Baylor Proud

May

2013

Legendary Baylor QB the 10th Bear elected to College Football Hall of Fame

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Alumni, Athletics, Honors

He was Baylor’s original Heisman finalist and a groundbreaking passer in an era when most teams ran the ball. Now, legendary Baylor quarterback Don Trull has joined the ranks of college football’s immortals with his election into the College Football Hall of Fame earlier this month.

Half a century after he starred at Baylor, Trull’s name still appears throughout the program’s record books alongside the top passers in BU history. His exploits helped transform college football from a game dominated by the run into the aerial shootouts we see today.

Trull led the nation in passing yardage and touchdowns during his highly decorated senior year (1963), when he finished fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting, was a first-team All-American and first-team All-Southwest Conference selection, and became Baylor’s first National Football Foundation National Scholar-Athlete.

The Oklahoma City native is Baylor’s 10th member of the College Football Hall of Fame, joining such iconic names as Grant Teaff and Mike Singletary. Other Bears in the Hall: former Baylor head coach Morley Jennings and players Barton Koch, Bill Glass, James Ray Smith, Lawrence Elkins, Hayden Fry and Thomas Everett.

Sic ’em, Don Trull!

May

2013

Join your fellow Bears for Diadeloso Texas at SeaWorld next month!

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Alumni, Photo Galleries, Student life

Diadeloso Texas After graduating, most Bears will find that their work places don’t break for a day in the spring to celebrate Diadeloso. (If your office does, then by all means, let me know!)

But summer is a time for vacation, so they probably won’t mind if you take a long weekend next month to head to San Antonio for Diadeloso Texas at SeaWorld. The annual event, hosted by the Baylor Alumni Network, is scheduled for June 8; each year, it brings together hundreds of Baylor alumni and students for a day of family fun. (See photos from a past event here.)

For just $35 — a significant discount off regular price — Bears get not only admission to the park, but also a free lunch and admission to a Baylor program with door prizes. Family packages and special deals for active military and season pass holders are also available; click here for details.

To register, click here or call 866-281-9444; the deadline for registration is June 3.

Sic ’em, Baylor family — see you at SeaWorld!

May

2013

With four new Regents, Baylor’s Board now made up of 90% BU alumni

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Alumni, Service

Giglio, Heard, Wright and Pullin

Following the Baylor Board of Regents’ spring meeting last week, four new Regents — all Baylor alumni — were announced as the next to join the Board in June:

Shelley Giglio, BBA ’86, chief strategist and manager to the bands for sixstepsrecords and co-founder of Passion Conferences/Choice Ministries. She and her husband, Louie, began the ministry that would become Passion in Waco in 1985; after 10 years of working with Baylor students, the couple moved to Atlanta, where Passion Conferences were born.
Larry P. Heard, BBA ’80, president and CEO of Transwestern Commercial Services, a real estate firm based in Houston. Heard has previously served on the Hankamer School of Business advisory board and the Baylor College of Medicine board of trustees.
Kathy Wills Wright, BS ’85, MSEd ’88, of Arlington, Va., consultant in Washington, D.C. After holding several appointments in the George W. Bush Administration, Wright has served Baylor as a friend in Washington, as a member of President Ken Starr’s executive council, and as a Regent.
Randolph L. (Randy) Pullin, BBA ’82, of Houston, chief financial officer with Stedman West Interests Inc. Elected by the Baptist General Convention of Texas, Pullin is a longtime Texas Baptist lay leader and former Buckner Foundation board director; he also served on the Presidential Search Advisory Committee that recommended Judge Starr to Baylor.

With these four added to the mix (pictured left to right above), nearly 90% of Baylor’s Regents — 25 out of 28 — are graduates of Baylor. Nobody understands the Baylor experience like those who have lived it, so I’m glad to see so many alumni — so many successful alumni — willing and ready to step in and serve in such ways.

Sic ’em, Baylor Regents!

May

2013

Baylor couple’s pilot to air on HGTV this Thursday

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Alumni, Just for Fun

HGTV crew films Chip and Joanna Gaines

From NBC’s The Voice (where sophomore Holly Tucker has reached the top 10) to Chicago Fire and its spinoff, Chicago PD (both helmed by Baylor alums Michael Brandt and Derek Haas), it’s been a good month for Bears on TV.

Now, another Baylor couple is getting their shot. Chip (BBA ’98) and Joanna (BA ’01) Gaines filmed a one-hour special called Fixer Upper for HGTV last fall, and the show will debut this Thursday at 7 p.m. CT on the network. If ratings are good, Fixer Upper could be picked up as HGTV’s newest series.

The series shows Chip and Joanna and their remodeling business, Magnolia Homes, renovating a house in Waco’s Castle Heights neighborhood for another Baylor couple, Doug (BA ’03, MSED ’05) and Lacy (BA ’04, MA ’06) McNamee. If the show goes to series, HGTV will shoot up to 23 more episodes covering homes across Central Texas.

