For now over 75 years, The Baylor Line has been publishing vivid storytelling from across the Baylor Family. I don’t think our archives full of deep, inspirational features should live solely on shelves, so we are bringing them back to life in BL Classics. This Classic is about the September 19, 1981 inauguration of Herbert Hal Reynolds as Baylor’s eleventh president. Watergate prosecutor Leon Jaworski delivers the inaugural address, calling for honesty and moral leadership in government and in Reynolds himself.
The crisp breeze hints that fall is coming, that change is in the air. Indeed, this is no usual Friday morning at Baylor University: It is September 19, 1981, Inauguration Day.
The television cameras are in place outside Waco Hall. Alumni and students in their Sunday-best climb the steps to enter the auditorium, while two college men in green jackets explain to a German shepherd puppy why he must leave.
Carrying flags to represent the 50 states and 100 countries where Baylor alumni live, 150 Baylor students line Founders Mall. Maintenance men sweep the remaining few leaves from the sidewalk in front of Pat Neff Hall as professors in academic regalia step briskly to their appointed places in line.
Policemen stop traffic on Speight Street, and groups of students gather around Judge Baylor’s statue and under the live oaks to watch. Everything is ready.
At 9:57 A.M., the bells chime “That Good Old Baylor Line” to begin the inauguration processional for Herbert Hal Reynolds, the eleventh president of Baylor University.
The scene is a memorable one. Representatives from 200 institutions of higher learning across the United States and abroad join the presidential party, the trustees, tenured faculty, and administrators of Baylor to begin the march down Founders Mall.
The bright reds, blues, and greens of the flags, a clear blue sky, the blaze of colors in the academic robes, hoods, and tassels, and the green and gold of the trustees’s new robes— all these combine to transform the Mall into a living ribbon of learned men and women, tying today to ten centuries of higher education around the world.
And the impressiveness of the scene loses none of its pageantry by moving indoors. Playing “Fanfare for Brass,” composed by Richard Willis especially for the occasion, the Baylor brass ensemble creates a musical sunrise to welcome the processional into Waco Hall.
Revered Professor Emeritus P. D. Browne sets the tone for this special day. With the gold-hilted university mace lifted high in front of him, he leads the train of distinguished academicians and student flag bearers into the hall, beginning a ceremony that is flawlessly planned and performed. Each part of the program is appropriate in the tone and content — the stately hymns, the warm introductions, the sincere prayers. The A Cappella Choir sings Dr. Herbert Colvin’s original anthem based on Psalm 100. Rhonda Reynolds, daughter of the president, reads Isaiah 40 and Romans 8 with clarity and poise.
Dr. Reynolds receives greetings from the university and from the students. James H. Landes, executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, expresses the support of the convention. And James F. Cole, executive vice-president of the alumni association, assures the new president, “You will not have to ask for the hand of the alumni. It is already extended.”
W. Dewey Presley, chairman of the board of trustees, presides over each phase of the program, including the installation of Herbert Hal Reynolds. Recognizing the new president to be “an acknowledged leader as a scientist, scholar, administrator, and educator,” Presley expresses unquestioned confidence in Reynold’s proven ability to guide Baylor into “what may be her greatest years.”
And then the high moment. Chancellor Abner V. McCall and Mr. Presley complete the investiture by placing the presidential medallion upon President Reynolds. The 2,000 guests— from the front row downstairs to the back row of the balcony — sit tall in their chairs to applaud.
Leon Jaworski, a distinguished alumnus, now gives the inaugural address. Focusing first on the gratitude Baylor feels toward Judge McCall, the former Watergate prosecutor enumerates the growth in acreage, enrollment, facilities, and endowment Baylor has experienced under McCall’s leadership from 1961 to 1981.
Then, Jaworski describes Reynolds as “a tried and true executive, steeped in Baylor’s sacred traditions and lofty aims, a Christian gentleman who believes in the power of prayer and relies on it for guidance and support.”
His voice firm with authority and experience, Jaworski states the concern Americans feel for moral leadership and honesty in government. He recalls Thomas Jefferson’s conclusion regarding greatness in a nation: “The whole art of government consists in the art of being honest.” Jaworski continues: Statesmanship, uprightness, integrity, and fidelity to duty were essential qualities in Jefferson’s day; we must have equally “trustworthy and honorable servants” in office today if America is to be great.
Concluding, Jaworski pays tribute first to Baylor: “The precepts and the examples on this campus prepare the student to take his place in society and to practice the art of government as [Jefferson] defined it.”
