Past, future Bears team up to serve Kenyan orphans
Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Alumni, Student life
Updating a previous story… The Waco Tribune-Herald reports that Kristin Elliott, an 18-year-old incoming Baylor freshman, has far surpassed her goal of raising $60,000 for an orphanage in Kenya. As of last week, following her appearance on ABC’s World News Tonight, more than $100,000 had poured in for the orphanage!
Thanks to the generous donations, “Kristin’s Miracle House” will now be joined by “Kristin’s Miracle Clinic for AIDS Orphans” as part of the Tree of LIFE Children’s Village outside the city of Lusaka, Kenya’s capital. The Village will eventually include 25 homes housing over 300 children; Kristin’s Miracle House is home number seven. Tax-deductible donations are still being accepted.
There’s another Baylor connection here, too, that I only just learned about. The Village is coordinated by Family Legacy Missions International — which was founded by 1986 Baylor alum Greer Kendall. As long as Kristin’s cancer doesn’t return, she’ll be headed back to Kenya on another trip with the organization next month. It’s truly awe-inspiring when God works like this — and great to see both past and future Baylor Bears able to work together to serve others so well!
Sic ’em, Kristin and Greer, and Baylor alums serving everywhere!
Former softball standout’s health scare rallied Baylor family
Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Just for Fun, Alumni, Athletics
Baylor fans know Cristin Vitek as the softball pitcher who struck out an NCAA-record 28 batters in a 16-inning 1-0 win during the 2004 NCAA Regional — the exceptional athlete seen in this picture. But all her athletic achievements meant nothing earlier this year when she spent three weeks in the hospital, her family worried at times if she would even survive.
Thankfully, she is now on the road to recovery and was healthy enough to throw out the first pitch before Wednesday night’s softball game. The Baylor Lariat and Waco Tribune-Herald each ran nice features on what she’s been through; the Viteks shared how the Baylor family immediately sprung into action with prayers for Cristin’s health, plus phone calls, text messages and e-mails of encouragement.
It’s so great to see the Baylor community banding around a brother or sister in their time of need. And in this case, it’s great to see Cristin back up and headed towards full health.
Sic ’em, Cristin, and sic ’em, Baylor family!
Happy Diadeloso!
Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Just for Fun, Alumni, Student life
Today is Diadeloso, so we’re out enjoying the festivities with the rest of campus. Check back next week for a photo gallery from today’s activities. And if you’re not in Waco, visit the Baylor Network website for more on a Diadeloso celebration near you — San Antonio, Austin and San Diego, April 26; Dallas, Fort Worth and Houston, May 3.
Sic ’em on this, The Day of the Bear!
Senior class elects this year’s Collins Outstanding Professor
Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Academics, Alumni, Student life, Honors
When I heard that Dr. Mona Choucair won this year’s Collins Outstanding Professor Award, I was both overjoyed and completely unsurprised. For the senior lecturer with dual appointments in the English Department and the School of Education, it was only a matter of time.
Dr. Choucair (BA ‘86, PhD ‘00) is the epitome of what it means to be a Baylor professor: knowledgeable, professional, a great communicator, a superior listener. Every semester, students fight tooth and nail to get into her classes. She brings dynamic energy to the classroom, starting off almost every period by asking students about their other classes and often offering a timely pep talk. And though Dr. Choucair’s classes are challenging, her fairness and consistency is remarkable. She inspires her students to work hard every single day. I should know; I was one of them (and I didn’t even make an A).
Above all, Dr. Choucair cares deeply about her students, whether that means helping them with schoolwork, sharing meals, writing recommendation letters, or just talking with them about life. She welcomes all visitors, and on most days, a line waits outside her office door. As busy as she is, Dr. Choucair always makes time for one more.
I have often been the “one more” Dr. Choucair made time for. She is a big reason I switched my major to English after taking her American Literature course. She even helped me locate a home, find the right graduate school and land three jobs! Baylor is extremely blessed to have more than our fair share of people like Dr. Choucair who literally change the direction of our lives. May we always remember how fortunate we are to be surrounded by professors who devote themselves to the students of this university. Track down those favorite professors of yours and let them know how much you appreciate them. Professors like these make me proud to be part of the Baylor family.
Sic ’em, class of ‘08, for making an excellent choice, and Sic ’em, Dr. Choucair!
Tisdale drafted by WNBA’s Chicago Sky
Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Alumni, Athletics, Honors
Senior Angela Tisdale became the sixth Baylor player to be selected in the last seven years when the WNBA held its annual amateur player draft Wednesday night.
Tisdale was the 33rd overall pick, going in the third round to the Chicago Sky. A 2007-08 All Big 12 first-team selection and a national player of the year finalist, Tisdale led the Lady Bears in scoring and assists, setting a new program record for career assists earlier this year. She and teammate Rachel Allison each earned honorable mention All-America honors from the Associated Press.
This is the fourth straight year a Lady Bear has been drafted. Previous selections include Sheila Lambert (2002, 1st round), Danielle Crockrom (2002, 1st), Steffanie Blackmon (2005, 3rd) , Sophia Young (2006, 1st) and Bernice Mosby (2007, 1st). Young and Mosby are still active.
