President's Statement on Baylor's Contractual Relationship with the Baylor Alumni Association

Statement from Baylor President John M. Lilley on the Contractual Relationship with the Baylor Alumni Association:

You may have received an email this morning about changes that are forthcoming in our contractual relationship with the Baylor Alumni Association. I have been engaged in a dialog with the alumni association on this topic for many months now. I would encourage you to read my Spring 2007 Baylor Line interview where I discussed a number of issues, including our agreement with the association that we would not be renewing the fee-for-services contract.

Consistent with the Baylor Alumni Association's mission, I fully expect them to work with the University to promote the best interests of Baylor. In its public statement following the May Regents' meeting, Baylor's Board reaffirmed the alumni association's status as the official alumni organization of the University and recognized that its independent voice has an important role to play in supporting the purposes and goals of Baylor.

My colleagues and I are presently working alongside the association to help them attain the financial independence they seek. The request that the alumni association be financially independent has been made by a number of Baylor University Presidents, going back at least as far as Abner McCall. Consistent with that history, last fall we mutually agreed that the current three-year, fee-for-service agreement would not be renewed when the current contract expires in March of 2008.

It is our hope that the current alumni association fundraising campaign will give them the ability to be financially independent. In order to assist in that success, I endorsed publicly the present Sesquicentennial Campaign of the Baylor Alumni Association, and Baylor withheld the start of the University's own comprehensive fundraising campaign.

My colleagues and I plan to continue working in partnership with the alumni association in a variety of important areas, such as student recruitment, fundraising and alumni outreach and engagement. As the chairs of the alumni association's Sesquicentennial Campaign noted in their kickoff letter in the Baylor Line, a self-sufficient partner will more fully serve our alumni and will be more effective in strengthening the role and reputation of our alma mater.

John M. Lilley
President