Baylor University: Difference between revisions
University in Waco, Texas, US
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| Motto | Pro Ecclesia, Pro Texana (Latin) |
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Motto in English |
“For Church, For Texas” |
| Type | Private research university |
| Established | February 1, 1845 |
| Accreditation | SACS |
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Religious affiliation |
Baptist General Convention of Texas |
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Academic affiliations |
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| Endowment | $1.97 billion (2022)[1] |
| President | Linda Livingstone |
| Provost | Nancy Brickhouse |
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Administrative staff |
1,385[2] |
| Students | 20,626 (Fall 2021)[2] |
| Undergraduates | 15,191 (Fall 2021)[2] |
| Postgraduates | 5,435 (Fall 2021)[2] |
| Location | , ,
United States |
| Campus | Midsize city,[3] 1,000 acres (4.0 km2) |
| Newspaper | The Baylor Lariat |
| Colors | Green and Gold [4] |
| Nickname | Bears |
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Sporting affiliations |
NCAA Division I FBS – Big 12 |
| Mascot | |
| Website | www |
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Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the first educational institutions west of the Mississippi River in the United States. Located on the banks of the Brazos River next to I-35, between the Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex and Austin, the university’s 1,000-acre (400-hectare) campus is the largest Baptist university in the world.[5]
As of fall, 2021, Baylor had a total enrollment of 20,626 (undergraduate 15,191, graduate 5,435). It is classified among “R1: Doctoral Universities – Very High Research Activity”.[6] The university grants undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional degrees. Baylor University’s athletic teams, known as the Bears, participate in 19 intercollegiate sports. The university is a member of the Big 12 Conference in NCAA Division I.
History[edit]
In 1841, 35 delegates to the Union Baptist Association meeting voted to adopt the suggestion of the Rev. William Milton Tryon and R. E. B. Baylor to establish a Baptist university in Texas, then an independent republic. Baylor, a Texas district judge and onetime U.S. Congressman and soldier from Alabama, became the school’s namesake. Some at first wished to name the new university “San Jacinto” to recognize the victory which enabled the Texans to become an independent nation, then before the final vote of the Congress, the petitioners requested the university be named in honor of Baylor.
In fall 1844, the Texas Baptist Education Society petitioned the Congress of the Republic of Texas to charter a Baptist university. Republic President Anson Jones signed the Act of Congress on February 1, 1845, officially establishing Baylor University. The founders built the original university campus in Independence, Texas. The Rev. James Huckins, the first Southern Baptist missionary to Texas, was Baylor’s first full-time fundraiser. He is considered the third founding father of the university. Although these three men are credited as being the founders of the university, many others worked to see the first university established in Texas and thus they were awarded Baylor’s Founders Medal.[7] The noted Texas revolutionary war leader and hero Sam Houston gave the first $5,000 donation to start the university. In 1854, Houston was also baptized by the Rev. Rufus Columbus Burleson, future Baylor president, in the Brazos River.[8]
During the 1846 school year Baylor leaders would begin including chapel as part of the Baylor educational experience. The tradition continues today and has been a part of the life of students for over 160 years. In 1849, R. E. B. Baylor and Abner S. Lipscomb of the Texas Supreme Court began teaching classes in the “science of law,” making Baylor the first in Texas and the second university west of the Mississippi to teach law. During this time Stephen Decatur Rowe would earn the first degree awarded by Baylor. He would be followed by the first female graduate, Mary Kavanaugh Gentry, in 1855.
In 1851, Baylor’s second president, Rufus Columbus Burleson, decided to separate the students by gender, making the Baylor Female College an independent and separate institution. Baylor University became an all-male institution. During this time, Baylor thrived as the only university west of the Mississippi offering instruction in law, mathematics, and medicine. At the time a Baylor education cost around $8–$15 per term for tuition. And many of the early leaders of the Republic of Texas, such as Sam Houston, would later send their children to Baylor to be educated. Some of those early students were Temple Lea Houston, son of President Sam Houston, a famous western gun-fighter and attorney; and Lawrence Sullivan “Sul” Ross famous Confederate general and later President of Texas A&M University.
For the first half of the American…