoming class of freshmen, visiting the Baylor campus along with their families and friends throughout the summer. More than 1,200 students have already taken their first steps in joining the Baylor Family, including registering for classes, learning about and celebrating Baylor’s rich legacy and traditions, and even Running the Line at McLane Stadium.
I continue to be blessed each day to serve as Baylor’s President. Among the many highlights is being able to travel across the country to visit with alumni, current and prospective students, parents and friends of the University.
Greetings from New York City, where our School of Music student performers take center stage tonight at historic Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. I am excited to be in the audience as they share their musical talents on such a grand stage and spotlight our great University.
Well, it’s officially summertime on the Baylor campus! The hustle and bustle marking the end of the spring semester has transitioned into sparse pedestrian and vehicle traffic and, of course, near 100-degree temperatures.
Congratulations to the Baylor Class of 2018! The end of the spring semester is always an exciting time, especially for the nearly 3,000 graduates who will participate in our three Commencement ceremonies at the Ferrell Center on Friday and Saturday.
Greetings from 30,000 feet in the air somewhere between Denver and Atlanta! We have taken our Baylor Conversation Series across the country this week, as we’re visiting with alumni, parents, friends and prospective students about the great things happening at Baylor and sharing an overview of Illuminate, our academic strategic plan.
"But if we walk in the light, as He is the light, we have fellowship with one another." – 1 John 1:7
I must admit that I was a little sore yesterday after participating in the Baylor Fun Run to kickoff Diadeloso on Tuesday. Yes, the First Gent and I finished the race(!) and then enjoyed a “day off” with all of you as we prepare for the end of the spring semester.
As I mentioned in last Thursday’s email, we had a team of administrators from institutions across the country on campus this week as part of our SACSCOC Decennial Reaffirmation, which is a key component of our accreditation renewal process. This week’s visit was very successful.
Approximately 9,000 prospective students and parents have registered to experience Baylor Premiere on Saturday. This year’s version of our spring “open house” is shaping up to be the largest in University history, as high school juniors and seniors will have an opportunity to explore campus, experience college life and interact with many of our incredible faculty and staff. Let’s remind our Premiere attendees that Baylor is a place “Where Lights Shine Bright!”
"He is not here: He is risen, just as He said." (Matthew 28:6A) This is a powerful verse of meditation for this Easter season, as it boldly proclaims the victory that we have as Christians in our Risen Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen!
My heart continues to be touched by the many stories of how your “Lights Shine Bright” not only across our campus, but throughout our community and beyond.
As the grass and trees turn green and the temperatures begin to warm, I am always reminded that spring is a time for renewal.
The Baylor campus sure is still and quiet with all of our students on Spring Break this week! But I know our faculty and staff who remained in Waco to prepare for the remainder of the semester are enjoying the wonderful spring weather.
I look forward to heading to Fort Worth for tonight's installment of the Baylor Conversation Series - our first outside of Waco. Board Chairman Joel T. Allison and I will provide an update on the state of the university, while also answering questions from the Baylor Family in the Metroplex.