Are you #BaylorProud? Show us!

Friday, September 4 -- the start of the first weekend of college football for 2015 -- will be celebrated nationwide as "College Colors Day." Fans all over the country will wear their team's colors to show their school pride on the opening weekend for college football.

But at Baylor, we've got too much to be excited about to wait for one single day. So for the rest of August, we're celebrating our Baylor pride. The best part? We've even got prizes!

Here's how it will work:

1. Between now and Aug. 28, post a photo of how you show your Baylor pride to Twitter and/or Instagram using the hashtag "#BaylorProud," then follow @Baylor and @BaylorProud on Twitter and @BaylorUniversity on Instagram to see what others are doing. (We'll be sharing some favorite submissions along the way.)

2. On Aug. 31, a gallery of our very favorite entries will be posted on the Baylor Facebook page. From then through Sept. 3, go like a photo (or multiple photos) in that Facebook gallery to vote for your favorite(s).

3. On the night of Sept. 3 -- less than 24 hours before the Bears kick off against SMU -- the winning photo will be announced and shared on Baylor's Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts. The winner will receive a $250 gift card to the Baylor Bookstore and will also be featured in a future issue of Baylor Magazine.

4. On Sept. 4, wear your green and gold for College Colors Day, then root on Baylor football in the season opener at SMU (6 p.m., ESPN).

5. Then on Sept. 8, show your pride in your alma mater one more time as we celebrate #BaylorProud Giving Day. Help us reach our goal of $75,000 to support current and future Bears through scholarships and excellence funds; stay tuned for more details. Every gift counts!

Sic 'em, Bears!

#FiveStarr: Celebrating fundraising highlights of President Starr's 5 years at Baylor

Five years ago this summer, Ken Starr took office as Baylor's 14th president. Since those early days, when he challenged Baylor Nation to join together to support student scholarships, Baylor has responded in record-setting numbers, providing for increased scholarships, game-changing facilities and more.

"The momentous outpouring of generosity that, remarkably, continues unabated is really a story about Baylor Nation and how thousands of alumni, faculty, staff and friends enthusiastically joined the bold vision ... to propel the university and ensure that Baylor remains well positioned to 'meet the needs of the ages to come'," Judge Starr said last year, remarking on the many fundraising accomplishments that have occurred in recent years:

* The President's Scholarship Initiative -- The first major initiative of President Starr's tenure came from speaking with students who described their dreams for the university. Judge Starr challenged Baylor Nation to raise $100 million in three years, and the response was so overwhelming that the goal was met and exceeded four months ahead of schedule.

* Baylor's most successful fundraising years ever -- Between February 2012 and February 2014, Baylor Nation gave a staggering $345.3 million dollars to the university, supporting facilities such as McLane Stadium and the Paul L. Foster Campus for Business and Innovation, scholarships (through the President's Scholarship Initiative) and other needs. In all, the Baylor family gave $178 million to academics and $167 million to athletics during the record stretch.

* Major gifts -- The two largest gifts by living alumni in Baylor history served to launch two transformative facilities. In March 2012, a significant lead gift by Drayton McLane, BBA '58, and other members of the McLane family spurred construction of McLane Stadium. That support held the record for Baylor's largest gift ever from a living alumnus until June 2013, when Paul Foster, BBA '79, gave the lead gift for what would become the Paul L. Foster Campus for Business and Innovation. Numerous other generous donors have joined Foster and McLane in helping change the face of the Baylor campus for generations to come.

* The Baylor family gets involved -- Major gifts grab the headlines, but it's also noteworthy just how many members of the Baylor family have pitched in to support the university we love. Between 2012 and 2014, approximately 18,000 people made their first gift to Baylor, an outpouring Judge Starr called "truly significant." Even faculty and staff have gotten involved; over the past year, more than 1,200 Baylor employees -- almost half of all faculty and staff -- gave back to the university, raising $1.2 million for various needs across campus.

