Baylor Proud

If you’re one of the 160 million monthly active Twitter users (and you’re reading this blog), then you’re likely already following @BaylorProud on Twitter.

There’s a good chance you’re following other Baylor Twitter accounts as well: @BaylorAthletics, @BUFootball, @Baylor_Business, @BUPanhellenic, etc. (See a full Baylor social media directory here.)

But are you following @Baylor? That new handle launched this summer and serves as an official sources of information from the university. @Baylor shares timely events and news related to the university as well as some lighter items. In the case of a crisis, @Baylor will also be a vital link to the most up-to-date information available. Here’s a sampling of some of their recent tweets:

• Good luck to @RGIII in his #NFL debut w/ the #Redskins! Loved seeing him in #Baylor uni 1 last time in latest SI: pic.twitter.com/qkZkHR5w
• Old Navy Expands Offering of #Baylor Merchandise http://soc.li/aFQXlSK
• #Baylor’s East Village is rising up! Will be home to 701 students in fall 2013. http://bit.ly/yhD0LF  pic.twitter.com/8f1PHILD

Give @Baylor a follow!

Sic ’em, Twitterers!

Did you know Baylor offered the first law school in Texas? That Presidents Harry S Truman, Dwight Eisenhower and Lyndon B. Johnson all visited Baylor while in office? That Pat Neff Hall was first lit green after a Baylor victory in College Station “as a beacon home for all the students who had made the trip to foreign lands to witness the victory”?

If not, you might enjoy clicking around the new “About Baylor” section of the university’s website. I know what you’re thinking: “Isn’t the ‘about us’ page usually the most boring part of a website?” Yes, sometimes. But not this one.

My favorite part is the “Baylor Campus: Then and Now.” You’ve seen those Chevy commercials mixing old and new photos? This is like that; you can slide a marker back and forth to see shots of Pat Neff Hall, Burleson Quadrangle and other historic campus sites from back in the day and today. The growth around Founders Mall and the SUB are particularly striking.

The “Heritage” section also does a great job of laying out Baylor’s history as the oldest continually operating university in Texas. An interactive timeline details about 200 events of Baylor’s past, from its founding in 1845 to the launch of Pro Futuris in 2012, but also such details like the first Dr Pepper Hour, the founding of the NoZe Brotherhood and visits from dignitaries of all sorts.

And there’s plenty more to see:

• A list of some of Baylor’s prominent alumni, from Medal of Honor Recipients to athletes;
• A photo gallery showing off Baylor’s beautiful campus;
• Quick breakdowns of Baylor’s demographics;
• Where BU stands in various rankings;
• A handy social media directory; and
• Background on Baylor’s values and vision.

Go check it out!

Sic ’em, Bears!

If Baylor Proud were a person, we’d be entering kindergarten soon; the blog turns five this week!

It’s interesting to go back and look at some of our earliest posts from August 2007 — five years ago — as we were just beginning to get our legs underneath us. Early entries covered topics like Move-In Day, the newly arrived Class of 2011, Karl Rove joining BU students for breakfast and this “cute cute cute” 2-year-old singing “That Good Old Baylor Line.” (That’s our first email pictured at right.)

We’ve come a long way in five years, and we’ve covered a ton of topics. With more than 1,200 posts in five years, we’ve pretty much got something new coming your way on the blog four to five times a week, from academics and student life to athletics and alumni accomplishments.

Communications have come a long way in five years, as well. When Baylor Proud began, it and Baylor Magazine were pretty much the only two ways alumni were hearing from the university. Today, you’ve got several Facebook pages across the university and dozens of Twitter accounts adding to the mix, all designed to keep you informed about what’s going on at Baylor. [Baylor Magazine took a look at how alumni are staying connected to Baylor, and vice versa, in the latest issue; check that out here.]

The introductory mass comm course many of us took taught us that communications is a two-way street, and so everything you hear from Baylor is an invitation for response. Baylor Magazine editors check their mailboxes every day for letters to the editor. Facebook fans comment on virtually every Baylor post, and it couldn’t be easier to respond to tweets. Here at Baylor Proud, of course, we love to get email responses and Point of Pride submissions through the blog.

So whether you prefer Tweets showing up on your phone or just a nice, old-fashioned printed piece delivered by U.S. mail, we hope you’re enjoying hearing from us — and that you’re letting us hear from you, too.

Sic ’em, Bears!