Help out a fellow Bear, and tune in to Fixer Upper this Thursday at 7!

Sic ’em, Chip and Joanna!

May

2013

Commencement 2013 continues a Baylor tradition older than most in Texas

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Academics, Photo Galleries, Student life

At Baylor, commencement honors every individual, as each graduate walks the stage and hears her or her name called, one by one. (How many universities of Baylor’s size still provide such recognition?) But the event itself means something more to the collective.

“By assembling together, you affirm your membership in the Baylor family through cap and gown, through music, through singing ‘That Good Old Baylor Line,’” said President Ken Starr in his commencement address. “You remember by gathering here with those who encouraged and supported you on your Baylor journey, your dear family and loved ones. But even more than family and loved ones, you made this journey — which we celebrate today — with friends.” [Click here to read the entire speech, and here to see photos from graduation.]

Yes, the Baylor experience is about gaining knowledge that will help you in your career. But it’s also about growing as a person, gaining insight that will help you in life, and about forming friendships with people who will walk with you not just for four years in Waco, but for the rest of your life.

Stay in touch, Baylor graduates — with your friends, with the professors who mentored you, and with your alma mater. Share the good news of your life — new jobs, weddings, kids, etc. — with your now-former classmates (perhaps by submitting a class note to Baylor Magazine). And don’t forget to update your contact information as you move along so you can continue to be kept up-to-date on what’s going on here at Baylor and among your new fellow alumni as you all march “forever down the years.”

Wherever life may take you, Class of 2013 — sic ’em, as new Baylor graduates!

May

2013

Baylor professors of the year represent business, English and religion

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Academics, Honors

Baylor Professors of the Year: Thomasson, Garrett and Bellinger

Each year, Baylor honors three professors with major awards based on slightly varying criteria.

The senior class annually votes to determine the Collins Outstanding Professor Award. For the seventh time in the last 10 years, the Collins Award winner is also a Baylor graduate; this year’s recipient is Tim Thomasson, BBA ’91, MBA ’92, a professor of accounting and business law in the Hankamer School of Business. Thomasson spent 17 years in the field before coming back to Baylor in 2006.

Dr. Greg Garrett, a Baylor English professor in the College of Arts & Sciences since 1989, was named the 2013 Baylor Centennial Professor. Funded by the Centennial Class of 1945, each year the award provides financial support to aide one professor with a specific project. Garrett, a prolific writer, will use the award to further work on his next book, Entertaining Judgment: The Afterlife in Literature and Culture, which will examine our culture’s views of life after death over the centuries.

Another longtime Baylor professor, Dr. William Bellinger Jr., is the 2013 Cornelia Marschall Smith Professor of the Year. The award honors a professor who “makes a superlative contribution to the learning environment at Baylor,” based on teaching, research and service. Bellinger has taught religion at Baylor since 1984 and served as department chair since 2006. Known for his sense of humor and robust laugh, Bellinger’s academic focus is on the worship texts of the Old Testament.

Sic ’em, Baylor professors!

May

2013

Baylor alum concludes nine seasons on ‘The Office’ with series finale tonight

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Alumni, Just for Fun

Angela Kinsey

Eight years ago this spring — while this fall’s incoming college freshmen were finishing up fourth grade — NBC debuted a new sitcom based on a British hit. Tonight, The Office signs off with its series finale, finishing its run as one of the signature comedies of the last decade.

With it, we say goodbye to Angela Martin, portrayed for all nine seasons of The Office by 1993 Baylor graduate Angela Kinsey. Her character’s relationship with Rainn Wilson’s Dwight Schrute was a central storyline for much of the show’s run, and tonight’s finale reportedly covers their long-awaited wedding. But don’t get the impression that Angela Martin and Angela Kinsey are the same person.

“She’s nothing like that,” says Baylor professor Robert Darden, BSED ’76, who taught Kinsey as a student. “Angela was a perky, outgoing, spontaneous person, not a grim control freak. Her nickname was ‘Junior Mint,’ and her screenplay characters were always funny and irrepressible.”

Back in 2007, Kinsey was the subject of a Baylor Magazine cover story in which she told the writer she still gets “real excited” to meet Baylor folks. As a student at Baylor, Kinsey was a member of Chi Omega, took theater classes and performed in All-University Sing. Her memories of Baylor include “the millions of squirrels” and Carroll Science Hall, her home as an English major. “I love the beautiful wooden staircase in it. And the professors’ offices are like little rooms tucked away in a big mansion.”

What’s next for Kinsey? She’s shot a couple of pilots for new shows, including one called The Gabriels with Saturday Night Live veterans Rob Riggle and Tim Meadows, but for now, it’s wait and see.

Sic ’em, Angela!

May

2013

Happy 10th anniversary, North Village! A look at what’s next for residence halls at Baylor

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Student life

North Village

Ten years ago this week, Baylor broke ground on what would become the North Village Residential Community, the first new residential community at Baylor in nearly 40 years.

