News

What a memorable, moving experience ... Last night, Brad and I had the opportunity to make the trek to Independence to participate in Line Camp. If the spirit, passion and commitment of the Class of 2021 is any indication, the future of our great University is in good hands. Be on the lookout for "Prez" and "First Gent" in our #15 Line jerseys.

I trust everyone had a safe and enjoyable July 4th holiday, celebrating the many freedoms that we enjoy individually, as well as being part of an institution of higher education and a faith-based organization.

These have been busy and fulfilling weeks at Baylor University. It’s hard to believe that my first month as your President is coming to a close.

I am pleased to announce that Michael K. McLendon, Ph.D., has agreed to serve as Baylor University’s interim provost, with a start date of July 1.

Though 15 years have passed since Dr. Linda Livingstone last served Baylor as associate dean of graduate programs in its Hankamer School of Business, she looks forward to cultivating one of the University’s greatest strengths, a vibrant and inclusive campus, hand-in-hand with Baylor’s nearly 17,000 students.

President Livingstone highlights recent news and events, and upcoming activities within the Baylor community.

WACO, Texas (June 22, 2017) – Baylor University today announced that the philanthropic support of alumni, parents and friends during the recently completed fiscal year that spanned June 1, 2016, to May 31, 2017, exceeded $100 million in gifts, pledges and planned giving commitments, marking the sixth consecutive year the University has surpassed that benchmark in fundraising.

Baylor’s equal emphasis on outstanding research and academics and steadfast Christian faith is uncommon indeed, and one of the many reasons Dr. Linda A. Livingstone was at once thrilled and deeply humbled to become the University’s 15th President.

Summer is in full swing, and I hope that whether you are on campus, working, doing research or mission work, or simply recharging for the fall semester, you will find time to stay connected to the University and all that is happening here.

Long before she was selected as Baylor University’s 15th president, before her foray into higher education administration even began, Dr. Linda Livingstone’s first loves were teaching and research.

Thank you for the warm welcome to campus this week. What a remarkable experience to return to Baylor and encounter the same spirit of collegiality and care amongst the faculty, staff and students that I remember from my time here so many years ago.

WACO, Texas (June 7, 2017) – Baylor University has recognized 12 faculty members as Outstanding Faculty in the areas of teaching, scholarship and contributions to the academic community for the 2016-2017 academic year.

I am truly honored and humbled to have been selected as president of this historic institution of higher education and to return to the beautiful Baylor campus, where I formerly had the pleasure of serving as a faculty member and as associate dean for graduate programs in the Hankamer School of Business.

WACO, Texas (June 1, 2017) – The Baylor University Board of Regents has approved W. Brett Beene, B.B.A. ’87, of Mexia, and Dusty Sanderson, B.A. ’79, of Amarillo, as Honoris Causa Athletics Regents. Both Beene and Sanderson were nominated for election by their respective organizations, the Baylor Bear Foundation and Baylor “B” Association.

I am honored for the opportunity to lead Baylor University — its students, faculty, staff, alumni, parents and friends — into a very bright and exciting future as we continue to develop the heart of Baylor: our students.

I leave the office of the president confident that what has been planted this past year will further Baylor’s grand ambitions as a national research university grounded in Christian principles.

WACO, Texas (May 19, 2017) – As Baylor University continues to pursue an environment that exhibits cultural humility and inclusion, the work of two groups is making an impact. For the past 18 months, a Special Assistant to the University President and the 15-member President’s Advisory Council on Diversity (PACD) have been working across the University to build programs, complete agreements and organize initiatives that provide an environment of acceptance and support for students, faculty and staff from diverse backgrounds.

WACO, Texas (May 12, 2017) – At its regular spring meeting, the Baylor University Board of Regents announced structural completion of the 105 recommendations related to the institution’s response to sexual violence and implementation of best-practice governance policies and procedures, and took action to approve new Board members, a $621.7 million operating budget for 2017-2018 and a new joint B.A./M.A. degree in communication studies.

President-select Linda A. Livingstone, PhD, did not always aspire to a career in upper-level university administration. Even as the possibility of that career path developed in recent years, she was determined to only look at institutions that aligned with her values.

