Note of disclosure: The author of this article is the oldest grandson of Herbert Hal Reynolds (11th president of Baylor) and is the first cousin four times removed of W.R. White (9th president of Baylor). He is also a Freemason. What do Baylor University’s first 11 Presidents have in common with Mozart, Isaac Newton, George […]
Building Baylor: How Freemasonry Shaped the University’s First 150 Years Read More »
When Baylor University was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas, its co-founders, Reverend William Milton Tryon and Judge Robert Emmett Bledsoe Baylor, wanted to weave the Baptist faith into the daily curriculum. The third founding father, Reverend James Huckins, who was the first Southern Baptist missionary to Texas, cemented
Catholics at Baylor: Promoting Unity and Cooperation Read More »
This story was originally published by The Baylor Line in 2020 as an e-book. My wife Mary and I encountered Dr. Robert C. Cloud right before a conference at Baylor. We’re both big fans of “RCC”; Mary considers him to be her mentor. As modest as ever, the whippet-thin man who was once the youngest
In its long history, who was Baylor’s first senior professor? Dorothy Scarborough? A. J. Armstrong? Paul Baker? Daniel Sternberg? Glenn Capp? Cornelia Marschall Smith? It was Dr. Luther Weeks Courtney, who taught in the English department for nearly 40 years. In 1954, President W.R. White conferred the newly created title of “Distinguished Professor” on Courtney
Perhaps nothing says “Texas” like the Brazos River, the 10th longest river in the U.S. and the longest river entirely within the state of Texas. Powerful and temperamental, it meanders 840 miles from Lubbock to the Gulf of Mexico. Home to blue herons, white egrets, hawks, and golden eagles, its flow and color change (clear,
By the time she first set foot on the Baylor campus in 1963, Pam Dial Taylor had been a cheerleader since junior high school. In fact, she’d already spent summers leading camps around the country for the National Cheerleaders Association. We’re talking about one serious cheerleader. When she arrived in Waco, however, Pam learned something
The Untold Story of Baylor’s Ultimate Cheerleader Read More »
“I can remember the first time I went to an art museum. I was probably six or seven,” said Meghan Bias. “The colors and textures of the paintings, the sculptures. It was like I was home. A place where I just felt like I belong.”
The Colorful Past and Vibrant Future of Art Center Waco Read More »
Since the Paul Baker era, the Baylor Theatre has always punched far above its weight on Broadway. From the beloved actor Carole “Cookie” Cook to Robert Askins’ award-winning dark comedy Hand to God, dozens of Bears have graced the stages of the Great White Way. Baker’s Baylor was a particularly rich and nurturing home for
Aenard “Ann” Compton left a remarkably small footprint during her life, much less during her time in Waco. Even so meticulous a researcher as Frank Jasek, who spent more than 11 years assembling his book, Soldiers of the Wooden Cross: Military Memorials, could only find a few facts about Compton. Jasek’s ambitious, beautiful book is
Throughout its long history, the Baylor University campus has been remarkably blessed, avoiding tornadoes, the worst impact of the regular Brazos River flooding, and the ravages of fire. Waco’s “other” university – and Baylor’s greatest rival – AddRan College was forced to leave Waco after a massive fire in March 1910 devastated the college’s primary