The unprecedented momentum Baylor is experiencing has led to countless other gifts by thousands of generous members of the Baylor family. The transformational gift by Matt, BA '12, and Carl Lindner to establish an endowment for the Department of Film and Digital Media and the upcoming Fifth Street renovation with its Rosenbalm Fountain are two of the latest examples of donors turning Baylor dreams into a reality.

It's been an incredible five-year run under Judge Starr's leadership at Baylor, and the momentum continues as we work together to meet the goals of Pro Futuris. We can only imagine what exciting new projects will become reality in the years to come.

Sic 'em, President Starr!

Baylor sports ministry programs train tomorrow's athletic chaplains

Sports are great. Competition is great. Conference championships and national titles are great. But it can be easy to forget what -- who, really -- is greater than all that.

With that in mind, Baylor began by hiring a full-time athletic chaplain, Wes Yeary (BA '87), in 2008. Three years later, they took another step -- launching a complete program for training athletic chaplains at Truett Seminary. Graduates earn a full Master of Divinity degree with an emphasis in sports ministry; the goal is to prepare chaplains to be "a faithful presence of Christ in the culture of sport."

The idea of a program dedicated to sports ministry is pretty new to the United States, and Baylor's program remains one of just a handful nationwide. And while chaplains have often been looked at as the "rabbit's foot" of sports teams, the need they fill is very real. "The heavy emphasis on winning at any cost takes a real toll on people who have a God-given talent for sports," says Dr. John White, who heads Truett's sports chaplaincy/ministry program. "There are ethical problems in sports that most ministers don't think of... While you want to be a Good Samaritan, you also want to be a prophet bringing direction in a culture in which things have been mis-valued, devalued and overvalued."

Baylor's program has not gone unnoticed. White -- a former Athletes in Action staffer, top-level amateur bicyclist and sports chaplain for various colleges and Colorado's Olympic Training Center -- was recently was one of 100 scholars and practitioners from around the world invited to the Vatican for an international seminar on "Church and Sport." Pope Francis himself has met with numerous athletes and representatives around the world and, like White, sees sports as a platform through which Christian athletes can minister to their teammates, their fans, and, potentially, the world.

Closer to home, the Truett M.Div. program isn't the only option for Baylor students. Earlier this summer, about a dozen Baylor football and basketball players completed a course on sports ministry taught by John's wife, Cindy, an Athletes in Action staff member. And many more student-athletes completed this year's Ultimate Training Camp, which focuses on integrating faith into sports and reminding Christian athletes who they play for.

Sic 'em, Baylor chaplains and student-athletes!

Tickets on sale Wednesday for Homecoming, Family Weekend events

Get ready -- tickets for #BaylorHomecoming and #BaylorFamily Weekend events go on sale at 10 a.m. Wednesday.

Returning to Waco for Homecoming (Oct. 22-24)? Visit www.baylor.edu/homecoming/buy to get your tickets for Pigskin Revue and the Class Reunion Gatherings, hosted by the Baylor Alumni Network for those who graduated in 1970, 1975, 1980, 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005 and 2010. The university will also host the 50-year reunion celebration for the Class of 1965 and Heritage Club reunions for the classes of 1960, 1955, 1945, etc.

Joining your student(s) for Family Weekend (Sept. 18-19)? Visit www.baylor.edu/familyweekend/buy to register your attendance and order your tickets for After Dark, the annual student variety show, and a special Dinner at the Hippodrome. The full slate of weekend events also includes guided tours of campus, special lectures from Baylor professors, and a State of the University Address from President Ken Starr.

Single-game McLane Stadium tickets went on sale early this morning; as of 8:30 a.m., a limited number of seats remained for games against Iowa State (Homecoming), West Virginia, Rice and Lamar. Seats are also available for the 2015 Texas Farm Bureau Insurance Shootout vs. Texas Tech at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.

Sic 'em, Bears!

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