News

You don’t want to miss Saturday’s football game at McLane Stadium! We’ll have great football weather for an increasingly rare night game, and our Bears will be playing with a berth in the Big 12 Championship Game on the line against No. 23 Kansas State.

WACO, Texas (Nov. 4, 2022) – At its regular quarterly meeting, the Baylor University Board of Regents focused its discussion on Baylor’s position in the higher education marketplace, highlighted by strong financial reports about upgraded bond ratings and positive investment returns amid continued strong demand for a Baylor experience and education.

The Baylor University Board of Regents will be on campus today and tomorrow for its quarterly meeting. This is an important group of Baylor volunteers, as they serve as the official governing body of the University and ensure alignment with our Christian mission and financial integrity.

As part of President Linda A. Livingstone's campuswide Spiritual Wellbeing initiative, Baylor University will hold a Faculty & Staff Chapel at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 9, in Paul W. Powell Chapel at Truett Seminary.

We are heading into the final five weeks of the Fall semester, which is generally the toughest part of the academic year. Don’t let the weight of the semester bog you down.

We ushered in cooler temperatures earlier this week, just in time for our 113th anniversary of Homecoming on the Baylor campus. But you know how Texas weather is – high temperatures will be back in the upper 80s over the weekend, so plan accordingly!

This is one of those weeks in which I’ve had an opportunity to fling Baylor’s green and gold afar.

Election Day is one month away on Tuesday, Nov. 8, providing an opportunity for us to exercise one of our most important privileges and rights as Americans.

Did you know that Baylor’s iconic green and gold can be traced as far back as 1897? As legend has it, a member of the student committee selected to choose the official colors for the University was traveling to a debate tournament by train.

I am pleased to announce today a five-year contract extension through 2027 for Provost Nancy Brickhouse, Ph.D., whose strong and collaborative leadership as our chief academic officer has been instrumental in elevating Baylor to join the nation’s top-tier research institutions as a preeminent Christian Research 1 university.

Every year, the Baylor Family celebrates National Research Administrator Day — observed on September 25 — as an opportunity to express our enduring gratitude to research administrators, grant writers, staff, postdoctoral researchers and undergraduate and graduate students who each play a vital role in the University’s success.

National Research Administrator Day is celebrated annually on Sept. 25 across the country, but we’ve adopted it as our own at Baylor over the past few years.

This has been a week of big news for the University, so let’s get right to the headlines!

I must admit that the First Gent and I are big fans of Baylor Athletics, especially during the week-long build up for a big football game like BYU this Saturday.

To conclude each week we celebrate Spirit Fridays on all Baylor campuses when we encourage the entire Baylor Family to fling their green and gold afar.

We're nearly through the first week of the fall semester!

The beginning of the fall semester is finally here! I cannot wait for the first day of class on Monday.

Yes, it's August, but this is certainly the most wonderful time of the year! We can feel the excitement and enthusiasm building for two seminal events next week in the lives of Baylor students: Move-in and Welcome Week.

You may have seen the exciting news from earlier this week that Baylor University has been recognized as one of the nation’s top-10 Most Trusted Universities, according to global research firm Morning Consult.

Greetings from San Antonio, where we are celebrating Baylor Board of Regents Days as declared by an official city proclamation. This week is the quarterly meeting of the Board, as we welcome several new Regents for their first official meeting and look toward the start of the fall semester.

With the record-breaking temperatures and drought conditions in the Waco area, many of you have asked how the Baylor campus is being impacted.

It's great to be back in Waco after some family vacation travel and spending yesterday at the Big 12 Football Media Days to officially introduce new Commissioner Brett Yormark on behalf of the conference's Board of Directors

As we look toward the July 4th holiday and a much-needed break for all of us, I am thankful for the sacrifices made by our veterans and current military to ensure the United States remains great and prosperous.

There are four major elements to an institution: its policies, its processes, its practices and its people. This matrix informs us as to whether or not an institution is just, but the most powerful of these four elements is the people, and Baylor’s greatest assets are its people.

Summers are always a time of transition – from high school to college … residence halls to back home … college to work-life … and here in Texas, 85-degree temperatures to the 100s.

Serving as President of Baylor University and calling Waco my home brings me such great joy.

Earlier today I made the mistake of glancing at the long-range weather forecast for Waco. All I can say is that summer has definitely arrived.

Today, reflecting on the five-year anniversary of my first day as Baylor's 15th President, I continue to be excited about the future of our great University. I can honestly say I am even more excited than I was walking into Pat Neff Hall on June 1, 2017. Serving as President of Baylor for the past five years has been an incredible journey – one we have shared together as family, friends, faculty and staff, students and alumni of this remarkable institution of higher learning.