WACO, Texas (April 18, 2017) – Baylor University has selected Linda A. Livingstone, Ph.D., current dean and professor of management at The George Washington University School of Business, as the institution’s 15th president. Dr. Livingstone was the unanimous choice of the Baylor Board of Regents, following the recommendation of the 12-member Presidential Search Committee.

I pray that this Easter we may experience the renewal that he urges in Romans 12:2, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."

On Palm Sunday, April 9, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., Baylor's McLane Stadium will once again be the site of "The Gathering" -- an evening of music, prayer and worship that reaches across denominational and racial lines in our community.

Effective April 1, Baylor University will add paid parental leave for staff and adoption assistance for faculty and staff to its official benefits package.

Baylor is embarking on a University-wide survey meant to measure perceptions of respect, cooperation, diversity, inclusiveness, accessibility and support among our university community.

Baylor is committed to an academic community in which the freedoms that create a marketplace of ideas are safeguarded and to a faith-based community in which dialogue, mutual respect and compassion are expected and encouraged.

WACO, Texas (Feb. 17, 2017) – At its February meeting, the Baylor University Board of Regents approved the best practice recommendations of a six-member Governance Review Task Force that completed a detailed, independent review of the Board’s governance policies and practices. Over its two-day meeting, the board also heard a number of reports, including those on the ongoing implementation of recommendations received in May, the University’s presidential search, SACSCOC reaccreditation, admissions and athletics.

Baylor University Interim President David E. Garland released a statement today on Big 12 Board action.

Today marks an important and meaningful tradition in the life of Baylor University. This is the day we celebrate the birthday of our University — Baylor Founders Day.

We at Baylor University are committed through our Christian convictions to practices that support hospitality, community, respect and the open exchanges of ideas across our world. Baylor is proud to host more than 800 students and scholars from more than 70 countries and to be served by faculty and staff who hail from countries worldwide. As a university, we recognize that cross-national efforts are vital to academic advancement, cultural appreciation and educational development that lead to mutual understanding within the global community.

Yesterday, Baylor University received a legal filing that outlined sexual assault allegations that occurred within our campus community several years ago. Our hearts are heavy at the thought of anyone experiencing sexual assault within our community. Any such acts are reprehensible and unacceptable. The University remains committed to eliminating all forms of sexual and gender-based harassment and discrimination within our community.

As we approach Inauguration Day for our country, my prayer is that the music we add as Baylor students, faculty and staff is not the jangling clatter of hostility, but a powerful chorus of love for others – how Christ taught us to live.

Last fall, the Baylor Board of Regents created a Governance Review Task Force to assess board operations and to recommend changes. On Monday, the Task Force delivered its final report to the Board’s Governance Committee. The report includes more than 30 detailed recommendations for changes to the Bylaws and Guidelines for Board Operations.

We welcome 2017 with a renewed spirit of hope and commitment. Baylor University has a rich heritage as an institution of higher education serving the world for more than 170 years, and this legacy serves as a strong foundation for our continued work together. We turn our faces to the future as we prepare for the return of our almost 17,000 students on Monday, the first day of spring semester classes. Each semester brings a new beginning for these young men and women as they pursue their education — and a new beginning for each of us as we love and support them along their journeys.

We prepared you for this – for leadership, and for service – and God will call you. “Do not fear!” Get to it.

Our hope is in God who raised our Lord from the dead, and who promises to raise us.

How silently, how silently the wondrous gift is given!

Wishing you God's peace and abundant blessing this Christmas season and throughout the New Year.

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) has been working with Baylor University to better understand the findings and implications of the Pepper Hamilton review on the status of overall safety and support for students on our campus. We have received verbal notice that the University has been given a one-year "warning" sanction for noncompliance in three areas.

My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.

Surely, we can find three things to give thanks for each day.

The “Walk with Tasha” this morning was an amazing experience for me. A large crowd of Baylor students, staff, faculty, administration, and members from the Waco community represented the core values of Baylor University under the Lordship of Christ.