Three years later, the university unveiled Brooks Village (which includes both Brooks Residential College and Brooks Flats). This fall, another new residential community, East Village, will open to students at the intersection of Bagby and 3rd Street (about a block from the Baylor Sciences Building and McLane Student Life Center).

With 700 new beds available this fall in East Village, Baylor will begin a decade-long process of renovating eight residence halls: Martin, Penland, Collins, North and South Russell, Alexander, Allen-Dawson, and Memorial. South Russell will be the first to be refurbished, closing for the 2013-14 school year to be updated with new furniture and fixtures as well as new study, social and spiritual spaces, including a classroom, fitness area, game room and lounge, and a faculty-in-residence apartment.

Even with South Russell out of commission, approximately 5,000 Baylor students will live on campus this fall — almost 40% of the undergraduate student body, and up from about 3,500 campus residents when shovels hit the dirt along University Parks 10 years ago.

The time spent living on a university campus is a unique stage of life; so glad that more Baylor students are getting to experience it (and for a larger percentage of their time in college).

Sic ’em, Baylor campus residents!

May

2013

Men’s tennis reaches 12th straight Sweet 16 to headline spring sports’ success

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Athletics, Honors

The spring semester is rapidly drawing to a close, which means it’s postseason time for Baylor’s spring sports.

After winning the Big 12 Conference regular season title (the program’s 11th in 14 years) and advancing to the finals of the Big 12 tournament, Baylor men’s tennis won its first- and second-round NCAA tournament matches over the weekend to advance to the Sweet 16 for the 12th straight season. The 13th-ranked Bears now face No. 4 USC Thursday at the NCAA final site in Urbana, Ill.

Baylor women’s tennis also won the Big 12 regular season title, the program’s ninth in 11 years, led by Big 12 Coach of the Year Joey Scrivano and Big 12 Player of the Year Ema Burgic. When the postseason began, however, the 19th-ranked Lady Bears were sent on the road as a No. 2 seed, however, and lost to No. 11 Northwestern in the NCAA tournament’s second round.

Both Baylor track teams placed fourth at the Big 12 Indoor Championships in February, and the women improved on that finish at the Outdoor Championships earlier this month in Waco, finishing third. (The men came in seventh.) At the NCAA Indoor Championships in March, the women tied for 25th and the men tied for 32nd; they’ll look to improve on those finishes at the NCAA Outdoor Championships June 5-8.

Freshman Lauren Taylor won the Big 12 Women’s Golf Championship individual title in April and led the Lady Bears to a ninth-place finish at the NCAA West Regional last weekend, one stroke shy of advancing to the NCAA Championship. Men’s golf is headed to an NCAA Regional for the 16th straight year and will compete in Pullman, Wash., Thursday through Saturday.

After finishing third in the Big 12, Baylor softball is headed to the NCAA tournament for the eighth time in 10 years. The Lady Bears will play in College Station this weekend, beginning against Arizona Friday at 2:30 p.m. (ESPN2). Baseball has one more week of regular season play before the Big 12 tournament May 22-26 in Oklahoma City.

Outside the NCAA, acrobatics and tumbling claimed two individual national titles at the NCATA National Championship last month, and equestrian lost in the hunter seat semifinals of the NCEA National Championship.

Sic ’em, Baylor athletics!

May

2013

Baylor sophomore among the final 12 on NBC’s ‘The Voice’

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Honors, Just for Fun, Student life, Videos

Holly Tucker

Baylor sophomore Holly Tucker wasn’t content just making an appearance on The Voice, NBC’s singing competition; she came to win.

So far, so good. Out of almost 75 performers who have appeared on the show this season, the 19-year-old native of Lorena (a Waco suburb) has made it into the final 12. All four judges wanted Tucker after her initial blind audition; she chose to join country superstar Blake Shelton’s team, and has since made it through three more rounds of judge’s decisions and fan voting.

[HOLLY PERFORMS: "To Make You Feel My Love," blind audition || "Blown Away," battle round || "Live Like You Were Dying," knockout round || "How Do I Live," top 16 live playoffs || iTunes link for all four songs]

From here on out, Tucker’s survival on The Voice will depend largely on viewer voting (via online polls at NBC.com, phone calls and text messages to specified numbers, and iTunes single sales). For at least the next two weeks, Holly and the other competitors will perform on Monday nights (NBC, 7 p.m. CT); voting will then take place overnight, with results announced live on the show Tuesday nights.

A Baylor legacy, Holly’s father, Johnny, mother, Cheryl, and brother, Travis, are all Baylor graduates, and Cheryl now works in the Engineering and Computer Science dean’s office. When Holly was first introduced on the show, her Baylor connections (including her role in the Golden Wave Band) were highlighted frequently, and even six weeks into the show, she is still frequently introduced as “Baylor University marching band performer Holly Tucker.”

You can follow along with her journey via Facebook, Twitter (@hollytmusic), YouTube and at HollyTucker.com. Then tune in and vote to help a fellow Baylor Bear keep on shining on this national spotlight!

Sic ’em, Holly!