Baylor University
Hallmarks and Quirks
Things I'm Good At:
- Football. It used to be that I was a bit of a joke when it came to football, but oh, how times have changed. I'm one of the top teams in the nation now. Take that, haters.
- I'm also great at basketball, especially my women's team. My lady bears dominate the court.
- Flexible learning. Seriously. I'm all about my students being well-rounded, and I even offer an honors program where my students can design their own major.
- Service. My students are great at helping out the community. There's always some sort of service project or fundraiser happening. Twice a year, we have Steppin' Out, our biggest service program. Collectively, my students put in over 12,000 hours of service…just on that one day.
- I'm big on traditions, and in my humble opinion, I have some of the best. There's our homecoming parade, All-University Sing, the Baylor Line, and Christmas on 5th, just to name a few.
My Top 5 Must-Haves:
- Laptop. Not only is it excellent for taking notes (or for playing solitaire in class), but it's also one of the only ways to get game tickets, or to know about the cool events happening on campus.
- Line Jersey. You just gotta have your Line Jersey. You won't be allowed to run the Baylor Line without it.
- Cowboy boots, for football games and those crazy nights of line dancing at Wild West.
- A boat (or at least a friend who has one) for our brand new tradition: sailgating.
- A love of Dr. Pepper. If you don't love Dr. Pepper, or at least Dr. Pepper floats, then what are you even doing in the Dr. Pepper capital? Oh, right, me.
Why You Might Have Heard of Me:
- Robert Griffin III and his Heisman Trophy, Baylor's first Heisman trophy winner who, with Art Briles, revitalized our football program and helped get us our brand spankin' new stadium.
- I'm home to Armstrong Browning Library, one of the top fifty most beautiful college libraries in the world, according to CampusGrotto. (It's also my most popular campus wedding spot.)
- My homecoming parade, which is the largest in the nation.
- Research, research, research—including research on whale earwax, cancer research, and the Waco Mammoth Site.
- Ever hear about the school with the no-dancing rule? Yeah, that was me. Don't worry, that ban was lifted in 1996. You can thank Kevin Bacon for that.
On a regular Saturday night, you can find me...
When not celebrating our latest sports victory, you can usually find me at one of the mixers or events that my Greek chapters regularly host. If there's nothing happening on campus, I'll don my cowboy boots and kick up my heels at Wild West, or check out the live music scene at Common Grounds.
Favorite Hangouts:
- Have a hankering for some coffee? Want to listen to some awesome live bands? Looking for a chill place to study? Check out Common Grounds, a super popular coffeehouse. Its seasonal drinks and Sleep Is Overrated drinks are especially worth having.
- Downtown Waco, while not big, is full of its own unique charms. Go visit Spice Village for some shopping and delicious food, or check out the Farmers Market every Saturday morning—not to mention the many delicious food trucks and the Waco suspension bridge.
- If you're on campus and you fancy a star-gaze, a cloud-watch, or an outdoor siesta, just grab a hammock. When the weather's good, my trees become ridden with student-sized hemp cocoons.
- I can't forget to mention two of the most popular food choices at Baylor: Chick-fil-a and George's. You aren't a real Baylor student unless you've eaten at both of those at least once a semester. Just sayin'.
Quirks:
- Who needs a mascot uniform when you can have live bears on campus? That's right, we have real, live, fuzzy wuzzy bears—two of them, in fact, who live in their nice, cozy bear habitat right in the middle of campus.
- Every school has its weird little traditions. Here, my students like to Frisbee-throw tortillas off the Waco suspension bridge onto a cement platform in the water. Legend has it that if you land your tortilla on the platform in your freshman year, you'll successfully graduate in four years. Now, don't worry. This type of littering for the birds.
- We're not above laughing at ourselves either. The Noze Brothers is our secret society of Fred and George Weasleys. They're present at pretty much all of my big events, always wearing silly wigs and nose glasses. Randomly throughout the year, you might find a statue's nose painted pink, courtesy of the Noze Brotherhood.
- Fun fact: I'm the oldest continuously operating university in Texas. I'm even older than the state itself.
Famous Alumni:
- Robert Griffin III, now playing with the Washington Redskins.
- Brittney Griner, member of the Phoenix Mercury basketball team.
- David Crowder Band.
- Angela Kinsey, an actress on The Office.
- John Lee Hancock, a director.
- Thomas Harris, novelist and screenwriter.
- Willie Nelson, the country singer.