Today the Board announced a new Governance Review Task Force that will review and recommend improvements in the Board’s practices, procedures and selection process.

Nothing is more important at Baylor University than providing a safe and caring community for our students. We have a renewed focus on our Christian mission and made a number of personnel and policy changes to help ensure this is the case.

We are working diligently to ensure that Baylor University fulfills its mission to be a caring, Christian community where our students thrive. As part of this commitment, I have directed the University to be more transparent wherever possible about the sexual assault crisis that has severely impacted our campus, our alumni and the entire Baylor family.

You have likely heard the news that Title IX Coordinator Patty Crawford has resigned from Baylor University. Our efforts – and our clear commitment – have been focused on ensuring the University has the processes, policies, personnel, organization and training in place to provide education to prevent acts of sexual violence and to respond appropriately and with compassion to those who suffer from such acts.

As we begin another academic year at Baylor University, I want to extend my deep appreciation for your support of this remarkable institution of higher education.

The greatness of this university comes from those graduates who have followed him faithfully, come what may, who have trusted in his greatness and who have sought to bring glory to him and not to themselves.

WACO, Texas (Aug. 23, 2016) – Baylor University Interim President David E. Garland today provided a progress report on the implementation of recommendations for improving the University’s response to sexual violence. The recommendations resulted from the University’s external investigation launched last fall.

WACO, Texas (Aug. 18, 2016) – Baylor University Interim President David E. Garland has announced the appointment of Christopher W. Holmes as the University’s General Counsel, effective immediately.

Our work to improve prevention, response and care for students is well underway and we endeavor to demonstrate a system that is supportive, responsive, fair and thorough in upholding students’ access to an education. We are committed to doing the right things for the well-being of our students.

WACO, Texas (July 25, 2016) – For the sixth consecutive year, Baylor University has attained elite Honor Roll status as a “2016 Great College to Work For,” according to a new survey by The Chronicle of Higher Education, a top trade publication for colleges and universities.

WACO, Texas (July 22, 2016) – Baylor University’s Board of Regents has approved a new joint master’s degree program that links the faculties, resources and classes of two of Baylor’s premier schools, George W. Truett Theological Seminary and the School of Education. The board also heard reports on Title IX and diversity, approved the lowest percentage tuition increase in more than 20 years and focused its retreat on best practices in board governance.

WACO, Texas (July 7, 2016) – Baylor University Executive Vice President and Provost L. Gregory Jones has announced the members of the Spiritual Life and Character Formation Task Force, a group formed after the release of the Pepper Hamilton Findings of Fact and Recommendations to re-energize a focus around the University’s Christian mission. The Task Force has received its charge and held its initial meeting to begin work.

President David Garland updates the Baylor family on the University's efforts to move forward as an institution, and discusses the incoming class that were welcomed to campus as Baylor students at Orientation this month.

Last week I shared with you information concerning the high priority we have placed on implementing improvements across campus to increase the safety of students at Baylor University. We have committed to doing all we can to implement change based on the recommendations of Pepper Hamilton, LLP following their independent review of the University’s response to reports of sexual violence.

WACO, Texas (June 10, 2016) — Robyn L. Driskell, Ph.D., Divisional Dean for Humanities and Social Sciences in the College of Arts & Sciences, has been named Executive Director and President’s Chief of Staff by Baylor University Interim President David Garland, Ph.D. In this role, Driskell will be responsible for strategic communications from the President’s Office, collaboration on leadership initiatives, coordination of Board relations and representing the President in a variety of official capacities.

WACO, Texas (June 10, 2016) – Baylor University has actively launched groups to lead the implementation of recommendations made by Pepper Hamilton, LLP following its independent investigation into the University’s handling of sexual assault. Two complementary executive-level task forces have been named to efficiently implement change that leads to improved processes, communication, training and response and that cultivates a culture of respect and character that reflects Baylor’s mission.

We have entered a new season in the life of Baylor University. It is a season that calls for clarity, compassion and collective action as a Christian academic community and as a body of Baylor alumni that spans multiple generations, often within individual families. It is a season that calls for Baylor to stand together and speak as one voice, resolute in our shared commitment to student welfare and safety and to our institutional values.

