Presidential Perspective - June 4, 2026

Baylor Students, Faculty, Staff and Parents:

The first session of New Student Orientation and Baylor Line Camp starts Monday, and over the next two months, Baylor will welcome thousands of students and their families to campus to prepare for the fall semester.

Attendees get to meet other new Bears, learn about their major, meet with academic departments and take their first steps as part of the Baylor Line. All experiences are available to new first-year and transfer students. Parents or guests are encouraged to attend as well, with special programming for them woven throughout the day.

Most students choose to combine Orientation with Line Camp, which is an extended orientation opportunity for students only. It is built around Baylor’s rich history and transformative undergraduate student experience.

I appreciate all the faculty and staff and current students who work together during this critically important time each summer. I hope you will join me in showing our newest Baylor Bears a warm welcome when you see them on campus.

Here are a few updates:

• LOCAL GIVING: Students in Baylor’s Philanthropy & the Public Good course recently awarded $100,000 in grants to seven local nonprofit organizations, supporting work spanning maternal and child health, immigrant services, housing, healthcare access, child development and services to teens experiencing homelessness. Since its inception in 2014, the course has empowered students to steward real dollars, serve as a foundation board of directors and award 151 grants totaling $1.41 million across Waco and beyond.
• SUMMER MISSIONS: Baylor students are traveling around the world on Baylor Global Missions trips and in other programs, serving in numerous countries across four continents. From helping provide healthcare in Zambia and India and building homes in the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica to ministering in rural Kentucky, students are putting what they’ve learned in the classroom to use as the hands and feet of Jesus. Some are even using their voices in Kenya and Brazil! Their commitment not only showcases Baylor’s Christian mission but is also a real example of how we live out Baylor’s motto – Pro Ecclesia (For the Church), Pro Texana (For Texas), Pro Mundo (For the World).
• RECORD-BREAKING GPA: Baylor student-athletes achieved the best departmental term GPA on record, combining for a 3.45 GPA in the spring semester. All 19 Baylor athletic programs surpassed a 3.0 GPA in the same term, also making history. Seven of our programs set records for semester GPA, including acrobatics & tumbling, both track & field teams, both basketball teams, equestrian and football. I am so pleased to see that even during times of great strain across college athletics, our students remain focused on academic success.
• ACUTE CARE RESOURCE: Although I hope no one will need it, I want to remind you that Baylor University Health Services will again offer summer acute care to faculty and staff. Our healthcare providers are equipped to treat minor illnesses and injuries such as colds, coughs, sinus issues, nausea, rashes and more. To schedule an appointment, faculty and staff can log into the health portal--select "Urgent Care Visit"--call 254-710-1010 or visit the Health Center in person on the second floor of the McLane Student Life Center.

Remember tomorrow is the Waco Sports Corporate Cup Main Event, an adult field day with everything from cornhole to hula hoops. The Baylor Team is comprised of both faculty and staff, and I hope they bring home the gold as Baylor continues its support of our hometown. The competition begins at 7:30 a.m. at the MCC baseball and softball fields.

Linda A. Livingstone,
Ph.D. President

PHOTO OF THE WEEK