Baylor University’s success in continuing to attract outstanding students from around the world and earning Research 1 designation by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education would not have been achievable without the strength of the Waco community alongside it.

Grief continues to fill my heart today. Like everyone in the Baylor Family, my heart broke on Tuesday as we learned about the tragic mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde — the deadliest school shooting in Texas history.

WACO, Texas (May 25, 2022) – At its regular May meeting, the Baylor University Board of Regents voted to extend the contract of President Linda A. Livingstone, Ph.D., to 2032 in recognition of her exemplary University and national leadership that has elevated Baylor as a preeminent Christian research university with strengths across the board in academics, research and athletics.

This is my first official Presidential Perspective of the summer. While the foot traffic on campus is a little lighter this week, the University is still quite active with the minimester underway and students in the Law School and graduate and professional programs continuing their academic work.

Commencement is always a special time on the Baylor campus, and this year has added significance for the First Gent and me. Our daughter, Shelby, will graduate Friday night from Baylor's Truett Seminary with a master's of divinity degree.

It's hard to believe that today is the last class day of the spring semester! To celebrate the occasion and to provide students a little energy heading into final exams, I will be handing out FREE Gelato Mio from 1-2 p.m. today in the SUB. I would love to see you and wish you well as we conclude the spring semester and enter the summer season.

We enjoyed a wonderful night with Baylor faculty and staff Monday to say “thank you” to everyone who helped Baylor achieve R1 recognition as a research university. As we celebrate R1, we are really celebrating the entire Baylor Family, because this truly was a team effort.

Monday is going to be an exciting time to come together to celebrate the incredible accomplishment of Baylor becoming an R1 university.

We rejoice this Easter in the resurrection of Jesus Christ and give thanks for His overwhelming love for us.

I don’t think we could have asked for a better combination of warm sunshine and a full slate of activities for this week’s return of Diadeloso, or “Day of the Bear,” as we celebrated this great tradition’s 90th anniversary.

Dia is back! After two years without this annual spring celebration, I can't wait to enjoy a day of fun on campus with you this Tuesday, April 5.

The Baylor campus is a busy place during the spring semester, buzzing with students and visitors who come together for a variety of reasons. Sometimes the occasion is a lecture, a social gathering or a musical or theatrical performance. Sometimes the reason people gather here is an athletics event.

Welcome back from Spring Break – March Madness is finally here! I am sending this week’s email a little early, as I am en route to Dickies Arena in Fort Worth to watch Coach Scott Drew and our defending national champion men’s basketball team take on Norfolk State at 1 p.m. in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. Then I will be back in Waco tomorrow for Coach Nicki Collen’s NCAA Tournament debut as our Bears face Hawaii at 3 p.m. in the Ferrell Center. Best wishes to our student-athletes, coaches and staffs as they shine in the spotlight, and let’s Sic ’em, Bears!

It was such a joy last week to experience the musical and dance talents of the more than 1,500 students who participated in Sing this spring.

One outcome of the COVID-19 pandemic is that we have the ability to temporarily pivot to remote instruction and operations when winter weather conditions threaten. Gone are the days of waking up at 5 a.m. to see if it will be an ice or snow day. Of course, I fondly remember those snow days from when I was in college!

Today we are announcing the rescission of the University's facemask policy for classrooms and labs when used in academic settings. In other words, facemasks will be optional at Baylor – other than when requested in private offices – effective this Monday, Feb. 21.

What an exciting time for Baylor as we’ve surpassed the $1.1 billion fundraising goal of the Give Light campaign!

When Black historian Carter Woodson initiated the first Negro History Week in 1926, he did so with the hope that it would eventually no longer be necessary. He hoped that education about Black history would become so mainstream that a week would become redundant.

WACO, Texas (Feb. 3, 2022) – Baylor University today announced a significant milestone as gifts and pledges to the Give Light Campaign have surpassed the initial goal of $1.1 billion, marking the campaign as the largest and most successful fundraising effort in the University’s 177-year history.

My prayers have been with everyone as the winter weather has impacted our local community as well as Texans statewide.

WACO, Texas (Feb. 1, 2022) – Baylor University today announced Paul (BBA ’79) and Alejandra Foster of El Paso, Texas, as the recipients of the 2022 Baylor University Founders Medal.

In recognition of the improving COVID-19 environment and the campus community’s continued effective management of the virus, today we are announcing several updates to Baylor University’s COVID-19 interim policies and protocols.