President's Note

While one academic year is winding down, many on campus are focused on the incoming class of new students. You can help these students make the transition to university life by becoming a Baylor Greeter. Early connections as they begin their Baylor experience will have a significant impact on student success and retention.

The time commitment required of Baylor Greeters is minimal, but the impact is significant. To volunteer, please e-mail Associate Vice President for Student Life Martha Lou Scott at Martha_Lou_Scott@baylor.edu.

Goldwater Scholar

I was fortunate to visit the other evening with Baylor senior Juan Yaquian, an electrical and computer engineering student from Temple, who has recently been awarded the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship. In my conversation with him, Juan credited his academic success to a number of Baylor faculty and staff who have taken a personal interest in him. Juan has an amazing life story of perseverance and commitment to faith that will serve him well as he pursues his doctorate. He was at Berkeley last summer and will be at MIT this summer.

« Learn More »

Popularity of On-campus Housing Growing with Upperclassmen

As Baylor moves towards its 2012 goal of creating a truly residential campus you will be pleased to know that more than 1,700 upper-division students already have contracted to live on campus next year. This represents s a jump of 26 percent over last year's number of sophomores, juniors and seniors living on campus and the fifth straight year that our number of on-campus student residents has increased.

Baylor Names Faculty-In-Residence For Kokernot, North Village

Additional faculty-in-residence will be in place this fall to further Baylor's commitment to integrate learning in and out of the classroom.

Dr. Laine Scales, professor of social work and educational administration and associate dean of the Graduate School, and her husband, Dr. Glenn Blalock, assistant professor of English, will serve beginning this fall as the first faculty members-in-residence at Kokernot Hall. They will be joined by their 14-year-old daughter, April.

Steven Pounders, associate professor of theatre arts, will become the first faculty member-in-residence this fall at University House in the North Village Residential Community. Joining Steven will be his wife, Hope, and daughters, Luci, a high school junior, and Robin, a fourth-grader.

These faculty will join Drs. Doug and Michele Henry (Brooks Residential College), Professor Cindy Fry (Heritage House, North Village), Dr. Julie Sweet and Dr. Tom Riley (Texana House, North Village) and Dr. Sarah-Jane Murray (Honors Residential College, Alexander-Memorial) to comprise a group of nine faculty members living in residence at Baylor.

« Learn More »

Baylor Alum Elected President-Elect of the State Bar of Texas

Law School alumnus Roland Johnson has been elected President-Elect of the State Bar of Texas. This makes two years in a row for Baylor lawyers to serve as State Bar Presidents. Roland's upcoming term will follow incoming president and fellow Law School alumnus Harper Estes in 2008-2009.

Roland and Harper join a long line of Baylor lawyers who have served as president of the State Bar of Texas including A.J. Folley, Leon Jaworski, Gibson Gayle, Jim Bowmer, Wayne Fisher, Cullen Smith and Frank Newton.

Future Texas Supreme Court Clerks to Graduate Saturday from Baylor Law

Two Baylor Law School students who will clerk for the Texas Supreme Court will take part in commencement exercises this Saturday. Josh Fogleman and Jeff Watters, who will begin their clerkships in the fall, are part of a class of 70 students who will receive their juris doctor degrees at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 3, in the Jones Concert Hall at the Glennis McCrary Music Building on the Baylor campus.

Fogelman and Watters will join recent Baylor Law graduates Katy Boatman and Ashley Franklin who also will clerk for Texas's highest court. With only 18 clerks hired by the Texas Supreme Court for 2008-2009, Baylor Law School has 22 percent of the new clerk hires for the court.

Big 12 Tennis Champs to Host Men's and Women's NCAA Opening Rounds

Both our Men's and Women's tennis teams claimed Big 12 championships last week. With these two victories, Baylor has now won 29 Big 12 championships in the league's 12-year history, which is same number it won in 81 years of Southwest Conference membership.

In a remarkable accomplishment, Zuzana Zemenova became the first student-athlete in Big 12 history in any sport to win four Big 12 player of the year awards. Congratulations to head coaches Matt Knoll and Joey Scrivano, their assistant coaches, Zuzana and all of the other talented student-athletes who have done so well this season.

Baylor will host the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tennis Championships for both the men and women May 9-11 at the Baylor Tennis Center.

Athletics Update

• Baylor's men and women's relay teams won seven of eight races at the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa. The Lady Bears won the 400 relay, 800 relay, 6,400 relay and distance medley. The Men won the 400 relay, 800 relay and 1,600 relay.
  
  The women set a new university-college 6,400-meter relay Drake Relays record with a time of 19:05.80 -- the best time in the country so far this year.
  
  
• Three Baylor Bears joined the NFL as free agents. Cornerback Josh Bell signed with the San Diego Chargers; linebacker Nick Moore signed with the Cleveland Browns; and deep snapper Jonathan Weeks signed with the Detroit Lions.