Student life « Baylor Proud

Points of Pride — Student life

Apr

2013

Undergrad’s research suggests ‘green’ laundry products could make children’s clothing less safe

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Academics, Research, Student life

Haley Moore at work This week was URSA (Undergraduate Research & Scholarly Achievement) Scholars Week at Baylor, an annual event designed to share the research being done by Baylor undergraduate students. Some 180 students and 70 professors participated in this year’s event, sharing details of their work through presentations and posters.

Here’s just one example: Haley Moore, a junior apparel merchandising major from Katy, Texas, found that all-natural cleaning products — an increasingly popular choice nationwide — may have unintended consequences.

Working with Dr. Rinn Cloud, the Mary Gibbs Jones Endowed Chair in Textile Science in the College of Arts & Sciences’ Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, Moore found that flame-resistant fabric (like that commonly found in children’s sleepwear) loses more of its protective properties when repeatedly washed with organic detergent (compared with washes using conventional detergent).

Moore’s research was supported by a grant from the URSA Small Grants program and was one of dozens of academic efforts on display in the Baylor Sciences Building’s Carlile Atrium this week.

Sic ’em, Baylor researchers!

[For more on Baylor's research efforts at the undergraduate, graduate and faculty levels, follow the new Research Tracks blog at blogs.baylor.edu/researchtracks and on Twitter at @BaylorOVPR.]

Apr

2013

Students win National Trumpet Competition for second time in three years

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Academics, Honors, Student life, Videos

The month of March brought a national championship to Baylor, after all; in fact, the winning team has all the makings of a potential dynasty. It’s just not in the world of sports.

For the second time in three years, a Baylor student ensemble was crowned national champion at the National Trumpet Competition, hosted by George Mason University. The sextet of master’s candidates Drew Fremder and Erika Izaguirre, seniors Taylor Williamson, Manuel Munoz, junior Ben Hauser and sophomore David Sayers (dubbed “Baylor Gold”) took first place from among 30 groups that had reached the semifinals. Here‘s their award-winning performance of “1849,” arranged by Baylor trumpet professor Wiff Rudd:

And the members of “Baylor Gold” weren’t the only Bears to excel at the competition; another group from the School of Music’s Baylor Trumpet Studio was also among the competition’s top six acts, as “Baylor Green” (senior Tyler Brinkman, junior Kelsie Dunham, sophomore Daniel Gerona, and freshmen Regan O’Connor and Brent Smith) joined “Baylor Gold” in the finals.

Sic ’em, Baylor Trumpet Studio!

You might also like:
* Christmas carols from BU trumpet students, Lubbock-area grads (Dec. 2012)
* Trumpeteers, debaters bring home national honors for Baylor (April 2011)
* Freshman’s musical talents lead to scholarship and service (Jan. 2010)

Trumpeteers

Apr

2013

Baylor/Vitek’s GutPak named the nation’s top college dish

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

Vitek's GutPak

It’s official: Baylor/Waco is the home to the nation’s top “college eat” — Vitek’s GutPak!

That’s according to almost 300,000 total votes cast online in a “March Madness”-style bracket conducted by a Food Network spinoff, Cooking Channel. From 32 school/dish combinations, Baylor and the GutPak beat out NC State’s sausage dip, Duke’s gyro, Illinois’ stuffed pizza, Montana’s breakfast burrito and Marquette’s chili-topped spaghetti to be named the No. 1 College Eat in the Nation.

Bet you didn’t realize you had it so good right in your own backyard!

Sic ’em, Vitek’s!

[Oh, and for those of you far from Waco who are now pining for a GutPak of your own, the Food Network kitchen worked up an at-home version of the Vitek's special (and all the dishes in the competition).]

Apr

2013

Lady Bears’ loss brings out showings of support from Baylor family

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Alumni, Athletics, Student life

If anything good came from the Lady Bears’ stinging one-point loss to Louisville on Sunday night in the Sweet 16, it was seeing how the Baylor family rose up together in support of the program and its student-athletes.

In fact, in the 48 or so hours since the loss, I have yet to see a single person knocking the women in any way. Instead, I’ve seen hundreds of tweets, Facebook posts, etc. commending the Lady Bears for their efforts — including comments from some of Baylor’s most prominent alumni.

NFL Rookie of the Year Robert Griffin III, BA ’10, went off in defense of his fellow Bears via Twitter, attracting even the attention of Texas Monthly (who described RG3′s comments as “unfiltered, angry and fiercely Baylor proud”). For example:

Whew…..ok I took my time to calm down and not go off on twitter about the Baylor Girls Basketball game….BUT I CAN’T DO IT!!!!!

— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) April 1, 2013

NBA first-round pick Perry Jones III was in attendance at the game and was comforting the Lady Bears in person after the game (that’s him with Odyssey Sims at right in a great photo taken by the Dallas Morning News‘ Vernon Bryant).

ESPN studio host Trey Wingo, BA ’85, kept it short and sweet Sunday night:

Baylor, we are. Forever proud of @brittney4griner and @kimmulkey

— trey wingo (@wingoz) April 1, 2013

University President Ken Starr was among those in Oklahoma City cheering loudly for the Lady Bears, and he, too, joined the voices of support in an email to the entire Baylor family. “We salute this magnificent team,” he wrote. “These student-athletes — and their coaches — will forever be remembered by Baylor Nation — and indeed, the entire country.”

HLN anchor Richelle Carey, St. Louis Ram Terrance Ganaway, Seattle Mariner Kelly Shoppach, and others were also vocal in support of the Baylor players and coaches. This tweet from a current Baylor student seemed to sum up the night:

SO much baylor love on my TL right now. Just goes to show how much of a family we are and how all students will always be @baylorproud

— Tessa Espinoza (@tesshuhh) April 1, 2013

Sic ’em, Lady Bears and the entire Baylor family!

[Another way to show your support for the Lady Bears? A gift of $5, $15 or $50 to the Baylor Bear Foundation Endowed Athletic Scholarship Fund.]

Mar

2013

Students host annual Easter egg hunt for Baylor community kids

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

Baylor Easter Egg Hunt

Every year, the ladies of Kappa Kappa Gamma host an Easter Egg hunt on Founders Mall (between Pat Neff and Waco Hall) for the children and grandchildren of Baylor faculty and staff. [Click here for pictures from this year's event, thanks to Baylor Photography.]

Hundreds of plastic eggs stuffed with candy and other goodies are distributed across the grounds, as the children (ages 9 and under) wait for the signal to begin a mad dash of egg collecting. The “hunt” doesn’t take long — usually five minutes or less — but the squeals of joy ring in parents’ ears for far longer. (My three-year-old thanked God that night for “the Baylor Easter thing.”)

Of course Easter is primarily about our Savior’s death and resurrection, but it’s also enjoyable around such holidays to celebrate with family — be they flesh and blood, or members of the larger Baylor family. As both an alum and a parent, I’m thankful to be a part of the community here and to those who bring us together for such events.

Sic ’em, KKG!

Mar

2013

Top-ranked programs helping Baylor prepare tomorrow’s healthcare industry leaders

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

Hilary Griffin From individual honors to national rankings, Baylor continues to make its name known among universities preparing tomorrow’s healthcare industry leaders.

Just this month, Baylor MBA candidate Hilary Griffin placed second in the 2013 Richard J. Stull Student Essay Competition in Healthcare Management, sponsored by the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE). Her essay outlines a possible solution to obstacles that hinder more than 11 million children with chronic conditions from getting the medical care they need.

Griffin (pictured) is a graduate student in the Robbins MBA Healthcare Program in Baylor’s Hankamer School of Business, which ranked 25th nationally in U.S. News & World Report’s most recent graduate school ranking of healthcare management programs. Another Baylor graduate offering, the Baylor-U.S. Army master’s program in health administration, was ranked No. 11 in the nation by U.S.News.

Of course, Baylor isn’t only preparing tomorrow’s healthcare industry leaders — they’ve also prepared many of today’s, including the CEOs of both Baylor Health Care System and Scott & White Healthcare, the president of a leading network of rehabilitation and long-term care providers, and a top Army medical reserve commander.

Sic ’em, Bears in healthcare!

Mar

2013

Students skip skiing for spring break service

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Service, Student life

2013 Baylor Freshman Spring Break Mission Trip at work While the cliche remains that every college student spends spring break hitting the slopes or partying at the beach, hundreds of Baylor students spent their week off in a very different manner: serving others.

In addition to the many who headed out with local church college groups, six teams of students organized by Baylor’s Office of Spiritual Life hit the road to put what they’ve learned in the classroom to practical use benefitting others:

The Multicultural Association of Pre-health Students sent a group to Panama City, Panama, where they observed and served in free local clinics under the supervision of doctors from Global Medical Training International.
An American Medical Student Association team traveled to Guatemala to work with Global Community Health Evangelism, observing and serving in local clinics and teaching basic hygiene techniques to village children.
Students from Baylor’s medical humanities program visited Universidad Evangelica de El Salvador, the country’s national university, where they observed and served in the university hospital and local clinics.
Baylor School of Nursing students went to Lima, Peru, to work with a local church, offering health education and physical assessments. They also researched local health practices in Peru.
An urban mission team traveled to Eagle Pass, Texas, to partner with Literacy Connexus and Texas Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. There, the group sponsored family reading fairs and literacy projects, worked in community gardens and performed light construction.
A team of 20 freshmen worked with Eight Days of Hope, a disaster recovery group, helping with relief efforts and doing light construction in LaPlace, La.

