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Points of Pride — Photo Galleries

Jun

2012

Baseball battles back to win NCAA Regional, will host Super Regional this weekend

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Athletics, Honors, Photo Galleries, Videos

Baylor baseball celebrates the regional championship

“No pressure, no diamonds. We compete, we win. We are Baylor.”

Head coach Steve Smith’s Baylor baseball team clearly took RG3′s words to heart, overcoming an opening round loss to battle back and win the NCAA Waco Regional in a winner-take-all game Monday. As a reward, the Bears will now host Arkansas in a Super Regional (baseball’s equivalent of the Sweet 16) this weekend. (Tickets are available now, and going fast.)

Baylor, the nation’s No. 4 overall seed, lost its opener Friday night to Oral Roberts, 4-2, but then won four straight games to advance to a Super Regional for the fourth time since the extra round was added in 1999. Left fielder Dan Evatt was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player after hitting .474 with two triples and a home run on the weekend, including this SportsCenter-worthy catch that robbed Dallas Baptist of a home run on Sunday.

[LINKS: Video highlights from the championship win and celebration || Photos from Monday's win || Baylor's post-game press conference Monday]

The Big 12 Champion Bears will host the Razorbacks, who finished second in the SEC West and upset Rice to win the NCAA Houston Regional. Baylor and Arkansas will play Saturday at 4 p.m. (ESPNU), Sunday at 3 p.m. (ESPNU) and, if necessary, Monday at 3 p.m. (ESPN2). Super Regionals are a best-two-out-of-three format; the winner moves on to the College World Series. Two victories would also get the Bears to 50 wins on the season, which would tie the school record set in 1999.

#YEAROFTHEBEAR UPDATE: Baylor is the only school in the country this year with a bowl victory, both basketball teams in the Elite 8 and its baseball team in a Super Regional. The Bears are now a combined 128-26 across the “Big Four” sports, continuing to add on to their NCAA record total.

Sic ’em, Baylor Baseball!

May

2012

1952 graduate finally walks at commencement, 60 years later

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Extraordinary Stories, Photo Galleries, Student life, Videos

Eddie Morris

Sixty years ago, Eddie Morris, BA ’52, graduated from Baylor — the first in his family to earn a college degree — and left soon after his last class for San Francisco, where he attended Golden Gate Seminary. In the six decades since then, Morris has pastored two Baptist churches in California and spent almost 20 years selling insurance for State Farm. But he always had one regret — one he only recently revealed to his son, Steve.

“I asked him on one of our walks what is one of his greatest disappointments in life had been,” said Steve. “He thought for a minute and said that he regretted not walking during graduation.”

So Steve decided to do something about that. He contacted Baylor, and university officials were glad to help that dream come true. About 40 family members from six different states descended on Waco as Eddie –five months shy of his 90th birthday — returned from his home in Oregon to his alma mater for the first time in six decades; he walked the Ferrell Center stage and received his diploma from President Ken Starr on Saturday.

[LINKS: "A Walk to Remember," Tualatin [Ore.] Times || “Graduation 60 Years in the Making” (video), KWTX-TV || “Two unique graduates to walk Baylor stage,” Waco Tribune-Herald]

“It still feels like the same friendly campus that I was in 60 years ago,” he says. “I didn’t dream that I could ever go back. I didn’t think it was possible, and it never entered my mind that they would want some old man coming back and graduating with a bunch of kids.”

“We are so indebted to Baylor,” said Steve. “They are going over and beyond what I thought they’d do.”

Sic ’em, Eddie!

May

2012

Senior trip to Independence perfect for popping the question

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Just for Fun, Photo Galleries, Student life

The Baylor story began nearly 170 years ago in the small town of Independence, Texas, near Brenham. Today, about half of Baylor students begin their college careers with a visit to the original campus during Baylor Line Camp. So what better place for a Baylor couple to begin their lives together than right there in Independence?

That’s what senior Drew Shows figured, so he took the occasion of the annual senior trip to Independence, organized by the Baylor Alumni Network, to pop the question to his girlfriend, senior Elisabeth Erickson. Drew got down on one knee in front of not just 120 fellow Class of 2012 seniors, but also a dozen or so family members who showed up to cheer the couple on (complete with a “Please Say Yes” sign held by Elisabeth’s brother). [Click here for more photos.]

Having started her Baylor career at Line Camp, “it was really cool to be completing full circle starting there and ending there!” says Elisabeth. “Drew wanted a place that was significant to Baylor, since that is where we met and fell in love, and what better place than the original site of the school?”

The future Mr. and Mrs. Shows will each graduate this weekend, Drew with a degree in risk management and insurance and Elisabeth with a degree in nursing. After graduation, they are moving to Fort Worth (where Elisabeth will continue her BU connections, working as a NICU nurse at Baylor All Saints Medical Center). The wedding is slated for next spring.

Sic ’em, Drew and Elisabeth!

Previously on Baylor Proud:
* Baylor guys find creative ways to propose to their Baylor girls (Sept. 2011)
* Foreign language leads to love for Baylor couple (Nov. 2009)
* Baylor campus wedding locations abound (March 2009)
* Oprah features a true Baylor love story (Nov. 2007)

May

2012

Sandra Day O’Connor speaks at Baylor, studies BU students’ research on iCivics

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Academics, Photo Galleries, Research, Videos

An old friend and a new project brought U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor to Baylor this week.

O’Connor’s long history with Baylor President Ken Starr is the common bond. The first female Supreme Court judge in U.S. history was Starr’s guest Monday afternoon in his continuing interview series, “On Topic with Ken Starr.” A packed Waco Hall crowd of faculty, staff, students and Waco residents listened to O’Connor share stories from her career for more than an hour. (Watch full video of the event here, or click here for a photo gallery from the Justice’s visit to Waco.)

O’Connor focused much of the conversation on her efforts to improve civic education. The Justice founded an online curriculum called iCivics in 2009 that uses games to introduce students, particularly those in the middle grades, to civic principles and ideas. (I checked the site out yesterday afternoon, and I must confess I got caught up in playing the games for more than an hour.)

Thanks to President Starr’s friendship with Justice O’Connor, Baylor was appointed last year to study the success of iCivics. Baylor Law School developed a model for using law students to lead iCivics activities in local classrooms, while the Baylor School of Education has analyzed the effectiveness of the program. A series of lesson plans developed by Baylor law students, graduate education students and undergraduate interns together make up the Baylor Model, which has been designed to be easily replicated in cities across the country. (Read more about that process here, or watch this video on the iCivics partnership between Baylor and Waco ISD.)

O’Connor is in Waco for three days to see the Baylor Model for iCivics firsthand. “I was thrilled, frankly, that Baylor, with the help of your president here, agreed that [the university] would help us evaluate iCivics,” O’Connor said Monday. “It’s been a huge help. My goal is to get people all across this country better educated in how our government works. When we got public schools in America, it was with the argument that … we have to teach it to all of our citizens, that they are part of it and how this government works.”

Sic ’em, Justice O’Connor!

Apr

2012

RG3, Wright give Bears five NFL first-round picks in four years

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Alumni, Athletics, Honors, Photo Galleries, Videos

RG3, Kendall Wright

Between 1966 and 2008, five Baylor players were selected in the first round of the NFL Draft. The program has now matched that total in Art Briles’ four years as head coach, as Robert Griffin III and Kendall Wright were each selected in the first round Thursday night. Three more Bears — center Philip Blake, running back Terrance Ganaway and tackle Robert T. Griffin — were selected later in the draft, bringing Baylor’s total to five, the most for BU since 1996.

Selected by the Washington Redskins with the second pick of the draft, Griffin III became the fourth Bear to be drafted No. 2 overall, following Jack Wilson (1942), Adrian Burk (1950) and Jason Smith (2009). RG3 is the first BU quarterback to be drafted since Cody Carlson in 1987, and the first Baylor QB to go in the first round since Cotton Davidson in 1954.

