eNews: Baylor Board of Regents Update

Dear Baylor Family:

Before sharing a few updates from the regular Baylor Board of Regents meeting, we must pause to reflect on another terrific Baylor Homecoming! Whether it was the campus community gathered in worship to start the week, Baylor students showcasing the performing arts during Pigskin Revue and the Royal & Pure Stroll-Off, or the nation’s oldest and largest Homecoming parade, one event seemed to top the next.

Then, our Baylor football team capped it all off with a dominating and decisive win over UCF while tens of thousands of Baylor fans cheered them on. The atmosphere and community created by a single football game like last Saturday is truly special, and the Board will always work to preserve and grow this important connection point for current and future Baylor students, faculty and staff, and most certainly for our alumni.

Earlier this morning the Board gathered on Founders Mall to dedicate the Memorial to Enslaved Persons, alongside many of you. As we have said before, the Memorial is one outcome from the 2021 Commission on Historic Campus Representations. And the dedication was a historic moment for the University as we respectfully came together to reflect on this challenging period in Baylor’s history, while also looking toward our promising future together. We are proud of how the Baylor Family has already embraced this beautiful, moving addition to campus.

After the dedication, President Livingstone began the Board meeting with an update on Baylor in Deeds, explaining that the University is performing exceptionally well in all 10 evaluation metrics outlined in the new strategic plan. As part of committee meetings, the Board also participated in an interactive exercise led by student Bridgebuilding Fellows to understand how Baylor approaches civil discourse and its importance as an imperative woven throughout Baylor in Deeds.

The Board received a briefing on the incredible progress to date on the $250 million Extend The Line Scholarship Initiative, which has already raised more than $70 million to support current and future students, and Baylor’s highest-ever four-year graduation rate of 77.3% – an incredibly important measure for Baylor’s affordability to students and their families. In its only action of the meeting, the Board approved a new hybrid Master of Architecture degree that will qualify graduates for architectural licensure, addressing a projected workforce gap. This new degree will build on Baylor’s existing Interior Design Program in the Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences and leverage Waco’s growing design industry.

As we wrapped up the meeting, we reminded Regents of an exciting opportunity on Saturday, Nov. 8, and we want you to be aware of it as well. For the first time ever, Baylor has been granted a license to organize an independent TEDx event. TEDxBaylor University will bring Baylor’s interdisciplinary collaboration and ingenuity to a global audience with talks from Baylor students, faculty, staff and members of the Waco community. We encourage the entire Baylor Family to join by live stream, which will be available on Baylor’s Facebook, YouTube and Virtual Events platforms starting at 9:30 a.m.

The Board will be back on campus in February for its next quarterly meeting, and we look forward to another productive time together. Enjoy the rest of the semester!

Sic ’em, Bears!

Bill Mearse, B.B.A., ’78, M.B.A., ’79               Linda A. Livingstone, Ph.D.