Baylor Announces Plans for Baylor Line Camp - Home Edition
Incoming students can enjoy connections to classmates and campus beginning at home, with additional experiences planned for fall
Media Contact: Lori Fogleman, Baylor University Media and Public Relations, 254-709-5959
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WACO, Texas (June 15, 2020) – After CDC social distancing guidelines to slow the spread of COVID-19 led to the cancellation of all on-campus summer camps, Baylor University’s department of New Student Programs immediately got creative and today announced reimagined plans for Baylor Line Camp - Home Edition, which will continue the Baylor Line Camp tradition of providing an opportunity at no cost for incoming students to build relationships with one another before arriving on campus in the fall.
Additional fall experiences are being planned to further connect the newest members of the Baylor Line with the University’s rich heritage and traditions, including opportunities to travel to Independence, Texas, where Baylor University was originally founded 175 years ago. This summer, Baylor Line Camp - Home Edition will provide an enriching set of experiences to help the newest class of Baylor Bears transition successfully to campus while prioritizing the health and safety of the campus community.
“We know that creating meaningful connections with other students and to the University prior to beginning the collegiate journey starts students off on the path to success — emotionally, spiritually and academically,” said Sharra Hynes, Ph.D., associate vice president for student life at Baylor. “Though we had to cancel our traditional on-campus Baylor Line Camp experience due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are excited that we will be able to preserve and offer the heart of the Line Camp experience to our incoming students safely beginning at home.”
Registration for Baylor Line Camp - Home Edition opens today (Monday, June 15) at noon Central Time. Using their Bear ID and password, all incoming first-year and transfer students can register for available sessions online at www.baylor.edu/baylorlinecamp.
Baylor Line Camp - Home Edition offers incoming students two-day sessions within small groups that combine fun, purposeful and school spirit-filled online engagements with additional offline activities. Students can select the session dates that fit their schedules, with the first session beginning on Monday, July 6, and the final session ending on Aug. 7. Line Camp will be available at no cost to all incoming students, including first-year and transfer students, and the University will provide a specially designed Line Camp activity box that will be mailed to each participant’s home.
“Students who are joining the Baylor community this summer and fall have encountered so much unexpected change through the spring and into the summer. Although we have needed to adapt the traditional summer orientation and welcome experiences, our team and the entire campus have been working hard to provide reimagined opportunities to help students build relationships and connect to Baylor,” said Nathan Shelburne, Ph.D., director for new student programs at Baylor. “Our hope is that, through this interactive and engaging experience that is unique for 2020, our incoming students will discover the meaningful connections and friendships that are the hallmark of the Baylor Line Camp experience.”
An additional experience is being planned for August that will invite students to join with other entering first-year and transfer students for a special moment as they join the Baylor Line together. Students are able to order their Baylor Line Jerseys — personalized gold football jerseys with their graduation year and nicknames on the back — online at www.baylor.edu/baylorline.
“The Line Jersey is a cherished symbol representing a student’s induction into ‘That Good Old Baylor Line.’ The Line transcends place and time, and is about the relationships and experiences that bind the Baylor Family together,” Shelburne said.
For more information, contact New Student Programs at nsp@baylor.edu.
Additional information about Baylor Line Camp - Home Edition also is available in a list of Frequently Asked Questions on the University’s coronavirus website.
ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY
Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked research institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 18,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 90 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions.