IT staffers pitch in to help another Texas university after devastating fire
Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Just for Fun
I was flipping channels one night last week when I came across live footage of a fire on the campus of Our Lady of the Lake University (OLLU) in San Antonio. In the fire, the school’s Main Building — a beautiful building, in some ways similar to Baylor’s Old Main — suffered a lot of damage, including the loss of one of its two main spires and also part of the roof. (Thankfully, no one was injured.) Built in 1895, Main Building holds classrooms, dorm rooms, a cafeteria and much of the campus’ computer infrastructure.
Recognizing the need, Baylor’s IT department jumped in to help, donating 30 desktop computers and all accessories to the OLLU. Daniel Iturbe and Joshua Ogden, both members of Baylor’s IT staff, made the six-hour round trip to deliver the computers, which will be used in a computer lab that replaces one damaged in the fire.
Sic ’em, Baylor staff, for helping another university in need!
More faculty moving onto campus to increase interaction with students
Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Baylor 2012, Student life
It’s great that Baylor has so many professors who are so eager to get to know their students that they actually want to move in right alongside them, living in the residence halls. Three more professors will soon join the ones already living on campus, bringing Baylor’s total to nine faculty-in-residence.
Dr. Laine Scales and her husband, Dr. Glenn Blalock, will be the first faculty-in-residence in Kokernot Hall, while Steven Pounders will be the first to live at University House in the North Village. They join Drs. Doug and Michele Henry (pictured, in their apartment in Brooks College), Cindy Fry (Heritage House, North Village), Dr. Julie Sweet and Dr. Tom Riley (Texana House, North Village) and Dr. Sarah-Jane Murray (Honors Residential College, Alexander-Memorial).
The combination of these professors’ interactions with students and the growth of the various Living-Learning Centers, I think, have a lot to do the rise in the number of upperclassmen living on campus. The administration reports that that number is up 26 percent over a year ago, with more than 1,700 students already signing up to return to the residence halls next year. About 40 percent of students will live on campus next year — good progress toward Baylor’s goal of having 50 percent of students in the residence halls by 2012.
Sic ’em, faculty-in-residence and Campus Living & Learning staff!
Baylor law alums well on their way to success
Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Academics, Honors
For a young lawyer, graduating from law school and passing the bar exam are keys 1 and 1A to getting started on a successful career. Those same moments are important for the law school itself, too.
After learning several days earlier that Baylor had led the state once again in bar exam pass rate, Baylor Law School graduated 70 students in early May.
Two of those graduates, Josh Fogelman and Jeff Watters, will join two other recent law grads, Katy Boatman and Ashley Franklin, as clerks for the Texas Supreme Court in 2008-09. Only 18 clerks were hired by the state’s highest court, and Baylor Law School has four of them.
To top it off, a Baylor Law alumnus, Roland Johnson (pictured), finds himself well on his way to the aforementioned “successful career.” Johnson (BA ‘73, BS ‘76, JD ‘79) was voted president-elect of the State Bar of Texas. He will serve as president in 2009-2010, following another Baylor lawyer, Harper Estes (JD ‘79), who will begin his term as president of the State Bar of Texas in June.
Sic ’em, Baylor law alums!
Baylor student-athletes excelling in the classroom
Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Athletics, Honors
Baylor’s athletic program has developed a well-earned reputation for developing quality student-athletes who embody the best of both those words — “student” and “athlete.”
For years, Baylor’s graduation rates have reflected well upon the department, with the Bears annually at or near the top of the Big 12 in their percentage of student-athletes who earn diplomas. The NCAA has recently also developed what it calls the Academic Progress Rate (APR), and it should be no surprise that Baylor does well in that metric, too.
Baylor’s baseball and soccer programs lead the Big 12 in APR, according to the most recent data released by the NCAA. In all, 11 Baylor squads were above the national Division I-A average for their sport, and 16 of Baylor’s 18 sports scored at or above the national threshold. (Men’s tennis scored slightly lower but is not subject to penalty due to its squad size, and the equestrian program was not tracked since it is only in its third year.)
Programs that fall below the NCAA threshold can be penalized with scholarship losses and a ban on postseason play. But the combination of Baylor’s good numbers on the APR and the athletics department’s excellent graduation rates (over 50 more will graduate this weekend) shows the University really is “Winning with Integrity.”
Sic ’em, Baylor student-athletes!
Baylor tennis teams both advance to NCAA’s third round
Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Athletics
Building on already successful regular seasons, the Baylor men’s and women’s tennis teams each took advantage of playing at home to advance to the NCAA Tournament Round of 16 over the weekend. The women will be playing in the tournament’s third round for the fourth straight year, while the men have advanced at least this far in each of the last seven seasons.
The fifth-ranked women beat Oral Roberts and Tulsa; they will face 12th seed Miami in the Round of 16 Thursday at 9 a.m. Baylor defeated the Hurricanes 4-1 in Coral Gables earlier this season. The 10th-ranked men, meanwhile, breezed past Oral Roberts and Texas A&M this weekend. They will take on No. 8 Tennessee this Friday at noon.
From here on out, all matches for both the men’s and women’s tournament will be played at the University of Tulsa’s Michael D. Case Tennis Center. For live updates, ticket info and more, visit BaylorBears.com.
Sic ’em, Baylor tennis!
Students learning international relations through model organizations
Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Baylor 2012, Academics, Student life, Honors
I was never much for model cars, model airplanes or any other sort of model. I lacked the coordination to keep things together and in the right places, and everything always came out not quite right.
