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Immortal 10 memorial dedication this Friday

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Athletics

Some 80 years after a group of students on their way to a Baylor basketball game were killed in a tragic accident, a physical monument dedicated to the Immortal 10 is finally in place on campus — just in time for this weekend’s 99th anniversary Homecoming celebration.

At times, it seemed like the memorial might never happen. It wasn’t until almost 70 years after the accident that a plan was finally put in place, and even then, it was over a decade longer before the memorial was erected this summer. But the piece, created by sculptor Bruce Green, was worth the wait.

The story of the Immortal 10 is recited each year during Homecoming at the Freshman Mass Meeting, so it seems appropriate that dedication of the memorial will take place this Friday.

Sic ’em, in remembrance of the Immortal 10!

Baylor student-athletes lead Big 12 in graduation rate

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Academics, Athletics, Honors

No, this isn’t a repeat post. About a month ago, we were talking about how Baylor led the Big 12 (again) in football graduation rates.

Yesterday, the NCAA released numbers pertaining to the athletic department as a whole, and for the second straight year, Baylor’s student-athletes lead the Big 12 Conference in Graduation Success Rate.

Five Baylor programs (football, baseball, men’s tennis, women’s tennis and women’s golf) led the conference in GSR, while three more ranked second. Men’s and women’s basketball each placed third in the Big 12.

I never fully appreciated how hard it is for even the smartest student-athlete to keep their GPA up in-season until I traveled full-time with an athletic team a few years ago. Studying for tests while riding a bus back from Dallas or Houston at midnight on a weeknight after spending the previous few hours sweating on a field somewhere — well, I couldn’t have done it.

That’s not to give some sort of sob story for the athletes, but rather to point out how impressive it is when you read that 44.9% of student-athletes earned a 3.0 or better GPA last fall, or that that number improved to 48.1% this spring.

Sic ’em, Baylor student-athletes!

Remembering friends

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Alumni

Friendships formed at Baylor run deep and long. For instance, when I got married a couple of years ago, several years removed from college, my groomsmen were all friends I met at Baylor. Most of those guys had done the same at their weddings.

A group of Baylor alums recently made the news all the way out in Tennessee, for their devotion to a fraternity brother who was killed in Iraq. Lt. Col. Kim S. Orlando’s Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity brothers together donated a memorial fountain in his honor, which was installed at the Fort Campbell, Kentucky, Fisher House, a home for family members of wounded or ill soldiers recovering at the nearby Army hospital.

Sic ’em, SigEp brothers and Baylor friends everywhere!

At Homecoming, ‘Lay aside the usual cares of life’

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Alumni

In 1909, Baylor President Samuel Palmer Brooks famously urged graduates to “lay aside for a few days the usual cares of life” and “come back to your alma mater,” to “catch that Baylor spirit again.”

Those who make it back to campus for this weekend’s 99th anniversary Homecoming celebration will likely find that mandate an easy one. A survey conducted this summer asked alumni to describe “the Baylor experience,” and the #1 answer was that it was a “positive experience.”

An impressive 57% of the alumni surveyed said they had been back on campus within the past two years. If you haven’t been back to campus in awhile, trust me — you need to visit. And what better time than Homecoming?

Sic ’em, homecoming Bears!

Baylor basketball on the rise

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Athletics, Honors

It’s a sign of just how good the Baylor women’s basketball program has become that having the Lady Bears make the preseason top 25 is now the norm; this year, the Lady Bears are ranked 13th, 14th, 15th and 17th, depending on which poll you look at. Baylor has been among the preseason top 25 in five of head coach Kim Mulkey’s eight seasons here, including each of the last four seasons.

Men’s coach Scott Drew’s Bears are also receiving recognition in the preseason rankings. Specifically, the ESPN/USA Today Coaches’ Poll, released today, showed the Baylor men receiving three points; that means either one coach ranked the Bears 23rd, two coaches ranked Baylor 24th and 25th, or three coaches put BU at #25 on their ballot.

The last time the Bears received votes in either the coaches’ or AP polls was January 2001, when Baylor started off 12-0; a month later, the Bears would upset #6 Kansas on national TV en route to an NIT appearance.

Hopefully this season will be as successful or more so for both the Baylor men and women. Sic ’em, Baylor basketball!

Tough competition

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Academics, Honors

The world of law is a competitive one, so when you hear that the Princeton Review named Baylor Law School the second most competitive law school in the country, it really stands out.

According to the Review, the ranking is based on how much time students spend studying outside of class, the level of competition at the school, and how much sleep students get on average. Students also praised Baylor for its helpful professors and programs and top-notch facilities. Baylor was also once again included among the Review’s top 170 law schools.

Several law students put their competitive natures to good use earlier this month, claiming first place and two other awards at the Texas Administrative Law Moot Court Competition. Baylor teams have won the competition five times in the last 10 years.

Sic ’em, Baylor law!

Getting greener

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Academics

It’s only natural that Baylor folks are fond of all things green. This fall, the Baylor libraries have done their part to show that it can be easy bein’ green.

PawPrints — Baylor’s campus network of printers — made a simple change that’s making a world of difference. The PawPrints printers in the Moody and Jones libraries, Baylor Science Building Atrium, and the Bill Daniel Student Center were all switched so that the default mode is two-sided printing.

As of the beginning of October, those printers had printed 110,000 fewer pages than they did last fall. Recycling boxes near all PawPrints stations further help reduce waste. The libraries are also testing out various weights of recycled paper for use in these stations.

Sic ’em, paper-savers!

Honored down under

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Academics, Research, Honors

Baylor professor Dr. James Garven took the mandate to “fling our green and gold afar” quite seriously this summer.

Garven was selected by a group of 13 Australian universities as one of three professors from across the globe to appear at a financial conference in Brisbane, Australia, in July. There, he spoke to a select group of Australia’s brightest finance Ph.D. students as part of a program designed to “enhance the integrity and efficiency of Australia’s financial system.”

Sic ’em, Dr. Garven!

Two Baylor profs make ALA Top 10 books list

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Baylor 2012, Research, Honors

Not one, but two books by Baylor professors made the American Library Association’s list of the Top 10 Books in Religion for 2007.

The Listening Heart: Vocation and the Crisis of Modern Culture, by the late Dr. A.J. “Chip” Conyers, and Discovering God: The Origins of the Great Religions and the Evolution of Belief, by Dr. Rodney Stark, were among the list of 10 books that were honored in what the ALA noted was an exceptional year for books on religion.

Before his death from cancer in 2004, Dr. A.J. “Chip” Conyers was one of Truett Seminary’s first professors. A prolific writer, Conyers finished his final book not long before his death. Stark is the co-director for Baylor’s Institute for Studies of Religion, which gained national recognition for the University last year for its survey on American religious beliefs.

An honor like this is nice recognition that Baylor professors are among the leaders in the study of religion — one of the goals of Baylor’s Vision 2012, and a status befitting the world’s largest Baptist university.

Sic ’em, Baylor professors!

Kick returns still shine spotlight on NFL’s Andrews

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Alumni, Athletics

Last week, it was Matt Bryant. This week, it was former Bear Willie Andrews making Baylor fans proud with his outstanding play Sunday.

Andrews, in his second year with the NFL’s New England Patriots, returned a second-quarter kickoff 77 yards for a touchdown to help the Patriots keep their record perfect at 7-0. (Click here for video highlights; Andrew’s return starts at the 1:03 mark.)

Andrews played for Baylor from 2002-2005 and left Waco as the Bears’ all-time leading punt returner and kick returner.

Sic ’em, Willie!