Baylor in the News – June 14-20, 2020

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WACO, Texas (June 21, 2020) – Baylor University researchers and faculty experts were featured in local and national media stories as they shared their thoughts and expertise on a variety of subjects, from the history of Juneteenth and enduring freedom songs and protest spirituals to COVID-19’s impact on churches as they make decisions to hold in-person worship services.

Here are some of the stories featuring Baylor faculty members from June 14-20, 2020:

June 14, 2020

The Dallas Morning News: The George Floyd demonstrations turned into a movement when the protesters began to sing
Baylor journalism professor Robert F. Darden, founder and director of the Black Gospel Music Restoration Project, penned this column about the use of music in protests around the world over the killing of George Floyd and how each culture's musical traditions suddenly focused the grief and rage about the police brutality into transformational singing and desire to bring about real change.

June 16, 2020

Mental Daily: Mindfulness In Adjunction With Hypnotherapy Very Effective For Treating Chronic Stress
Research led by Gary Elkins, Ph.D., professor of psychology and neuroscience and director of the Mind-Body Medicine Research Laboratory at Baylor, is featured in this article about the early effectiveness of mindfulness in adjunction with hypnotherapy for the treatment of chronic stress. This research also was covered on the PsychCentral mental health resources blog.

CNBC: How we chose the 2020 CNBC Disruptor 50 list of revolutionary start-ups
Peter G. Klein, Ph.D., The W.W. Caruth Chair and professor of entrepreneurship, served as a member of the 2020 CNBC Disruptor 50 Advisory Council that identified the fast-growing, innovative start-ups on the path to becoming the next generation of great public companies.

June 17, 2020

Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Blog: Patricia Wilson to become CBF Moderator-Elect at virtual General Assembly
Baylor Law Professor Patricia Wilson, JD, a lay leader deeply involved in CBF, is the nominee to become the next Moderator-Elect for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. She is a member of Seventh & James Baptist Church, a CBF congregation, where she currently serves as a deacon.

June 18, 2020

Texas Monthly: A Civil Rights March in Lockhart Was Peaceful, but Counterprotesters Threatened Violence
Samuel Perry, Ph.D., associate professor of communication in the Baylor Interdisciplinary Core, is quoted in this article about the history of vigilantes and how those today who say they would engage in extralegal activity to protect police are following a tradition dating back to lynchings, wherein "law and order" community members policed who could occupy public spaces.

June 19, 2020

KWKT-TV: Revisiting the history of Juneteenth
Mia Moody-Ramirez, Ph.D., chair and professor of journalism, public relations and new media at Baylor, and an internationally recognized expert on race and culture, is interviewed for this story on the history of Juneteenth, a pivotal point in American history where the last slaves in Texas and the Confederate South were freed.

Baptist Standard: Voices: Are houses of worship essential? A look at the science
Joshua Hays, associate pastor of First Baptist Church in Waco, and Byron R. Johnson, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of the Social Sciences and co-director of Baylor's Institute for Studies of Religion, authored this column about the complex choices churches face about when and how to reconvene, especially as a common source of "social capital," or the networks of relationships people need for support in times of trouble.

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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.