Baylor University Reports Strong Progress in Give Light Campaign

Strides made in Fiscal Year 2021 help build momentum toward $1.1 billion milestone

WACO, Texas (July 13, 2021) - Baylor University today announced that alumni, parents, faculty, staff, students and friends combined to provide more than $161 million in given and pledged philanthropic support during the University’s recently completed fiscal year (June 1, 2020, to May 31, 2021). The Baylor Family’s philanthropy supports the Give Light Campaign, Baylor’s comprehensive fundraising campaign aimed at resourcing efforts to become the preeminent Christian research university.

In May, Baylor celebrated the Baylor Family’s generous support as the Give Light Campaign passed the $1 billion mark in fundraising, the most the University has ever raised during one campaign effort. To date, the Baylor Family has contributed more than $1.04 billion in gifts and pledges toward the Give Light Campaign. This significant progress represents gifts in the form of current gifts and gifts to endowment, creating an impact in every academic school and college at Baylor, as well as creating significant resources for student health and wellbeing and scholarship support. The University saw 16.37% of alumni join together to give toward University priorities and to support students, continuing a tradition of philanthropy that harkens back to the earliest days of Baylor’s founding 176 years ago.

“Baylor University has been able to stay true to our mission, true to our Christian values and committed to creating a community in which our students thrive because of the alumni, parents and friends who throughout the years have given generously and sacrificially to this institution,” said Baylor President Linda A. Livingstone, Ph.D. “The milestones we have reached this last year are cause for celebration as we work to fulfill our vision set forth in Illuminate, our strategic plan. We know that we can plan boldly for Baylor’s future because of the support of our Baylor Family. I am grateful for everyone who has given to see our students succeed.”

During the last fiscal year, 23,353 members of the Baylor Family gave in support of Baylor and its students. Baylor donors also established five endowed faculty chairs to support research and teaching in physics, the study of Black worship, communication sciences and disorders, entrepreneurship and medical humanities. Baylor’s 12 schools and colleges also received support through the creation of 26 endowed funds to support everything from faculty and student research to lab equipment, discipline-specific missions and service-learning opportunities.

The University also saw the creation of 99 new endowed scholarships during the 2021 fiscal year, providing significant support for students and their Baylor journeys. More than $1 million in scholarships was spurred on by last fall’s announcement of the Hord Scholarship Challenge. Dan and Jenni Hord of Midland, Texas, established a $30 million gift commitment to encourage the Baylor Family to come alongside their support of merit-based scholarships, helping to bridge the gap between merit- and need-based financial aid and unmet financial need for Baylor’s brightest students.

In addition to the Hord Scholarship Challenge, the University established the Trailblazer Scholars Program in July 2020. With a $5 million institutional commitment, Baylor called upon the Baylor Family to match its commitment to the program, which will provide scholarships and programmatic support and leadership development for students who have demonstrated a commitment to advancing racial equity, diversity and a sense of belonging at Baylor. The first cohort of Trailblazer Scholars will be named in Fall 2021.

“Our Baylor Family has a heart for these Baylor students, and the commitment they have shown to supporting our students through scholarships and through equipping faculty and academic programs is truly incredible,” said Baylor Vice President of Advancement David Rosselli. “I am grateful for our alumni, parents and friends and the way they have embraced the Give Light Campaign. We have seen alumni step forward to contribute to the areas of the University that had a special impact on their lives, and as a result, future generations of Baylor students will see their Baylor experiences marked by the philanthropy of That Good Old Baylor Line. We are leaving a legacy that will truly be transformational.”

The Give Light Campaign undergirds Illuminate, Baylor’s strategic plan to become a preeminent, top-tier Christian research university. The campaign’s priorities center around growing the University’s endowment to provide enduring support for faculty, research and student scholarships, helping Baylor attract the best and brightest students and faculty. Other funding priorities include expanding the academic enterprise and resourcing academic departments to allow for growth in academic areas of focus:  Health; Data Sciences; Materials Science; Human Flourishing, Leadership and Ethics; and Baylor in Latin America. The campaign also has funded capital projects to increase and modernize classroom and faculty space within Tidwell Bible Building and build new facilities to better meet the needs of alumni and fans, as well as faculty and students. Current funding for emergency needs and to enhance student services and student life also are included in the campaign.

This year’s success is due to the Baylor Family’s generosity. The gifts of alumni, parents, friends and organizations combined to create transformational impact on every area of the University. Below are just a few of the many gifts given to celebrate legacies, honor family and friends and provide support for the Baylor Bears who are following God’s calling on their lives through their studies.

• Faculty Support for the Hankamer School of Business – A $5 million gift from Ed and Denise Crenshaw of Lakeland, Florida, established two Baylor Academic Challenge endowments – The William E. Crenshaw Chairs – and a portion of the gift was used to establish the William E. Crenshaw Endowed Scholarship Fund in Student Foundation.
• Major Gift Supports Capital Projects – Todd and Susan Behringer of Woodway, Texas, provided a significant gift to Baylor in support of the Give Light Campaign’s capital projects. In recognition of their gift, Baylor named the Behringer Recruiting Lounge at McLane Stadium in their honor.
• The Michael E. DeBakey, M.D., Selma DeBakey and Lois DeBakey Chair for Medical Humanities – A $2 million gift from The DeBakey Medical Foundation of Houston created an endowed faculty chair within Baylor’s College of Arts & Sciences.
• The Terry S. Maness Endowed Chair in Lab-to-Market Entrepreneurship – A fundraising effort among the Hankamer School of Business’s alumni to honor retiring Dean Terry S. Maness, D.B.A., was buoyed by a $1.5 million anonymous gift to establish The Maness Chair. The Maness Chair is a Baylor Academic Challenge program chair, and the position will help to develop a pipeline for translating research into viable commercial and business concepts.
• Medal of Honor Statues Installation – In November, Baylor celebrated the installation of two bronze statues commissioned and given to the University by A. Haag and Millette Sherman of Houston. The statues honor U.S. Army Corps Col. John Riley Kane, B.A. ‘28, and U.S. Marine Corps 1st Lt. Andrew Jackson “Jack” Lummus Jr., Baylor’s two Medal of Honor recipients.
• In November, two Baylor families established two different scholarships at Baylor that combined to push the University past an exciting milestone: 500 scholarships created through the Give Light Campaign. Charles and JoAnn Whiteside of Kilgore, Texas, and parents to Baylor Provost Nancy Brickhouse, Ph.D., established the Whiteside Family Foundation Endowed Scholarship Fund to support Texas transfer students. The Dr. William Hulitt Gloer Endowed Scholarship Fund was established by Robert and Linda Mastin of Waco, as a planned gift to honor longtime professor, Dr. William Hulitt Gloer, through support for students at Baylor’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary.
• Scholarships with a Mission – The Diana R. Garland School of Social Work’s Global Mission Leadership Program received a $1.5 million gift from Steve and Lori Angel of Connecticut and their children, Logan Angel of Dallas and Mason Angel of Venice Beach, California, to support student scholarships. The Angel Family effectively doubled the size of their existing Angel Family Foundation Global Mission Leadership Endowed Scholarship Fund.
• Shining Bright for Baylor Giving Day – On April 14 for this year’s Baylor Giving Day, 3,942 alumni, parents, students, faculty and friends came together to show how much impact the Baylor Family can have in support of That Good Old Baylor Line. More than $1 million was given to scholarships, dean’s excellence funds and every academic school and college to support the Give Light Campaign.
• The Lev H. Prichard III Chair in the Study of Black Worship – A $1.5 million gift from the Prichard Family Foundation and Ella Wall Prichard of Corpus Christi, Texas, established an endowed faculty position to further the research and work of the Black Gospel Music Restoration Project, as well as expanding scholarship in the areas of Black worship, preaching and studies at Baylor.
• The Eula Mae and John Baugh Chair in Physics – The Baylor Family’s generosity is generational and legacy-building. In April, Baylor was notified that longtime Baylor Family members John and Eula Mae Baugh had made provisions for the University before their deaths. A gift creating The Baugh Chair was received and, matched with funds through the Baylor Academic Challenge, the faculty position will provide funding for the department of physics to grow innovative research and teaching in the area of materials science.
• The Mark & Paula Hurd Floor at Baylor Basketball Pavilion – Baylor Regent and Give Light Campaign National Steering Committee member Paula Hurd gave a $7 million leadership gift to the Baylor Basketball Pavilion to name the floor in honor and memory of her husband, the late Mark Hurd. The gift also marked the University’s passing of the $1 billion mark in funds contributed to the Give Light Campaign.
• Baylor Bear Foundation members and donors contributed more than $11.3 million in support for student-athlete scholarships during the 2021 fiscal year. Membership dues and gifts to excellence funds support scholarships for Baylor’s more than 500 student-athletes and provide resources for the 19 intercollegiate sports that make up Baylor Athletics.

For more information or to support Give Light: The Campaign for Baylor, visit www.baylor.edu/givelight.

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 19,000 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.

ABOUT THE BAYLOR ACADEMIC CHALLENGE MATCHING PROGRAM

A significant portion of the $100 million gift created a matching fund to launch the Baylor Academic Challenge, which will maximize Baylor's investments in promising research and academic programs by matching dollar-for-dollar significant additional gifts from other donors, fueling the University's academic enterprise. The program seeks to increase the number of endowed faculty positions, helping Baylor generate additional funding to sustain and grow teaching and research in key areas. Another portion of the $100 million gift provided the lead investment in the Baylor Basketball Pavilion, a state-of-the-art $105 million facility that will become the new home of the men's and women's basketball teams.