[RG3 LINKS: Video of RG3's draft selection || ESPN interview || Redskins.com story || Washington Post story || DC reporter gets to know RG3 || "Skins' coach thrilled to get Griffin" || RG3 conference call || Redskins.com photo gallery]

Wright was picked at No. 20 by the Tennessee Titans, the first Baylor receiver to go in the first round since Lawrence Elkins in 1965. Wright is the 13th Baylor alum drafted by the Oilers/Titans franchise over its history; only Texas and Oklahoma have had more players selected by the franchise.

[KW LINKS: Video of Wright's draft selection || TitansOnline.com story || AP story || "Titans excited to add 'electric' playmaker" || Titans coach, GM on Wright || Wright conference call]

The Denver Broncos used the fourth-round pick they received for Tim Tebow to select Blake. In Denver, he will either battle fellow Bear J.D. Walton for the starting center job or shift to guard. In the sixth round, the New York Jets drafted Ganaway and Robert T. Griffin with back-to-back picks. And three more Bears signed free-agent deals with NFL teams: Elliot Coffey (Broncos), Nicolas Jean-Baptiste (Ravens) and Tracy Robertson (Texans).

My favorite tidbits from the draft: Baylor joins Alabama as the only two schools in the country with multiple first-round picks each of the last two years. Over the past four years, only Alabama and USC have more first-round picks than Baylor, and only Oklahoma has had more top-5 overall picks than Baylor during that time. The Bears’ five picks this year are the most of any school in Texas and second-most in the Big 12.

[LINKS: BaylorBears.com photo gallery || Sic 'Em Sports videos: RG3, Wright pre-draft activities, draft highlights and interviews || 1660 ESPN draft-day interviews with RG3, Wright, Briles and others]

Sic ’em, RG3, Kendall and Baylor football!

Previously on Baylor Proud:
* Pair of Bears selected in NFL draft’s 1st round for first time since 1957 (April 2011)
* Pair of Bears selected in 2010 NFL Draft (April 2010)
* Bears’ Smith the No. 2 overall pick in 2009 NFL Draft (April 2009)

Apr

2012

Diadeloso 2012: Back to the Future

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

Looking back through photos from this year’s Diadeloso celebration, it strikes me that in many ways, the day must have looked an awful lot like it did 25 years ago — perhaps even when the parents of today’s students were here a generation ago.

First and foremost, there was the overflow of neon colors — Dia shirts in shades to match every highlighter in your desk drawer. (On first glance, can you really tell if the photo at right was taken last week or in 1989?) And of course, games and competitions are still at the heart of Diadeloso, particularly the tug of war battles played out in the heart of campus.

Of course, plenty has changed, too. A Baylor student from the late 1980s would probably be shocked to see dancing not just accepted on campus, but actually featured, from zumba and the NPHC Step Show to the Baylor Swing Dance and Latin Dance societies. And the sight of students riding camels across Fountain Mall — well, even that one threw me for a loop. (Check it out; it’s the first photo in our photo gallery.)

It seems appropriate that Diadeloso — a uniquely Baylor holiday — would so accurately reflect the university’s progress as well. Much has changed — new buildings, bigger and more diverse student body, etc. — but much has stayed the same, too. From the emphasis on great teachers to the Christian environment, Baylor’s heart remains the same as ever.

When we wished our followers “Happy Diadeloso!” last Thursday on Twitter, a common refrain was from graduates wishing they could be back to participate once again. Well, folks, here’s your chance: Join hundreds of your fellow Bears from all over the state and beyond for Diadeloso Texas at SeaWorld San Antonio on June 9. Get details here, then register online today!

Sic ’em, Diadeloso!

Apr

2012

Aikman, Wingo and Mulkey headline successful event supporting Baylor nursing scholarships

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

With a Hall of Fame quarterback, an ESPN personality and a two-time national champion coach headlining the event, it’s no wonder that last weekend’s “Going for the Gold Gala,” presented by the Louise Herrington School of Nursing, was perhaps the largest fundraising event in Baylor history.

