The Baylor Line

09/05/2026

POV: your entire closet is 90% Baylor merch and 10% “I guess I own other clothes”🐻💛👕

09/04/2026

Did you know quidditch — the fictional sport from Harry Potter — is also a real sport played at more than 100 colleges across the country, including right here at Baylor?
Cyrus Sellers discovered Baylor Club Quadball at Late Night during his freshman year and has been hooked ever since, now serving as the team's president. The sport, officially renamed quadball in 2022, blends elements of rugby, dodgeball, and tag, with players running the field with brooms between their legs.
Baylor's team practices two to three times a week and travels to tournaments across the state and country — all while building the kind of close-knit community Sellers, a Navy veteran, says he was looking for when he arrived on campus. Read here: http://baylorline.com/baylor-club-quadball/

09/03/2026

When university life feels busy, sometimes all a student wants is to break outside of the Baylor bubble and be in nature. That is exactly what Cameron Park has been offering students just two miles down the road since its dedication in 1910.

Today, Baylor students utilize the park as a living laboratory.

At the turn of the 20th century, prominent Waco citizens began petitioning for more public parks. Proctor Springs, a 100-acre tract of land, was considered a potential option, but then it was sold to a local businessman. Wacoans were sad to see the land go but then discovered that the deed had actually been purchased by Mrs. Flora B. Cameron and her three children, with the businessman acting as her emissary.

Cameron donated the land to the City of Waco and, in honor of her late husband, asked that it be turned into a public park. On the day of the park’s dedication, over 12,000 people gathered, and many notable figures made speeches, including then-Baylor President Samuel Palmer Brooks and soon-to-be Texas Gov. Pat Neff.

Over the years, the park would expand, and the Cameron family remained invested in its continued growth. From the 1920s through the 60s, it was considered a haven for Waco families.

But things changed nearing the end of the 60s. There was controversy over the construction of a bridge at Herring Avenue. While the bridge provided East Wacoans with park access and helped alleviate traffic, many thought it altered the park’s character and integrity. Alongside the new bridge, budget cuts made it difficult to maintain the park’s pristine condition. There was also an uptick in crime.

Hoping to change public perception of the park, W. R. Poage donated $100,000 for a wildflower preserve next to the Cameron Park Clubhouse. A Park Ranger program was launched to ensure the park’s security. The Junior League of Waco pledged $50,000 for a new playground. Voters approved a $9.6 million bond issue to relocate the Waco Zoo to Cameron Park. Just like that, the Park was back on track. Today, it remains a popular spot for Baylor students and Wacoans to pause, slow down, and reset in nature.

Baylor researchers “completed the first-ever comprehensive study of Cameron Park, analyzing the settlement patterns of the area and studying in-depth how the vegetative species have changed.

09/02/2026

Do you remember when the Rosenbalm Fountain was being built? 💛
Back in spring 2015, construction fences split campus in half for months, turning a quick walk to class into a much longer trek. It's hard to imagine Fountain Mall without it now.
Read the full alumni diary about it here:
https://baylorline.com/alumni-diaries/the-bear-lin-wall/

08/30/2026

When war breaks out, what's the role of a university? That's the question Baylor faculty and students grappled with in this piece from just after the Gulf War began in January 1991.
From history professors drawing parallels to the Crusades, to literature scholars turning to War and Peace and Walt Whitman to help students process what they were seeing on the news, faculty across disciplines wrestled with how — and whether — to bring the headlines into the classroom.
"The university should enable people to think more clearly always," said philosophy professor Dr. Robert Baird, "and, in wartime, that need to do so comes more into focus."
A thoughtful look back at how Baylor's academic community responded when the world outside the classroom suddenly felt very close. 💚💛
🔗Read here:

Far from the front, the university can play an important role in illuminating the darkness of war by sharing information and prepping pupils.

08/29/2026

Fall semester is packed with reasons to be excited — football season kicking off, Homecoming festivities, the bonfire, and all the traditions that make Baylor feel like Baylor.
What are you looking forward to most this fall?
🍁💛
Photos courtesy of The Roundup, 1995 + 2019

08/28/2026

Getting into medical school is one of the most competitive processes in higher education — but at Baylor, 70 to 75 percent of undergraduates who apply to medical school get accepted, nearly double the national average of 40 to 41 percent.
Baylor's Prehealth program supports eight healthcare tracks and goes beyond grades and test scores, weaving in medical humanities to build well-rounded, compassionate future healthcare providers. As Dr. Lauren Barron, Director of the Medical Humanities Program, puts it: "Medicine is closer to love than it is to science."
With research opportunities, mentorship programs, and even a study abroad option in Dublin, Baylor is preparing students for the road ahead — long before they ever set foot in a hospital.

Read here: http://baylorline.com/baylor-prehealth

08/28/2026

Dr. Christine Limbers, a professor of psychology at Baylor University, has been named to the Stanford-Elsevier "Top 2% Scientists" database two years running — placing her among the most-cited researchers in the world.
Her Pediatric Psychology Lab studies everything from maternal-child health to how sports impact young athletes' mental well-being. One recent study found that children with autism treated in a collaborative, patient-centered healthcare model had mothers who reported significantly less depressive symptoms and parenting stress.
As a former Division I tennis player herself, Limbers is especially passionate about her sports psychology research. "I think we have this notion that sports are always going to be positive, but what we've found in the lab is that it really depends on the experience the athlete has," she said.
Read here: baylorline.com/christine-limbers-pediatric-psychology-lab

08/27/2026

While Baylor’s 50th anniversary passed without much fanfare, its 75th could not have been more different. The Diamond Jubilee was an all-out celebration of all that Baylor had accomplished throughout its lifespan — and there truly was so much to celebrate. While the school started as essentially a small liberal arts college, by 1920 it had blossomed into a true university with multiple developing schools of education, business, music, law, graduate studies, and nursing.

It was former Baylor President Samuel Palmer Brooks who was adamant that the 75th anniversary was an occasion for celebration. He was, in fact, responsible for much of the University's recent growth and success at that point as president since 1902, so it was only fitting that he would want to celebrate.

The jubilee was scheduled from June 13-16, 1920. For three days, the Baylor campus hosted an abundance of sermons, meetings, theatrical productions, concerts, poetry readings, luncheons, receptions, and dinners. One such event, listed as a “Browning Benefit,” served as the occasion for the formal acceptance by Baylor of the famous bronze casting of the clasped hands of Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning currently housed in the Armstrong Browning Library.

The festivities culminated in a commencement ceremony held on June 16. After presenting all the degrees, Brooks impressively summoned 62 distinguished guests to the podium and proceeded to summarize their careers and accomplishments before the packed audience without any notes — and he didn't stumble over his words once.

The celebration, while exhausting, was also worthwhile. It was a reminder to every member of the Baylor family just how far they had come and a moment for President Brooks to reflect on all the time and effort he had poured into the school he loved so dearly.

08/26/2026

There's something special about an alumni ring. It's not just a piece of jewelry — it's a reminder of years of growth, friendships, and memories made on campus.
What does your ring remind you of? 🐻