Sic ’em, Angela!
Publix CEO first led at Baylor
Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Alumni
Ed Crenshaw’s stint as president of Student Foundation in 1972-73 proved a nice training ground for his later life. After spending the last dozen years as president of Publix, Florida’s No. 1 grocery store chain and a market leader in the southeast, Crenshaw was promoted to CEO of the company last month.
Crenshaw started at Publix shortly after leaving Baylor and worked his way up to company president by 1996. In coordination with his promotion, the Lakeland Ledger recently ran a nice feature on Crenshaw and his service-oriented approach.
[Personal note: My wife grew up in Florida and has long insisted that Publix is better than any other grocery store she’s ever frequented. She has particularly applauded their quality of service, even long before we knew there was any Baylor connection.]
It’s fitting that Crenshaw’s name adorns the Ed Crenshaw Student Foundation Center, which opened in 2006.
Sic ’em, Mr. Crenshaw!
Baylor baseball alums in the big leagues
Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Alumni, Athletics
Four Bears are in the big leagues as most of Major League Baseball kicks off the 2008 season today.
Former national collegiate player of the year (and Mesquite native) Jason Jennings begins his first season with his hometown Texas Rangers. Jennings, who played at Baylor from 1997-99, is coming off a strong spring and will be the Rangers’ No. 3 starter.
Fellow Baylor alum David Murphy will join Jennings with the Rangers. A former first-round pick, Murphy hit .343 in limited action last year and should see more playing time this season.
Outside of Texas, Kelly Shoppach begins his third season backing up all-star catcher Victor Martinez in Cleveland. Shoppach set new career highs in virtually every offensive category last year, and like Murphy, should see more playing time this year as the Indians occasionally shift Martinez to first base to get Shoppach in the lineup.
Kip Wells will start 2008 in the bullpen for the defending National League champion Colorado Rockies. Wells is the veteran among active Baylor alums in the big leagues; this year will mark his 10th major league season, second only to Hall of Famer Ted Lyons among Baylor alums.
And that’s not all; at last count, 22 more former Baylor players were still active at some level of professional baseball. In total, 26 Bears in the Pros? A nice showing for the baseball program’s 13-plus seasons under head coach Steve Smith.
Sic ’em, Baylor baseball!
Two alums named among Barron’s top 30 CEOs
Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Alumni, Honors
According to Barron’s Magazine, the weekly financial publication put out by Dow Jones & Company, two of the world’s top 30 corporate leaders are Baylor grads! (The article is also on MSN.com.)
Mark Hurd, a 1979 graduate and CEO of technology giant Hewlett-Packard, made the list for the first time; Bob Simpson, BBA ‘70 and MS ‘71, is CEO of XTO Energy and appears on Barron’s list for the fourth straight year.
Today’s Hankamer School of Business students have some big shoes to fill when it comes to following alums like Hurd and Simpson, but given the sort of honors the business school receives every year, I have no doubt they’ll be up to it.
Sic ‘em, business school alums!
Recent grad recognized for volunteer service
Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Alumni, Student life, Honors
Baylor students, faculty and staff annually volunteer more than 150,000 hours of local community service. The hope is that such an attitude of service continues long after graduation.
One young Baylor alum recently was honored for her service, receiving the President’s Volunteer Service Award, which was created by President Bush in 2002 “as a way to thank and honor Americans who, by their demonstrated commitment and example, inspire others to engage in volunteer service.”
Kathryne Butler, a 2007 grad, was an active volunteer at Baylor, participating in events such as Steppin’ Out, Operation Christmas Child and Special Olympics. She says belonging to campus organizations like the National Society of Collegiate Scholars and CHI’s service sorority made it easy to serve and provided plenty of opportunities.
Hundreds, maybe thousands of Baylor students are off on mission trips right now during spring break, repairing homes, serving medical needs, and sharing the Gospel across the country and even internationally. What a wonderful representation of what it means to be a Baylor Bear!
Sic ’em, Kathryne and all Baylor volunteers!
Baylor alum moved from Waco to White House
Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Alumni
In keeping with our refrigerator door analogy, from time to time Baylor Proud will share the accomplishments of alumni who are doing interesting things across a variety of fields — members of the Baylor family of whom we can all be proud.
Alumna Jane Hampton Cook has worn a lot of different hats since graduating from Baylor in 1992 with a music degree. After earning her masters degree at Texas A&M in education administration, she went to work for then Governor George W. Bush.
She spent three years in the governor’s office before following Bush to Washington, D.C., where she worked for five years. During that time, she redesigned whitehouse.gov and created the first separate White House website for children, whitehousekids.gov.
Today, Cook is an author and public speaker, making appearances across the country, including many Baylor Network events. (The Baylor Network sponsors get-togethers for alumni across Texas and in select cities nationwide; for more, visit www.baylor.edu/network.)
Sic ’em, Jane Hampton Cook!