The sold-out crowd of 700 Baylor nursing supporters included plenty of big names, but few were bigger than the night’s three featured guests: Former Dallas Cowboys QB Troy Aikman, the father of a Baylor nursing major; NFL Live host Trey Wingo, BA ’85, the night’s emcee; and keynote speaker Kim Mulkey, fresh off leading the Baylor women’s basketball program to its second national title. (Click here for a photo gallery from the event.)

With donors stepping forward to cover the cost of the event, the evening raised more than half a million dollars toward endowed scholarships for Baylor nursing students as part of The President’s Scholarship Initiative. For more than 100 years, the Baylor University Louise Herrington School of Nursing has educated leaders for worldwide service in the nursing field, distinctly integrating Christian faith into an accredited program of nursing practice, education and research. Today, most Baylor nursing majors take two years worth of core classes on the Waco campus, then complete their education at the nursing school’s location on the campus of Baylor University Medical Center near downtown Dallas.

Sic ’em, Baylor nursing!

[Pictured above: Aikman, Mulkey and Wingo with John, BA '50, JD '52, and Marie Chiles, longtime supporters of Baylor nursing and 2012 recipients of Baylor's Founders Medal]

Apr

2012

Equestrian claims Baylor’s second national title in two weeks

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Athletics, Honors, Photo Galleries

2011-12 Baylor equestrian team

The Year of the Bear continues to roll on — even into sports you might not realize Baylor participates in.

Saturday night — less than two weeks after Baylor women’s basketball won the NCAA tournament — the Baylor equestrian program brought home another national title. Head coach Ellen White’s Hunter Seat team narrowly defeated Texas A&M to claim the National Collegiate Equestrian Association (NCEA) national title in that event. (See photos here.)

Equestrian teams are split into two squads, Hunter Seat and Western, much like track and field are combined together. It was fun to see each Baylor squad support the other; as the Waco Tribune-Herald described the scene, when the final scores were announced, “a mess of BU teammates wearing riding shirts, team polos and Baylor Line jerseys made a beeline for the gate, mobbing the Hunter Seat riders and celebrating a national title.”

Equestrian is classified as an NCAA “emerging sport,” which means it is on its way to becoming a full-fledged NCAA sport but is not there yet. A total of 40 Division I/II schools must sponsor equestrian in order to hold an NCAA-sponsored championship; Baylor is currently one of 23 participating institutions. The Bears are joined by fellow Big 12 schools Kansas State, Oklahoma State and Texas A&M, in-state rivals SMU and TCU, and other universities such as Auburn, Brown, Cornell, Fresno State, Georgia, New Mexico State and South Carolina.

So to recap, here’s Baylor Athletics’ year in review (so far): Two national titles, a Heisman, an Elite Eight hoops team, 12 teams currently in the top 25*, and all 19 varsity programs on track to make the postseason in 2011-12.

Sic ’em, Baylor equestrian and Baylor student-athletes in all sports!

* Ranked BU teams: women’s basketball (No. 1), equestrian (3), acrobatics & tumbling (5), baseball (6), men’s basketball (8), football (12), women’s tennis (12), women’s indoor track & field (16), women’s golf (17), women’s outdoor track & field (18), men’s outdoor track & field (19), and softball (23).

Apr

2012

Baylor Lady Bears: 2011-12 NCAA national champions!

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Athletics, Honors, Photo Galleries, Videos

Baylor Lady Bears, 2011-12 National Champions

Undefeated. No. 1 in the country, wire to wire. The first NCAA basketball team (men’s or women’s) ever to win 40 games. And last but not least, national champions. That’s your 2011-12 Baylor Lady Bears.

All season long, this squad showed that it’s more than a one-person team. With the pressure on, however, National Coach of the Year Kim Mulkey turned to Brittney Griner, and she was everything you’d expect from the consensus national player of the year; her 26 points, 13 rebounds and 5 blocks led the Lady Bears to an 80-61 win over Notre Dame Tuesday night and the program’s second national championship in seven years.