And he pays tribute to Reynolds: “Mr. President, Baylor University has honored you— we confidently believe in our hearts that you, like your predecessors, will honor her.” The audience, generous and involved throughout the program, affirms Jaworski’s inspiring speech with applause. Then Presley introduces the new president; the audience welcomes President Reynolds with a standing ovation.
In his inaugural response Reynolds says he will outline some of the ways in which he plans to honor Baylor; but before doing so, he pauses for a moment of mirth: “Folks who know me well are aware of my penchant for planning ahead and trying to see around corners. Consequently, you can see that I am taking every possible precaution to avoid dire trouble or impeachment by gaining the trust and goodwill of the world’s best-known prosecutor and attorney par excellence.”
Then in a more serious tone, Reynolds speaks of some of his hopes for Baylor. He promises to strengthen the faculty and staff “in competence and character” and pledges his continuing support of the “deeply dedicated Christian teachers and scholars.” The new president emphasizes that “our faculty must, first and foremost, teach exceptionally well” and that outstanding contributions by faculty in teaching, research, and community service “will be rewarded.” He also reaffirms Baylor’s commitment to students as “the focal point of all Baylor’s programs” so that “our graduates will become informed and discerning citizens and leaders in matters involving both church and state.”
After setting a goal to increase the endowment fund to $250 million by the end of the 1980s, President Reynolds concludes with an expression of gratitude to his family, the trustees, Dr. McCall, the faculty, staff, and students. And the crowd responds — a warm, extended applause for the man who is now their president.
The recessional, too, reflects the style of Reynolds: he smiles, acknowledges greetings, and radiates the ambience of the hour as he leaves the hall.
The ceremony completed, the audience turns into a family reunion. Everyone shows joy in being a part of Baylor’s 136-year history and a part of this day; people hug, shake hands, wave. Laughter and animated conversation abound. From many clusters of conversation similar phrases recur: “I am so proud of Baylor,” “The ceremony was perfect,” “I feel privileged to be here.”
Individual comments also stand out. Dr. Gian Franco Rossi from the University of Bologna, Italy, (the oldest university in the world) explains how much he has enjoyed his visit to Baylor. Looking over his shoulder and pointing toward the spires and Pat Neff Hall, he says in his soft accent to several students, “I am astonished at the beauty of your campus.”
Robert Denton, professor of health and physical education, responds to the idea that McCall will now become chancellor with this story: “When Bowden Wyatt became coach at University of Tennessee, a reporter asked him how he felt about having the ex-coach, General Robert Neyland, still around. Wyatt smiled and said, ‘Why, he’s like access to a private, million- dollar library.’ That pretty well describes McCall’s wealth of knowledge now available to Reynolds,” says Professor Denton. Heads nod in agreement.
Two maintenance men, brooms in hand, also evaluate the new regime. “That Dr. Reynolds, he’s all right,” says the younger man. “He sure is. Even when he’s real busy walking by with important people — he will still give you a wink,” says the other. “Yes, sir, he’s our man.”
While moments like these are being shared inside and outside Waco Hall, Dr. and Mrs. Reynolds are being photographed by the press in the vestibule of Pat Neff Hall. A happy, relaxed air surrounds the new first family as they obey the photographers and as on-lookers laugh or applaud each shot. The pictures over, President and Mrs. Reynolds extend their hands in greetings to friends and acquaintances who crowd around to wish them well. They seem awed and humbled by the immensity of the honor bestowed on them; they smile graciously, their total attention focused in turn on each word of support and good will.
The inauguration morning draws to a close. The individual handshakes occurring all over the campus become a symbol for the united hands of the university. The words of the day gather themselves into heart-felt phrases of gratitude for the past and promise for the future. And the individual faces merge into the face of Baylor — loving confident, proud.
By early-afternoon the campus settles back into its routine. Some students cross the campus, books under their arms. Others begin to glide out of the marina onto the Brazos in sailboats with red and yellow sails. Music lovers of all ages sit under the SUB’s green and gold umbrellas to listen to the Baylor Band play in Union Bowl. Alumni talk leisurely in the swings. A mockingbird chases a squirrel out of a tree.
By three o’clock President Reynolds — in characteristic fashion — is again at work in his office. He has exchanged the robes and platform for shirtsleeves and his desk. Chancellor McCall’s door is open; the vestibule, quiet.
The walkway between Pat Neff Hall and Judge Baylor’s statue is empty now, except for a coed bicycling and two young men in bluejeans playing Frisbee on Founders Mall. One of the students throws the white disk.
It rises, floats across the clean autumn air, and suspends itself in mid-flight, spinning. For a moment, time stops. Then effortlessly, the disk flies into the outstretched hand. A leaf falls. A new season has begun.