Thankfully, Baylor students involved with a different sort of model aren’t having those troubles. Baylor students have enjoyed success competing in Model United Nations, Model Arab League and Model Organization of American States (MOAS) competitions.
In April, Baylor’s Model UN team received honorable mention at the National Model UN conference in New York, placing among the top 15% of the 290 colleges and universities competing at the prestigious event. Senior Will Masters received the top award in his committee.
Meanwhile, Baylor’s Model Arab League team was honored with one of two Outstanding Delegation awards at the Southwest University Model Arab League competition in Fort Worth. The Secretary General of the conference said afterward, “While I was speaking to Baylor delegates, I felt as if I was speaking to students who had lived in the Arab world and saw the culture, history, and passion of the Arab people first-hand. Their dedication to this competition and their desire to learn about the Arab states makes them one of the most respected and feared teams at the conference.” Four Bears (Tim Semons, Eric Headstream, Ryan Holder and Joji Suzuki) won Outstanding Delegate Awards.
Finally, the Baylor MOAS team’s co-head delegate, Seth Reed, was elected as the general assembly’s president during the Washington MOAS conference in Washington, D.C. Over 30 schools from nine different countries participated, but for the fourth time eight years, it was a Baylor student who was elected president. Three other Bears (Cassidy Ford, Manny Munoz and Joshua Hyles) earned positions of leadership during the competition.
Imperative XI of Baylor’s Vision 2012 recognizes the need to emphasize global education. I think these students have got it.
Sic ’em, model organization participants!
Law students lead Texas students in bar exam pass rate — again
Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Academics, HonorsFor the sixth straight time and the 11th time in the past 14 offerings, Baylor law students have claimed the top pass rate on the Texas State Bar Exam.
During the February exam, 46 of 48 Baylor students passed on their first try — a 96% success rate. Totalling up the last 14 bar exam offerings, dating back to 2001, 926 of 980 Baylor students (94.5%) have passed the test the first time. Compare that to a state average closer to 80% over that same time period, and you’ll see why Baylor Law stands out. (For more on the law school’s approach and success, check out this feature from the last issue of Baylor Magazine.)
Sic ’em, Baylor law students!
Incoming freshman featured on ABC for her giving heart
Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Student life
Last week, we wrote about three exceptional students who will start at Baylor this fall. ABC’s World News Tonight did us one better, featuring another soon-to-be Baylor freshman, Kristin Elliott, as the program’s “Person of the Week” last Friday. (You can watch the segment here.)
Elliott has been fighting a rare, aggressive form of cancer since she was 16, when she had a grapefruit-sized tumor removed from her leg. Even through multiple surgeries and radiation treatment, she hasn’t missed a beat, continuing to play on her high school volleyball team. (Kristin’s sister Mandy is a junior on the Baylor volleyball team.)
Elliott was contacted by the Make-a-Wish Foundation, which grants wishes to young people with life-threatening medical conditions. Most requests are for trips to Disney World, or meeting a celebrity. Kristin, heavily influenced by her experiences on a mission trip to Africa, asked for money to start an orphanage in Zambia for AIDS-stricken orphans. The foundation agreed and donated $2,600 towards the $60,000 Kristin will need to get the orphanage started. (Donations are accepted by mail or through her school’s website.) [May 8 update: ABC news anchor Charles Gibson noted on the air last night that Kristin has now raised the $60,000, though I’m sure additional donations would only further the project.]
If that doesn’t challenge us to think about our priorities, I don’t know what will. I’m certainly glad that we’ll soon be able to call Kristin a fellow Baylor Bear.
Sic ’em, Kristin!
Hall of Fame hoops coach leaves retirement to join Baylor staff
Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Athletics
Imagine former Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz taking a job as an assistant under Art Briles, or basketball’s Bobby Knight accepting a position as an assistant to Scott Drew. That’s about what women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey has pulled off in getting Leon Barmore to come to Baylor.
Barmore, who retired in 2002 after 20 seasons leading the Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters, was announced recently as the Lady Bears’ newest assistant coach. Barmore took his team to the NCAAs in every one of his 20 years at Louisiana Tech, a stretch that included nine Final Four appearances and the 1988 national championship. He was the fastest coach ever to reach 500 wins, and his .869 winning percentage is still the best in the sport’s history. His entire career — as a player, assistant coach and head coach — has been at Louisiana Tech until now.
It speaks to Baylor’s place on the national women’s basketball scene that a Hall of Fame coach like Barmore would leave retirement to come to Waco. In fact, he said Baylor was one of only two jobs that could have pulled him back into coaching.
Sic ’em, Coach Barmore!
Baylor’s first Relay for Life raises $100,000 for cancer research
Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Photo Galleries, Student life
When Baylor first got involved with the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life last fall, the University was challenged to raise $25,000 for the cause.
When the donations were totaled up from April’s student-organized event, the inaugural All University Baylor Relay for Life had raised over $100,000. Nationwide, more than 4,000 similar events collected a total of over $400 million for cancer research.
With a theme of “Bear Down: All Paws for a Cure,” the all-night event on the fields outside the Baylor Sciences Building rallied more than 800 participants, including women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey, who led a 6 a.m. pep rally and donated funds that pushed Baylor’s total over the six-figure mark. Click here for a photo gallery from the event.
Sic ’em to Zeta Tau Alpha, Baylor University Medical Ethics Discussion Society and Alpha Phi Omega for organizing the event, and sic ’em to all the participants!
