• Meet Baylor’s new class of Regents

    New Baylor Regents (top: Foley, Luningham, Maciel; bottom: McFarland, Reppert, Wilkerson)

    As Baylor’s Board of Regents holds its regular summer meeting this week, six new Regents are taking their seats at the table to start new terms: two serving at-large, two elected by alumni, one appointed by the Baptist General Convention of Texas (BGCT), and one new student Regent:

    • Malcolm B. Foley, a Student Regent, is a fourth-year doctoral candidate in Baylor’s Department of Religion from Rockville, Md. Before coming to Baylor, Foley double-majored in religious studies and finance at Washington University in St. Louis and earned an M.Div. from Yale Divinity School.
    • Katie Jo (Baumgardner) Luningham, BA ’11, an alumni-elected Regent, is a law clerk at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. After graduating from Baylor as a University Scholar in 2011, Luningham earned her law degree from Notre Dame in 2015. Prior to clerking, she was an attorney in Kansas City, specializing in higher education litigation and regulatory compliance.
    • René Maciel, MSED ’91, a BGCT Regent, serves as the missions pastor at Waco’s First Woodway Baptist Church. He has spent the bulk of his career at Baptist institutions such as Hardin-Simmons University and Baylor’s Truett Seminary. He served as president of Baptist University of the Américas from 2007-16, and as president of the BGCT from 2015-16.
    • Dr. Michael McFarland, BBA ’93, EDD ’05, at-large Regent, is the superintendent of schools for Crowley ISD (south of Fort Worth). He was selected as the American Association of School Administrators National Superintendent of the Year from Texas in 2015, and he was honored as the National Alliance for Black School Educators Superintendent of the Year in 2014.
    • Todd Reppert, BBA ’91, at-large Regent, is the founder and president of Reppert Capital Partners, a family-owned investment firm focused on equity investments in smaller, private companies. The Houston resident has served on the Baylor Endowment Investment Committee since 2015, and two of his three children are current Baylor students.
    • Gordon Wilkerson, BBA ’82, an alumni-elected Regent, is president of Wilkerson Properties, a full-service commercial and industrial real estate firm, and Wilkerson Storage Co., a third-party logistics company. He is a past board member of the Baylor Alumni Association, the Baylor Line Foundation, and the Baptist Standard.

    Including the new Regents listed above, 93% of this year’s Regents — 39 of 42 — are either Baylor alumni, professors or current students (including 10 who have earned multiple degrees from the university), and many are also Baylor parents. Given how unique the Baylor experience is, it’s good to see so many BU alumni willing and able to come back and serve their alma mater.

    Sic ’em, Baylor Regents!