As we begin a new summer academic term and a challenging journey together, I am honored and humbled that the Regents have asked me again to serve as interim president of Baylor University. Our work to pursue collectively Baylor’s distinctive mission requires our fervent prayers and a trust in God as the ultimate source of mercy, strength and guidance.

WACO, Texas (May 13, 2016) – At its regular spring meeting, the Baylor University Board of Regents attended to a variety of matters related to the business of the University. The Board received a comprehensive briefing from Pepper Hamilton LLP, whose services were retained by the Board in September 2015 to conduct an independent and external investigation of the University’s response to reports of sexual and interpersonal violence. Over the coming weeks, the Board will carefully consider the information provided in the briefing and determine how to decisively act upon Pepper Hamilton’s findings and recommendations. The members of the Board will be guided by their faith as they make significant decisions for the welfare of Baylor students, the direction of the institution and the good of Baylor Nation.

WACO, Texas (April 27, 2016) – Baylor University and Tarrant County College today announced the creation of a formal Baylor Bound transfer agreement that will help students transfer more easily between the two institutions and continue to expand educational opportunities for young people all across Texas.

WACO, Texas (April 20, 2016) – Following a unanimous recommendation from the university search committee, Baylor University President and Chancellor Ken Starr today announced the appointment of L. Gregory Jones, Ph.D., senior strategist for leadership education at Duke Divinity School and the Ruth W. and A. Morris Williams Jr. Professor of Theology and Christian Ministry, as executive vice president and provost, effective May 16, 2016. His wife, the Rev. Susan Pendleton Jones, associate dean for ministerial formation at Duke Divinity School, also will join Baylor as senior fellow in the Institute for Faith and Learning.

WACO, Texas (April 11, 2016) – Baylor University President and Chancellor Ken Starr today announced the appointment of Elizabeth Palacios, Ph.D., dean for student development in the Division of Student Life and a Baylor faculty member, to the post of special assistant to the President on diversity. With 35 years in higher education, Dr. Palacios has been instrumental in collaborating with students, faculty, staff and the community on a variety of diversity-related advancements. While she will continue her responsibilities as dean, she will begin immediately to devote a portion of her time to this additional role and will work closely with the President and the President's Advisory Council on Diversity (PACD) as progress continues in this important area.

WACO, Texas (April 5, 2016) - Baylor University today announced a gift of $1 million from David and Amy Hunt of McLean, Virginia, to create the David and Amy Hunt Christian Missions Endowed Fund. The gift will support mission experiences led by the Honors College, enabling Baylor students to integrate the Christian faith with discipline-specific learning and hands-on service.

WACO, Texas (March 30, 2016) – The President’s Advisory Council on Diversity (PACD) has announced its timeline for facilitating an active campus-wide conversation regarding the University’s Christian commitment to diversity and communicating progress as it works over the coming months.

WACO, Texas (March 22, 2016) – Baylor University President and Chancellor Ken Starr today announced the most recent actions the University will take to continue improvements in the prevention of and response to interpersonal violence in our campus community. These include improvements focused on increasing Title IX Office resources; progress toward expansion of Baylor’s Counseling Center; and enhancements to Baylor’s public safety efforts.

WACO, Texas (March 23, 2016) – Baylor University President and Chancellor Ken Starr has announced the members of the University’s Provost Search Committee. The Committee is charged with leading the search to identify the University’s next Executive Vice President and Provost.

WACO, Texas (March 8, 2016) – Baylor University and Baylor Alumni Association (BAA) today announced the settlement of all claims in their pending lawsuit. The University and the BAA have come together, motivated by a unity of purpose and a deep and abiding love for Baylor University, to advance a bold, forward-looking agreement that aligns support for Baylor students and engagement with all alumni.

WACO, Texas (Feb. 16, 2016) — Baylor University’s Board of Regents has approved two new degree plans — one for a doctoral degree program in computer science that is expected to nearly double research output, and the other for a joint graduate degree program in athletic training that will allow students to enter the workforce sooner. The board took the action on Friday at its regular February meeting.

