Presidential Perspective - August 6, 2020

Baylor Students, Faculty, Staff and Parents:

Each day through next week, I am crafting an email that spotlights a major area of our University-wide planning efforts in response to COVID-19 as we look toward the start of the fall semester on Aug. 24. From cleaning and dining to temporary facilities and online course enhancements, which we will explore tomorrow, I am so appreciative of how our faculty and staff have stepped forward on behalf of our students to deliver what promises to be a Baylor-quality educational experience this fall in the midst of this pandemic.

We understand there continues to be many questions during this time of uncertainty. I am reminded of 1 Peter 5:6-7, which says we should: “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.”

As we look toward our Heavenly Father for strength and guidance over the next few weeks, I wanted to pass along two additional avenues to have your questions answered regarding the fall semester:

• A toll-free hotline is now available for all students, parents, faculty and staff at 888-283-2158 Monday-Friday from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. CT. This hotline also will be open next weekend during campus Move In.
• Provost Brickhouse will join me and several members of our leadership team for a Faculty Forum hosted by the Faculty Senate tomorrow from 10-11:30 a.m. CT. All faculty should have received an invitation for this Zoom meeting via email.

We continue to have a wealth of information and FAQs related to our return to campus and the start of the fall semester posted at baylor.edu/coronavirus. This COVID-19 information is updated daily. And be on the lookout next week for my daily emails that will cover housing, student health services, student activities and our Family First campaign.

Some additional news for this week ...

• Next Wednesday, Aug. 12, at 7 p.m., we invite you to join our incoming students for a very special event. In a virtual ceremony, these new students will collectively open their Traditions Boxes, don their Baylor Line jerseys for the first time and mark the start of their Baylor journeys. About 3,400 Baylor Line jerseys were ordered over the summer and shipped in the last two weeks to homes so that students could enjoy this meaningful tradition together. Though it will be celebrated a little differently this year, we know students will feel the tremendous connection the Baylor Family shares across generations. The ceremony will be streamed on Baylor University’s Facebook Page and the Student Activities virtual event platform.

• In two short weeks we will welcome #BU24 to campus as well as many of our returning students as part of Move2BU. To our returning Baylor students, faculty and staff: We still need volunteers to help pass out water, direct traffic and carry bags and boxes to rooms. As we express the Baylor Family’s hallmark of hospitality, our team has taken significant precautions to make this cherished tradition safe for everyone. Detailed volunteer sign-up information is available online for six sessions Aug. 18-20: Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings from 9 a.m.-noon and evenings from 6-8 p.m.

• To assist with a safe return to in-person classes this fall, we are introducing a Campus Safety Volunteers program for the first full week of classes. These members of the Baylor Family will welcome students back to our academic buildings, provide face coverings that may have been forgotten, share safety information and maybe even a quick squirt of hand sanitizer. Volunteers will sign up to work the same two-hour shift each day from Aug. 24-28 in an assigned building. Staff and Faculty: Please consider volunteering as we all work together for a successful start of the semester.

• Researchers from Baylor, the University of Houston and Texas A&M University have discovered evidence for why the earth cooled dramatically 13,000 years ago, dropping temperatures by about 3 degrees Centigrade. The evidence indicates that ancient volcanoes were the drivers for the temperature change — a finding which upends a previous explanation that an extraterrestrial impact was the trigger. Scientists analyzed sediment horizons in a Texas Hill Country Cave, where unique geochemical signatures from the eruptions have been preserved. Steven Forman, Ph.D., Baylor professor of geosciences, and Baylor volcanologist Kenneth Befus, Ph.D., were co-authors of the study, published in the journal Science Advances.

Yesterday I received an email from our testing partner Everlywell that my COVID-19 test kit was in the mail. Testing is an integral component of our layered strategy to #SicCOVID. Thank you for being a part of our efforts to keep our campus community healthy, and we appreciate your patience and understanding during this massive logistical undertaking as we work to provide a safe start to the fall semester. Be assured that every student will have an opportunity to be tested for COVID-19 in advance of the fall semester.

Let’s #SicCOVID Together,

Linda A. Livingstone, Ph.D.
President