Five things you might not know about Baylor’s first Homecoming
If you’re looking to learn a little Baylor or Baptist history, Alan Lefever (BA ’84) is your man.
In his day job, Lefever serves as director of the Texas Baptist Historical Collection, leading the BGCT’s efforts to preserve and communicate the history of Baptists in Texas. He’s also the author of The History of Baylor Sports, an excellent coffee table book chronicling the history of varsity sports at BU.
In a recent Baylor Connections interview, Lefever discussed the history of Baylor Homecoming. Here are five tidbits about the tradition’s beginnings that you might not know:
- Legendary Baylor President Samuel Palmer Brooks should be known as the “Father of Homecoming.” Baylor was the first college (in 1909) to hold a recognizably modern homecoming, with a bonfire, pep rally, parade, and football game, and the event was Brooks’ idea.
- Baylor had only been in Waco for 23 years when the first Homecoming was held, so many of the alumni who came had never been to this campus. (They had gone to school at the original campus in Independence.)
- The opening ceremony at that first Homecoming was held in the chapel of Carroll Library (before the fire). There, Brooks greeted the gathered alumni: “To those who always went to class, welcome… To those who rarely went to class or did your assignments, we welcome you, too.”
- George W. Truett, an 1897 Baylor graduate who was just a few years into a nearly 50-year stint as pastor of First Baptist Dallas, was the featured guest and keynote speaker at that first Homecoming.
- The first Homecoming game was a 6-3 win over TCU, which was still located just across town at the time. (The fire that would prompt their move to Fort Worth happened the following spring. Yes, fires were a much more common problem a century ago.)
Looking for more Baylor Homecoming history? Listen to (or read the transcript for) the full Baylor Connections interview with Lefever, who also shares stories from homecoming celebrations down the years.
Sic ’em, Bears!
[Pictured above: The Quadrangle during the first Homecoming, via the 1910 Baylor Round-Up yearbook]