WACO, Texas (Feb. 12, 2016) -- Baylor University’s Board of Regents today received and approved an administrative action plan to prevent acts of sexual violence on campus and to improve treatment and services for all those impacted by interpersonal violence.

“Last evening, our students came together as a family. They displayed great poise and maturity during the vigil at Allbritton House and in the prayer service that followed at our beloved Truett Seminary.

We hear your voices loud and clear. You want us to continue to improve. And you want definitive, responsible actions after we receive the insights and recommendations from Pepper Hamilton. You have my word on both.”

Greetings from Baylor University, where the spring semester is in full swing. The month of February is a special time in the life of our University. Each year, we celebrate the founding of Baylor University on February 1, 1845 — 171 years ago. Today, in this Anno Domini 2016, we continue to carry forward our Founders’ vision to address the needs of the broken world around us.

With a new semester underway and a year of promise and opportunity before us as a caring and dynamic Baylor community, I write to provide you with an update about Title IX, Baylor’s efforts to prevent and respond to sexual violence and the ongoing external review we commissioned in the fall. Many of you have participated in our Title IX training activities and “It’s on Us” awareness campaign, and I am deeply grateful for your willingness to help ensure that Baylor is a safe campus, free from harassment, discrimination and interpersonal violence. Together we are developing a campus culture that is educated about interpersonal violence and responsive to those who have experienced sexual violence.

WACO, Texas (Jan. 15, 2016) – Baylor University President and Chancellor Ken Starr has announced the appointment of 13 faculty, staff and students to the President’s Advisory Council on Diversity (PACD).

Late last week, the Provost shared with the Office of the President a copy of the report from the Provost’s Committee on Diversity. The Committee, chaired by Professor Heidi Bostic, worked with dedication over the course of the autumn. We are grateful for the Committee’s efforts.

The recent criminal conviction of former student-athlete Sam Ukwuachu has brought deep anguish to our campus. As we have said unequivocally, acts of sexual violence contradict every value Baylor University upholds as a caring Christian community.

Learn your rights, options, and resources under Title IX.

President and Chancellor Ken Starr updates Baylor Nation on internal inquiry.

By God’s grace, we are living in a golden era at Baylor University. However, today we are filled with profound sadness. Yesterday, a former student-athlete was convicted for the sexual assault of another former student-athlete. Our hearts are broken for the victim who has been terribly harmed by this unspeakable tragedy. We also grieve for all those who have been touched by this human calamity, and for our beloved University, whose essential purpose and distinctive mission are to be guarded as the treasured legacy of our founders.

Judge Ken Starr: It is with a heavy heart that I write to you concerning the tragic death of Mr. Jeffrey Thaemert, an electrician and resident of our beloved Waco, who died yesterday morning working on the construction of our new business school building.

Baylor University is committed to ensuring the safety of all individuals on Baylor's campuses and involved in Baylor's programs, especially minor children (under 18 years of age).

This is a terrible tragedy that saddens us all. It is at difficult times like these that we are encouraged to remember that we serve a loving God who cares for the brokenhearted and is near to the downcast.

The University is moving forward expeditiously to implement - on its own - a number of the changes that were contemplated by the Transition Agreement.

Dear Baylor Nation, I am happy to report that the litigation over the removal of the Hughes-Dillard Alumni Center has come to an end. The judge has removed the temporary restraining order that prevented us from moving ahead with our construction schedule which is so vital to the timely completion of our new Stadium. We are grateful that Baylor can now move forward.

As I shared with Baylor Nation last month, Baylor University and the Baylor Alumni Association worked collaboratively and cooperatively for ten months to bring about a new day at Baylor -- to agree on a pathway that would re-unite the Baylor family and allow all of Baylor Nation to come together.

Today, allow me to share the good news of another important milestone for Baylor Nation -- an historic agreement between the leadership of Baylor University and the leadership of the independent Baylor Alumni Association. We have come together and agreed to fashion a single, comprehensive, university-based alumni engagement program.