• #FiveStarr: Celebrating athletic highlights of President Starr’s 5 years at Baylor

    President Ken Starr outside McLane Stadium

    Five years ago this summer, Ken Starr took office as Baylor’s 14th president. From the beginning, he said that athletics were “the front porch of the University,” and since the early days of his tenure, when he fought tirelessly to stabilize and secure Baylor’s spot on the national stage, Baylor’s front porch has grown in national prominence, achieved unprecedented athletic accomplishments and come home to some of the nation’s finest new athletic facilities.

    The combination of leadership from Judge Starr and Director of Athletics Ian McCaw, top-notch coaches, outstanding student-athletes and generous donors has led to incredible new moments and milestones in Baylor Athletics history, including:

    • McLane Stadium — the finest new football stadium in college football, a transformative facility that brought football back to campus when it opened last August;
    • The Heisman Trophy — the most “unbelievably believable” moment in Baylor history, when Robert Griffin III’s victory elevated Baylor to heights never before reached on the national stage;
    • Three national titles — the undefeated 2012 Baylor women’s basketball team, the 2012 equestrian team’s hunter seat championship, and the 2015 acrobatics & tumbling squad;
    • 28 Big 12 titles — a staggering total which includes the first two Big 12 football titles in program history;
    • The Year of the Bear — the never-to-be-forgotten 2011-12 school year, which brought home RG3’s Heisman, two national titles, the first 40-0 season in college basketball history, three Big 12 titles and two national players of the year, and saw every Baylor varsity team reach the postseason; and
    • Clyde Hart Track & Field Stadium — the stunning, long-awaited new track & field stadium, another “jewel on the Brazos;” its opening meant that every sport but golf now had a home on campus.

    Incredibly, many of these moments might never have happened were it not for Judge Starr’s leadership when conference realignment threatened the Big 12 Conference not once but twice, in both 2010 and 2011. Baylor’s new president had not even been on the job a full week in June 2010 when reports of the Big 12’s imminent demise began to circulate — an occurrence which threatened to leave Baylor without a major-conference home. With Judge Starr at the helm and Baylor Nation working alongside him, a “tsunami of political pressure” helped keep the Big 12 intact. When the same scenario repeated itself a year later, President Starr encouraged dialogue and stood strong in a high-stakes showdown for Baylor’s existence in a major conference, a move that provided time for cooler heads to prevail and keep the Big 12’s status secure.

    In addition to his leadership, Judge Starr is also a die-hard supporter of Baylor Athletics; if he’s in town and there’s a game being played, regardless of sport, he and his wife, Alice, are likely there. Oh, and he also looks sharp in his Baylor Line jersey, running with the Line before each football game.

    Sic ’em, President Starr!

    [This piece is in honor of our summer-long celebration of President Ken Starr’s five years of service to Baylor University — something we regard as serious #FiveStarr excellence. We’ll be examining more highlights of his tenure and tracking #FiveStarr on Twitter and Instagram for your best Judge Starr memories.]