Home to All-University Sing and Student Chapel, Waco Hall is an iconic center for music and performance at Baylor University. The building was dedicated amid commencement festivities in 1930, but the journey to get there required the support of the Waco community, and the venue has come to represent the unbreakable bond between Baylor and its hometown.
In 1928, the Baptist General Convention of Texas suggested relocating Baylor to Dallas, where they hoped the University would receive greater financial support. But at this point, Baylor and Waco were practically synonymous, and Wacoans did not want to see the University depart from their city.
Waco civic leaders rallied the public. They quickly gathered support, and the community pledged to raise $1 million over the next seven years should the BGCT choose to leave Baylor in Waco. Within just three weeks, they raised $400,000.
In honor of Waco and the community’s willingness to use its resources to save Baylor, the initial funds were used to build Waco Hall, a new auditorium for the Baylor and Waco community to enjoy. The building soon became the pride of those dreamers and planners since the destruction of Carroll Chapel by fire in 1922.
Waco Hall has since seen its fair share of notable performances, speakers, and artists. But among the Baylor family, it is perhaps best known as the home of All-University Sing: a Broadway-style performance competition that people from Baylor and beyond travel to see. The very first performance took place in Waco Hall on risers, with an audience of just 13 people, but it has since grown into a cornerstone of the Baylor student experience.
