Playing first for the Bears, then the Cleveland Browns and the Dallas Cowboys, a young James “Jim” Ray Smith once dove into a voracious life of football, and across nine decades he never came up for air. Even after retiring from the NFL in the 1960s, Smith dedicated over a third of his life to
On the morning of March 28, 1977, hundreds of Baylor students settled into their theater seats spread across Waco Hall, likely having marked themselves ‘present’ for another Chapel attendance credit. Often the young men and women would expect to hear a sermon in the historic hall, but this week was the annual University Forum. A
Roots of the Tree: Alumni Remember Gloria Steinem’s Baylor Visit Read More »
From the author: On August 31, 2026, three days after I submitted the essay below to The Baylor Line, Wendell Berry died. The news reached me that evening as something I had anticipated and yet was unprepared to receive. For a moment, it seemed as though some great light had gone out of the world,
From the Soil to the Stars: Reflections on Wendell Berry From His Penpal Read More »
Hall of Fame coach Clyde Hart’s accomplishments are well-documented. Coach to Olympic 400-meter champions Michael Johnson, Jeremy Wariner, and Sanya Richards-Ross, he also produced 34 NCAA champions and 566 NCAA All-Americans over the course of his 56-year career. A career highlight was being selected as men’s assistant coach for the 2000 Olympic Track & Field
“I’m telling you, that is one smart, hard-working, gracious, wonderful lady.” — John F. Baugh In times of darkness, Emily Tinsley’s commitment to bettering the Baylor Family shone through. “I think [she] wanted to see Baylor be … more transparent, more honorable, the ways that they believed it had been and could be,” said Robyn
A legend at Baylor, Missy Yeary Wells (‘88) served as director of Student Foundation from 1989 to 1997. Beloved by everyone who knew her, Missy’s death at 59 on February 4, 2025, was sudden and unexpected. Her husband Steve (’90, M.Div. ’97, D.Min. ‘03), a regent at Baylor and pastor at South Main Baptist Church
A Foundation for Success: Remembering Missy Wells Read More »
Carroll “CD” Dawson, former Baylor men’s basketball player and coach and Houston Rockets general manager, died on September 9 at 86 years old, leaving behind a decades-long legacy in men’s basketball. “The Rockets family mourns the loss of beloved former coach and general manager Carroll Dawson, affectionately known as CD,” the Rockets said in a
Her name was Cindy Campbell Brown. Her age was 26. She was a Secret Service agent whose office was on the top floor of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. On April 19, 1995 at 9:02 a.m., Timothy McVeigh, 26, a U.S. Army veteran poisoned with anti-government hate, set off a truck bomb in front of the building where Cindy worked. McVeigh had designed and built the bomb by hand along with his co-conspirator Terry Nichols. The blast sheared off the front of the 9-story, glass front federal building, reducing it to rubble. The ensuing devastation killed 168 people, including Cindy.
Her Name Was Cindy Campbell Brown. She Died In 1995. And It’s Time You Knew Her Story. Read More »
From the moment of his birth, John Seymour Belew was destined to devote much of his life to Baylor. He was a war veteran, chemistry scholar, senior administrator, internationalist, civic leader, patron of the arts, and, most of all, a dedicated friend and family member. Thank you, John, for 102 years of life, love, and service.
The Lasting Legacy (and Long Life) of Dr. John Belew Read More »
Dr. John Belew, former provost of Baylor University, has passed away at the age of 102 after a life of service his country, community, and alma mater.
A year ago the unthinkable happened: losing a brother, friend and husband and father at the place of comfort: a church. Dr. John Cheng (BA ‘91) died a hero when he tackled a gunman who entered Laguna Woods, California’s Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian Church in May 2022.
“Campbell was synonymous with football in Texas. He’ll be missed by many.” Dave Campbell was the Shakespeare of sportswriters, a wordsmith whose columns informed, entertained, and captivated his loyal readers for almost 70 years. During his legendary, 40-year career as the sports editor of the Waco Tribune-Herald and the founder of Texas Football magazine in
It is with great sadness we mourn the loss of a larger-than-life leader: Wayne Tucker (‘85), Baylor Line Foundation’s Incoming President and a friend to so, so, so very many across the Baylor Family and the globe. “Wayne was an important and valued member of Baylor Line Foundation’s family in so many ways,” said Allen
Hero, mentor, friend — Dr. Robert C. Cloud (MS ‘66, Ed.D. ‘69) was all three of these to me. His influence, teachings, kindness, and care substantially shaped my life and my professional career. I first met Dr. Cloud, or RCC as he often playfully referred to himself as to others, in 1989 when I enrolled in
“Her loving heart and wonderful sense of humor were truly a gift to us all.” This is how Laura Hallmon (’96, JD ’99), President of the Baylor Line Foundation, will remember Barbara “Babs” Baugh, who was called Home in the early hours of Sunday, June 14. “It is with a heavy heart that [we learned]
The Baylor icon and wife to Dave Campbell died January 5 after several years of declining health. Reba Campbell occupies a special place in Texas journalism as part of the vanguard of women who broke barriers in news reporting in the post-World War II era. She believed that women could cover hard news and shouldn’t
Reba Campbell, Pioneering Journalist and Teacher, Is Dead at 95 Read More »
Walker Leigh Knight, the Baylor-educated writer and editor whose epic poem The Peacemaker includes the once widely quoted phrase “Peace, like War, is Waged,” died in Atlanta shortly before Christmas. He was 95. When President Jimmy Carter incorporated Knight’s iconic line into the signing ceremony of the 1979 Israeli-Egyptian Peace Treaty, the next day’s Washington
Walker Knight, Groundbreaking Editor of Baptist Publications, Has Died Read More »
As the 43rd governor of Texas, and the fourth Baylor graduate to serve in that state office, Mark White ushered in education reforms that still impact schools, including limits on elementary class size, the “no pass, no play” policy for high school athletes, and the first-ever statewide testing standards. For White, age 77, who died
There are a lot of things people might be surprised to learn about Jack Dillard. For one, he was an avid scuba diver. I never talked with him about it after he became unable to walk with ease, but I suspect that one of his great regrets later on was that he could no longer
Anyone looking for total objectivity here should probably read something else. I cannot reflect on the life of my sister Nancie Wingo ’54, who died last Christmas Eve morning, without thinking she may have been the best example Baylor ever produced in the matter ofloving, respecting and appreciating the people of a currently much maligned
