Happy 50th birthday, Baylor Student Foundation!

“We cannot express too strongly the importance of the Student Foundation to the future progress of Baylor.”

Those were the words of Baylor President Abner McCall in 1969, at the founding of Baylor Student Foundation. StuFu, as it’s known, was created during a time of civil unrest and escalating violence in the country, with the goal of empowering our students to serve and become the kind of people who will step up and become great leaders.

Now, Student Foundation is celebrating its 50th anniversary.

Every year, 100 community-minded juniors and seniors in good academic standing are chosen to join StuFu. They build goodwill among alumni and friends, recruit high school students to Baylor, host campus-wide events, and raise funds for student scholarships.

[READ Baylor Magazine‘s look back at 50 years of StuFu, “Champions of Generosity“]

From 1971 to 2002 (and again in 2009 and 2010), Student Foundation hosted an annual 50-mile bicycle relay race called Bear Downs. In 2003, StuFu instead began hosting the Bearathon, an annual half-marathon and 5k race across campus and up and down the hills of Cameron Park, earning its name as “the toughest half in Texas.” Each year, the race attracts thousands of runners from around the country and earns tens of thousands of dollars that go directly toward student scholarships.

“Student Foundation was born in a moment in time when our nation was tearing itself apart because it was so polarized, and Baylor believed that the way you build a better future was to trust your students,” says StuFu alumnus Steve Wells, BA ’90, MDiv ’97, DMin ’03. “I’m hard pressed to think of a time since then that’s more like that than now, which means the mission of Student Foundation to build leaders by trusting students with real responsibilities on consequential matters is as timely as it’s ever been.”

[WATCH a retrospective on Student Foundation’s history at Baylor]

To celebrate this huge anniversary, they’re hosting a whole slew of events for StuFu alumni the weekend of Sept. 27-28, when Baylor hosts Iowa State in football.

Sic ’em, StuFu!