“These students are giving up their spring break to serve others,” noted Rebecca Kennedy, Baylor’s director of missions and an associate chaplain. ”That speaks volumes to the spirit of the Baylor student who seizes opportunities to serve God and neighbor. Many of our trips are discipline-focused, which allows students and faculty to integrate faith, learning and service into their mission experience.”

To see photos and read more about these students’ spring break experiences, check out @BUMissions on Twitter and visit facebook.com/BUMissions.

Sic ’em, Baylor students!

Mar

2013

Baylor social media efforts rank among nation’s best in higher ed

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

February was a busy month of milestones for many of Baylor’s social media offerings, as the Facebook page topped 111,000 likes, our Pinterest page picked up its 2,000th follower, and Instagram crossed the 5,000 follower plateau.

In a new ranking that looks at college and university Facebook and Twitter accounts, Baylor ranked in the 93rd percentile nationally for total fans and followers. Ranked 45th out of more than 600 schools across the country, Baylor comes in ahead of many larger, arguably better-known schools such as Virginia Tech (31,000 students), Southern California (38,000 students) and Florida State (42,000 students).

If you’ve been following along with us on Facebook, Twitter (both @BaylorProud and @Baylor), Pinterest and Instagram — thanks for your support! With every post shared, tweet retweeted and pin repinned you’re helping spread the good word about Baylor. If you haven’t yet joined thousands of your fellow Bears, then give us a look — check out this handy directory for an in-depth listing of where you can find Baylor in social media!

Sic ’em, Bears in social media!

You might also like:
* Baylor named one of top 30 social media colleges in the nation (April 2011)
* Alum at forefront of campaign social media outreach (Nov. 2010)

Feb

2013

DeBakey legacy lives on in Baylor medical humanities scholarship

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Academics, Student life

DeBakey Medical Foundation Gift to Medical Humanities

Dr. Michael DeBakey joined the Baylor University family in 1948, when he joined the Baylor College of Medicine faculty (more than 20 years before the college became an independent institution). His accomplishments are too numerous to detail here — that would be its own blog post — but Dr. DeBakey’s New York Times obituary from 2008 gives a great rundown.

Even after his passing, the long connection between the names “DeBakey” and “Baylor” continues today — certainly in Houston at the College of Medicine, but also in Waco, thanks to the Michael E. DeBakey, Selma DeBakey and Lois DeBakey Endowed Scholarship in Medical Humanities.

Established in 2009 by a $500,000 gift from the DeBakey Medical Foundation and doubled in size by an equal gift from the foundation just this month, the DeBakey Endowed Scholarship provides assistance to junior and senior medical humanities majors at Baylor.

The medical humanities program takes a unique approach to educating the doctors of tomorrow by incorporating the insights of disciplines ranging from literature to economics to religion into the practice of modern scientific medicine. The idea behind the program (which is now being emulated at other universities) is to produce Baylor graduates with not only the scientific background necessary for a career in medicine, but also a sense of human understanding that will allow physicians to care for their patients as people.

Sic ’em, DeBakey family and Baylor medical humanities students!

You might also like:
* Multiple top-25 programs making Baylor a leader in healthcare administration (Oct. 2011)
* Baylor University and Baylor College of Medicine ties evident in newest BCM Board appointees (Feb. 2011)

Feb

2013

Scenes from Sing 2013

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

Now in its seventh decade(!), All-University Sing remains one of Baylor’s grandest traditions, as hundreds of students practice for weeks before putting on six nights of Broadway-style song-and-dance medleys.

[LINKS: Photo gallery featuring every act || 2013 highlight video || The Lariat's review of each act || Photobooth pics from each night: Feb. 14, 15, 16, 21, 22 and 23]

Congratulations to the eight winning groups that will repeat their acts at Pigskin Revue during Homecoming this fall: Kappa Omega Tau & Kappa Sigma (tied for 1st place), Phi Kappa Chi (3rd place), plus Chi Omega/FIJI, Zeta Tau Alpha, Alpha Tau Omega, Sing Alliance, and Pi Beta Phi!

Sic ’em, Sing performers!

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