Touring Brooks Village
Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Baylor 2012, Student lifeA lot of people have compared the new Brooks College’s design to the Hogwarts School described in the Harry Potter novels, and aesthetically, that’s not far off. In fact, much of the college’s look was modeled after features at Oxford — which just happened to have served as a filming location for the Harry Potter movies.
With the opening of Brooks Village (which includes both Brooks College and Brooks Flats), nearly 40 percent of Baylor students are living on campus this fall — up from 29 percent in 2001. Baylor is steadily marching towards the goal of having half the student body living on campus by 2012.
Waco’s KCEN Channel 6 did a nice story on Brooks last month after touring the college. Take a look:
Sic ’em, Brooks residents!
Baylor QB continues impressive aerial assault
Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Athletics
A week after setting school records for passing yards and touchdowns, sophomore quarterback Blake Szymanski nearly broke his own marks Saturday, passing for 411 yards and five touchdowns in Baylor’s win over Texas State. Thanks to Szymanski and the Bears’ spread offense, Baylor currently ranks eighth in the nation in passing yards per game.
Just three weeks into his first season as a starter, Szymanski now holds the top two spots in the Baylor recordbooks for passing yards in a game (412 vs. Rice, 411 vs. Texas State) and passing touchdowns in a game (6 vs. Rice, 5 vs. Texas State). No other Baylor quarterback has ever thrown for five touchdowns in a game more than once, and no Bear but Szymanski has ever topped 400 yards passing in a game — a mark he has now reached in consecutive weeks. His 11 touchdowns this year are already tied for 11th place on the Baylor single-season list.
Sic ’em, Szymanski!
What is “Baylor,” Alex?
Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Just for Fun, Alumni
I got worried when my friend told me Baylor was in jeopardy earlier this week, until he explained that he meant the long-running television quiz show Jeopardy.
I missed the episode (curse that 4:30 time slot!), but as related to me, the $400 answer under the heading “Colleges and Universities” was: “The 735-acre campus of this Baptist school is on the banks of the Brazos River in Waco, Texas.” And yes, a contestant did get the right answer. (Or is it question? Jeopardy always confuses me on that.)
That wasn’t the only game show Baylor made it into this week, either. Alumnus Wyatt McMahon (BS ‘99) made his way onto the season-opening episode of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? Monday night. Alas, McMahon was stumped by a question on The Sopranos and fell far short of the million-dollar goal. Still - he got a lot further than most of us ever could!
Sic ’em, quizmasters!
Alums Release Pat Neff Biography
Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Alumni
It took the authors of The Land, the Law and the Lord: The Life of Pat Neff over 20 years to finally get down on paper what the former Texas governor and Baylor president did in his 80 years on Earth.
Baylor alumna Dorothy Jean Chapin Blodgett (BA ‘45) began the book in 1985 and was joined by co-writer David L. Scott (BA ‘87) in 1990. Blodgett’s husband, Terrell (BA ‘43), joined the pair in 1998. Dorothy passed away in 2005, but the other two finished the book for her earlier this year.
Former Governor Ann Richards — like Neff, a Waco native who attended Baylor before becoming governor — wrote the foreword to this definitive Neff biography. Perhaps a professor or two will make this required reading to ensure Baylor students know the man as more than just a name on a building.
Sic ’em, alumni authors!
Quality and quantity seen in Baylor enrollment numbers
Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Baylor 2012, Student life, HonorsWith almost a month of classes gone by already, Baylor released some official numbers Tuesday that look outstanding.
As you may have heard, interest in Baylor is on the rise. For the fifth straight year, high school student applications set a new Baylor record; 26,514 students applied to start school this fall, blowing away the 7,986 applications received just six years ago.
Some of the increased interest might have to do with the improved financial aid available. Baylor was able to provide financial aid packages combining scholarships, federal loans and work study jobs to cover more than 70 percent of the total financial need of students who qualified for such assistance.
Overall enrollment is 14,174 students, the second-largest total in school history, with undergraduate retention climbing to 88 percent. Retention for first-year students jumped from 84.2 percent in fall 2006 to 85.6 for fall 2007. Minority enrollment among freshmen rose from 24.1 percent a year ago to 29 percent this fall.
