When I worked in athletics, I lost track of the number of other schools that would come to play Baylor and marvel at our athletics complex along the Brazos River. Since then, Baylor has only continued to improve its athletic facilities, as venues like the Allison Indoor Football Practice Facility, the Alwin O. and Dorothy Highers Athletics Complex and the Simpson Athletics and Academic Center have gone up along University Parks Drive.
This past weekend, the Hurd Tennis Building was dedicated, following renovations that make the facility one befitting Baylor tennis’ championship level of competition. The dedication was the crowning event of an entire weekend of celebration, as the athletics department celebrated the successful conclusion of the Victory with Integrity Campaign. (See photos here.) Launched in 2005, the campaign’s goal was to raise $90 million in five years for facilities, scholarships and endowments. Baylor fans deserve kudos for blowing past that goal, raising a total of $94.3 million for athletics.
In addition to the money raised for scholarships and endowment, the campaign’s fundraising allowed for the construction of the Lt. Jack Whetsel Jr. Basketball Practice Facility and the Willis Family Equestrian Center, plus the completion of the Grant Teaff Plaza at Floyd Casey Stadium and numerous other upgrades and renovations. The benefits of these improvements can been seen on the field, with nine Baylor sports currently ranked in the top 25 (softball joined the fun this week at No. 15), and in the classroom, as a school-record 254 student-athletes earned places on the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll this past fall.
Sic ’em, Baylor fans and Baylor athletics!
