Bear Briefs

Acrobatics and Tumbling Secure Third Consecutive Championship

The Baylor Family congratulates Acrobatics and Tumbling for their third consecutive NCATA national championship! No. 2-seeded Baylor beat top-seeded Oregon at the meet held in Azusa, Calif., in April.

Winning four of the six events — compulsory, pyramid, tumbling and team — Baylor ended the year on an eight-meet winning streak, running coach Felecia Mulkey's three-year record to 30-1.

“We've made adjustments all year to continuously improve and peak at the right time, and we did just that,” Mulkey said. “The girls were ready to do whatever it took to make it happen and they never doubted, even when Oregon won some events and took leads. When it was time for the team event, I told them to leave it all on the floor and have no regrets. We were so determined and not to be denied.”

Mulkey has been the winning coach for all seven NCATA national championships since the sport started in 2011.

Five Baylor Scholars Honored with Fulbright Awards

Since 2001, 52 Baylor students have been singled out for honors by the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, the largest U.S. exchange program offering opportunities for students and young professionals to undertake international graduate study, advanced research, university teaching and primary and secondary school teaching worldwide.

The five most recent Baylor undergraduate students to be selected by the prestigious Fulbright program learned the good news during the Spring 2017 semester.

Jade A. Connor, who earned a bachelor’s of science in biology in May, was selected to a Fulbright study grant, which will enable her to pursue a master’s degree in governance and leadership in European public health at Maastricht University in the Netherlands. After earning a master’s degree, Connor will return to the United States and attend Harvard Medical School with an ultimate goal of improving the lives of dementia patients, particularly those with Alzheimer’s disease.

Emily Martin, graduated from the University Scholars program in May and was selected to receive a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship, which will allow her to spend the 2017-2018 academic year teaching English in Germany. Martin will serve as part of the English Teaching Assistant (ETA) program, which places Fulbright Scholars in classrooms abroad to provide assistance to the local English teachers. She hasn’t learned to which city she will be assigned, but she has requested a city in northeast Germany.

Taylor Demons, who earned a bachelor of arts in international studies magna cum laude in December 2016, received a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant to Taiwan. Demons aspires to a career as a Foreign Service Officer in the U.S. Department of State and will serve her Fulbright year in Yilan, Taiwan’s northeastern-most county. Following the Fulbright, Demons plans to attend graduate school with the possible help of a Pickering or Rangel fellowship, both of which require fellows who complete the program to enter the Foreign Service for a minimum of five years.

Katerina Levinson, a University Scholar from Austin, Texas, who recently graduated magna cum laude from Baylor’s Honors College will spend the 2017-2018 academic year in Asturias, a northern region of Spain along the Bay of Biscay. Levinson’s future plans include gaining experience teaching at a classical school and later earning a PhD in classical education before ultimately starting a classical school for underprivileged children, possibly in Latin America.

Luke Pederson, a junior University Scholars major in the Honors College, was awarded a spot with a Fulbright Summer Institute. Originally from Orlando, Fla., Pederson will study at the Institute of Medieval and Early Modern Studies at Durham University in England. The Institute — one of the most prestigious and selective summer programs operating worldwide — will include conducting archaeological laboratory work, attending classes at Durham University and excavating the Roman fort and town at Binchester. Since 2009, an international team has been excavating this archaeological site, which includes the best-preserved Roman bathhouse in the United Kingdom.

University Meets $100M Annual Fundraising Goal for Sixth Consecutive Year

Baylor University 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.

“That our alumni, parents and friends have once again stepped up to commit more than $100 million in financial support during the past year clearly indicates a resolute desire to support Baylor students and Baylor’s distinctive Christian mission, as well as their strong belief that we are acting as responsible stewards of these gifts,” said Baylor President Linda A. Livingstone.

Eighteen separate gifts and commitments of $1 million or greater are included in the total amount reported during the recent fiscal year. These gifts will directly benefit a wide range of academic programs and institutional initiatives, including the department of geosciences within the College of Arts & Sciences, Louise Herrington School of Nursing, Hankamer School of Business, Truett Seminary and Baylor Law School, as well as the Texas Hunger Initiative, the Beauchamp Addiction Recovery Center and the Black Gospel Music Restoration Project.

Foster Campus Achieves LEED Gold Certification

A new badge of honor is now on display at Baylor University’s Paul L. Foster Campus for Business and Innovation, home of the nationally ranked Hankamer School of Business. The dynamic new facility, which opened to faculty and students in August 2015, has been awarded LEED Gold Certification after satisfying rigorous standards that address the building’s environmental impact.

The business school hosted a ceremony in April as representatives from the University and the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) unveiled the official LEED Gold plaque on the second floor mezzanine.

“LEED — Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design — is well aligned with our values at the Hankamer School of Business, so it was a priority from the very first day of planning, through the design process and during construction of our new home,” said Terry S. Maness, DBA, dean of the business school.

The LEED rating system, developed by the USGBC, is the foremost program for buildings, homes and communities that are designed, constructed, maintained and operated for improved environmental and human health performance.

The Foster Campus achieved LEED Gold certification by implementing practical and measurable strategies and solutions aimed at achieving high performance in sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.