[LINKS: 7 minutes of highlights, interviews and analysis from ESPN || More analysis from ESPN || Photos from the win (here, here and here) || "Baylor's biggest fan," a moving ESPN feature that shows the Lady Bears' heart || A season in photos || Send your message of congratulations to the team]

Once again, a Baylor athletic program has drawn the nation’s eyes to our university (3.8 million viewers tuned in to the Lady Bears’ Final Four victory), and they’ve seen success on the court and standout student-athletes off the court. Baylor football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball combined to win 80 games — more than any other school’s big-three sports have ever tallied in one year — and each program set new program highs for final national ranking (FB 12, MBB 8, WBB 1). With such shared success, it was great to see President Ken Starr joined at the game Tuesday night by Heisman winner Robert Griffin III, head football coach Art Briles and head men’s basketball coach Scott Drew, all cheering on the Lady Bears.

[AVAILABLE: Lady Bears 2011-12 National Champions t-shirts (here, here, here and here), hats and more from the Baylor Bookstore || Order Invincible: The 2011-12 Baylor Lady Bears, a 96-page, full-color book from Baylor Press]

What could make a national championship even better? Mulkey’s squad — now 78-4 in their last 82 games — returns its top six scorers and rebounders next year: Griner, All-Americans Odyssey Sims and Destiny Williams, All-Big 12 guard Kimetria Hayden, Brooklyn Pope and Jordan Madden.

Celebrate the team by welcoming the Lady Bears home to the Ferrell Center Wednesday afternoon. Doors open at 3 p.m., and a ceremony honoring the team will begin at 3:30 p.m. If you can’t make it, video of the event will be streamed live on BaylorBears.com.

Sic ’em, Lady Bears!

Apr

2012

Lady Bears reach NCAA championship game, will play for national title Tuesday

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Athletics, Honors, Photo Galleries, Videos

Baylor Lady Bears

Clear your calendars for Tuesday night: Baylor is playing for another national championship.

For the second time in seven years, the Lady Bear basketball team has reached the NCAA tournament title game — this time, with a perfect record on the line. Undefeated Baylor will attempt to become the first team in NCAA basketball history (men’s or women’s) to win 40 games in a season Tuesday night when BU faces Notre Dame in Denver (7:30 p.m. CT, ESPN).

[LINKS: Highlights, photos and ESPN analysis from win over Stanford || Mulkey diagnosed with Bell's Palsy || Bobby Knight on Griner || RG3 on ESPN pre-game || Features on Mulkey from USA Today and The New York Times || Houston Chronicle: "Could Griner be the best of all time?" || Austin American-Statesman: "From RG3 to hoops, Baylor sports are in the midst of a great revival" || Photos from Friday and Saturday pre-game activities]

With Heisman winner Robert Griffin III, President Ken Starr and former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice among the crowd of 19,028, No. 1 overall seed Baylor fought off a tough challenge from No. 2-ranked Stanford Sunday night, pulling away midway through the second half to win 59-47. All year, Kim Mulkey (the 2012 Associated Press Coach of the Year) has insisted that her Lady Bears are more than just a one-person team, that her team’s success isn’t completely dependent on AP National Player of the Year Brittney Griner.

Stanford swarmed Griner all night, challenging other Baylor players to step up, and they did. While Griner recorded “only” 13 points, 9 rebounds and 2 blocks, senior reserve guard Terran Condrey came off the bench to match Griner’s team-high 13 points (just the fifth double-digit scoring effort in Condrey’s four years at BU). Forward Destiny Williams led all players with 10 rebounds, and the Lady Bears’ team defense held Stanford (the fifth-highest scoring team in the nation) to a season-low 47 points.

[AVAILABLE: Pre-order Baylor Press' book on the Lady Bears' 2011-12 season || Get Lady Bears gear from the Baylor Bookstore || BU men's basketball's "One Team, One God, One Goal" t-shirt also available]

A large Baylor contingent was loud and proud at the Pepsi Center in Denver Sunday night, and more will likely join them for Tuesday. BU fans were also gathered all around the country for Final Four watch parties, and will do so again Tuesday night for the championship. (Visit baylor.edu/nation Monday or Tuesday for a complete list of gatherings.)

Sic ’em, Lady Bears!

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