{"id":18246,"date":"2016-05-13T14:14:52","date_gmt":"2016-05-13T14:14:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/baylorproud.wpengine.com\/?p=18246"},"modified":"2016-05-13T14:14:52","modified_gmt":"2016-05-13T14:14:52","slug":"samuel-palmer-brooks-and-a-baylor-commencement-for-the-ages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/2016\/05\/samuel-palmer-brooks-and-a-baylor-commencement-for-the-ages\/","title":{"rendered":"Samuel Palmer Brooks and a Baylor Commencement for the ages"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Samuel<\/p>\n

In the long history of Baylor Commencement celebrations, one stands above the rest.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been 85 years since Baylor graduates first heard the now-legendary \u201cImmortal Message<\/a>,\u201d the posthumous charge from President Samuel Palmer Brooks<\/a>, BA 1893, to the Class of 1931. Brooks\u2019 words and deeds — both the message, and his actions in the weeks leading up to Commencement that year —\u00a0have inspired the Baylor family ever since.<\/p>\n

A year earlier, Brooks — the longest tenured president in Baylor history — had been diagnosed with cancer.\u00a0During his 29 years in office, Baylor had grown from a small school of less than 300 students to a burgeoning campus of over 3,500. His\u00a0administration saw the establishment of Baylor College of Medicine, Baylor College of Dentistry, and what is now Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, plus the organization of Baylor’s College of Arts and Sciences and Schools of Education, Music, Nursing, and Business.\u00a0His tenure included the\u00a0nation\u2019s first collegiate Homecoming in 1909, and the student vote that chose\u00a0the bear as the school\u2019s mascot in 1914.<\/p>\n

Even while battling the disease, his indomitable love for Baylor led him on an extensive fundraising tour that left a debt-free university to his eventual\u00a0successor\u00a0(and former Baylor roommate), Pat Neff. But, by the spring in 1931, he realized his time was drawing to a close. As Commencement neared, he was moved when he found out that Baylor\u2019s seniors hoped their beloved president would still be able to sign their diplomas. Weary and bedridden from his disease, he made a determined effort to do just that.<\/p>\n

Realizing he would not be able to speak at Commencement, he left a final charge to the Class of 1931 and \u201cseniors of all years\u201d that we now know as the \u201cImmortal Message.\u201d Brooks passed away on May 14, 1931, shortly before commencement, but that \u201cImmortal Message<\/a>\u201d was read to seniors a few days later in a moving ceremony that still resonates.<\/p>\n