Baylor hasn’t sacrificed quality for quantity, either. The freshman class has a record average SAT score of 1219, and 40 percent of the class graduated in the top 10 percent. Is this a top-tier student body? Sure looks good to me!
Sic ’em, student body!
Marvelous Maestro
Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Alumni
Tennessee Bears, get your listenin’ ears ready.
The Nashville Symphony introduced proud Baylor alum Giancarlo Guerrero as its new music director Wednesday, ending a two-year search. The 1991 grad had previously served as music director for the Eugene (Oregon) Symphony, where he earned recognition from the American Symphony Orchestra League as one of the top young conductors in the nation.
Last fall, Guerrero received an Outstanding Young Alumni Award from the Baylor Alumni Association. In a 2005 interview, he said that a mandatory conducting class at Baylor got him started, when a teacher saw his innate ability to lead and encouraged him to pursue conducting.
“Baylor’s School of Music prepared me for a great music career; its world-class faculty was always available to share their expertise and provide meaningful advice,” Guerrero has said. “As a percussionist, the school’s ensembles provided me great opportunities to explore all styles of repertoire: orchestral, band, choral, chamber music and of course plenty of solo opportunities; and when I decided to pursue my interest in conducting, the school was very supportive in helping me in this new endeavor. I am very proud of being a Baylor alumni and I will forever be grateful for their invaluable support and teaching.”
Sic ’em, maestro!
Alums’ movie tops at box office
Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Alumni, Honors
Two Baylor grads’ take on a Western remake netted them the No. 1 film in the country this week.
3:10 to Yuma, a remake of the 1957 film by the same name, was written by former Baylor students Michael Brandt and Derek Haas (both class of ‘91) and stars Russell Crowe and Christian Bale.
In case you missed it, the Waco Tribune-Herald ran a nice feature on Brandt and Haas last week.
Sic ’em, screenwriters!
Record day for Baylor football
Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Athletics
A fantastic weekend for Baylor athletics, as Soccer ran its unbeaten streak to five games with wins over Jacksonville and Stetson; Volleyball went 3-0 to win the SMU/Radisson Invitational; and Women’s Cross Country runners took 1st, 2nd and 3rd at the BYU Autumn Classic, leading the Bears to the team victory.
Perhaps most impressive, however, was Big 12 Player of the Week Blake Szymanski’s (#6 above) performance in the Bears’ 42-17 win over Rice on Saturday. The sophomore quarterback set new school single-game records with 412 passing yards and six touchdown passes, including four in the first half (another Baylor record).
BaylorBears.com has two photo galleries up from the game: click here and here to view those.
Sic ’em, Szymanski!
Baylor growing in popularity among HS students
Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Academics
Data recently released by the College Board (creators of the SAT) indicates that Baylor is the third-most considered university among Texas high school seniors, trailing only Texas and Texas A&M and ahead of larger institutions such as Texas Tech, Texas State, North Texas and the University of Houston.
In fact, the recent trend shows Baylor on the rise! Just two years ago, Baylor ranked fifth in the state with 15.3 percent of Texas seniors sending their SAT scores to BU. After moving up to fourth in 2006, that percentage jumped to 19.3 percent of seniors in 2007 as Baylor now ranks third in the state.
Sic ’em, recruiters!
Lady Bear laurels
Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Athletics, Honors
Football has garnered the most attention as Baylor prepares for its 2007 home opener Saturday vs. Rice, but it was Bears in three other sports who received honors worth noting this week.
Sophomore Anna Breyfogle was named the Big 12 Volleyball Defensive Player of the Week on Tuesday after helping lead the Bears to a 4-3 start. Breyfogle leads the Big 12 in both total blocks and solo blocks through the first two weeks of the season.
Another sophomore, Nichole Jones, earned Big 12 Runner of the Week honors on the heels of winning her third career individual title last weekend at the Baylor Twilight Invitational. Jones, last year’s consensus Big 12 Track and Field Freshman of the Year, was featured in the most recent issue of Baylor Magazine.
On the national stage, former Baylor standout Sophia Young was named to the All-WNBA Second Team in just her second year in the league. Young averaged 16.8 points and 5.9 rebounds per game to rank among the league leaders in each category.
Sic ’em, Lady Bears!
