Every year in March, students all across the nation are rewarded for their hard work with a week-long vacation. At Baylor, students receive the week of  March 8 for Spring Break. Before packing up their cars and heading out of town, students were asked, “What are you doing for Spring Break?” Here’s what they said:

Colton Canava

Senior

Graphic design

Wichita Falls, Texas

“For spring break I’m going to Venice with my art history class for an upper level introduction to 19th century European art and Venice Culture. I’m looking forward to all the museums and architecture. I’m a nerd.”

Tim Sullivan

Senior

Mechanical Engineering

Fort Worth, Texas

“I’m going to go home because over the summer I’m not going to get to see my family; I’ll be away from them. So it’ll be a good time to spend time with them.” At the beginning of the summer I’ll be in Rwanda in Africa on a mission trip and then the rest of the summer I’ll be in Austin doing an internship.”

Emily Childs

Senior

English

Dallas, Texas

“I’m going to stay in Waco. I have a lot of papers to write but I’ll go out to eat and watch a movie, probably. I guess the freedom of not having a set schedule: wake up when I want, sleep in if I want to, get around to homework when I want, not having it due at 9 o’clock.”

Ericka Williams

Freshman

Psychology

“I’m going home to work for the first part and the second part I’ll be going to Houston with my brother.”

Branden Ratliff

Sophomore

Psychology

Stephenville, Texas

“I’m going to Florida with some friends. It’s called Perdido Key it’s right over the Alabama state line. I’m looking forward to getting away from school and sleeping.”

Tennessee Gist

Sophomore

Interior Design

The Woodlands, Texas

“I’m going home. [Excited about] Not having to do any school work, I’m just going to be with my family. I get to see my older siblings because they live in the area.”

Giovanna Reed

Senior

Business Music and Entertainment Marketing

Carmichael, Calif.

“I’m going to Sacramento, California to plan my wedding. (July 17th) I have a lot of family over there.”

Michael Youngblood

Freshman

Psychology

Allen, Texas

“I’m going home then going to Austin to visit my brother all his friends. I get to see my baby nephew—he’s like nine months old.”

On Tuesday, February 23, Waco received up to four inches of snow. At Baylor, students were released early and enjoyed the entire day building snowmen and dodging snowballs. For a complete look at the alumni association’s snow day pictures, please visit our Facebook page.

If you have snow day pictures you would like to share with us, please contact our communications coordinator at: Julie@BaylorAlumniAssociation.com

Helen Witten Cole ’47, passed away on Friday, February 12 at Providence Hospital in Waco. She was 84. A 20-year resident of Alexandria, La., she was a school teacher and a Red Cross safety instructor, and she taught Sunday school. After returning to Waco in 1977, she was an active member of Seventh and James Baptist Church and the Baylor Alumni Association, and she was a Midway ISD mentor and a member of Kappa Alpha Theta. Preceded in death by one granddaughter, she is survived by her husband of 60 years, Dr. James F. Cole, former executive director of the alumni association; one daughter, Carolyn Cole Meyer ’77; and four grandchildren, Mike Meyer, MBA ’98, Cole Bucy ’02, Brady Meyer, MBA ’03, and Jason Bucy.

Memorial services will be held at 2 p.m. Monday, February 15, at Seventh and James Baptist Church. The family requests that memorials be given to the Baylor Alumni Association, Herbert H. Reynolds Endowment Fund, One Bear Place #97116, Waco, TX 76798-7116.

BAA Welcomes New Baylor President

On Monday, February 15, in communications emailed to faculty, staff, students, and alumni, Baylor University announced that Kenneth W. Starr has been named the institution’s fourteenth president. He will be introduced to the Baylor family at a press conference at 3 p.m., Tuesday, February 16, in the Bill Daniel Student Center’s Barfield Drawing Room.

Starr, sixty-three, has served as a professor of law and dean of Pepperdine University’s School of Law in Malibu, California, since April 2004. He is also of counsel to Kirkland & Ellis LLP, a law firm where he was a partner for eleven years. Born in Vernon, Texas, Starr earned a bachelor of arts degree from George Washington University in 1968, a master of arts degree from Brown University in 1969, and a law degree from Duke University in 1973.

“First and foremost, I want to extend a welcome back to Texas from the Baylor Alumni Association to Mr. Starr and his family and to thank the presidential search committee, the advisory committee, and everyone else involved for their work,” said Jeff Kilgore, executive vice president and CEO of the Baylor Alumni Association (BAA). “Throughout the listening sessions held by regents to initiate this search process, we heard alumni agree upon a number of traits that they were looking for in a new president, including servant leadership, transparency, and a collaborative, consensus-building approach, and I look forward to working with and helping President Starr to the fullest possible extent.”

Starr has had a long and notable career in public service, the law, and higher education. He was U.S. Solicitor General from 1989 to 1993, during which he argued more than two dozen cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. In 1994, he was appointed as Independent Counsel to investigate U.S. President Bill Clinton, a position in which he became a nationally prominent figure. After a wide-ranging investigation, his report was released in 1998 and led to Clinton’s impeachment.

Starr previously was a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, serving from 1983 to 1989, and was counselor to U.S. Attorney General William French Smith from 1981 to 1983. Following his graduation from law school, he was a law clerk for U.S. Circuit Judge David W. Dyer of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit from 1973 to 1974 and for Chief Justice Warren Burger of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1975 to 1977.

The author of numerous law review articles and the book First Among Equals: The Supreme Court in American Life, Starr taught constitutional law for twelve years as an adjunct professor at New York University School of Law and has been a distinguished visiting professor at George Mason University School of Law and Chapman Law School in Orange, California. He is admitted to practice in California, Virginia, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Supreme Court.

A fifth-generation Texan, Starr was raised in Centerville and San Antonio, where he graduated from Sam Houston High School in 1964. His father was a Church of Christ minister, and the first two years of Starr’s undergraduate studies were spent at Harding College (now Harding University), an Arkansas institution associated with the Churches of Christ. Starr has indicated that he will join a Baptist church in Waco as he assumes the leadership post at Baylor. He will take office as Baylor’s president on June 1, 2010.

Kilgore said the BAA is grateful to the Baylor Board of Regents for including Tom Phillips, former chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court and current BAA board member, in the presidential search process. “Ken Starr has shown the intellect, patience, eloquence, humility, and integrity to be a transformative leader of the world’s largest Baptist university,” Phillips said. “His unique gifts match Baylor’s need to unite all parts of the Baylor family in a renewed dedication to provide a world-class education at a faith-based institution of higher education.”

Emily Tinsley, president of the BAA for 2010, said, “Congratulations to the Board of Regents on their unanimous appointment of an outstanding new president for Baylor University. We pledge our continued support of our new president to the benefit of Baylor. It is critical that Ken Starr be a president around whom the Baylor family can unite and work together to assure that Baylor’s best days are ahead of her. We are very encouraged to hear so many positive affirmations of Ken Starr’s personal and professional leadership skills and of the respect those who have worked with him in the past have for him.”

The Baylor Alumni Association welcomes your input as members. If you would like to comment on this news, you may do so by e-mailing the BAA at BaylorLine@BaylorAlumniAssociation.com. Your response will be considered for publication unless you indicate otherwise.

Congratulations to Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints! The BAA is proud to have ties to this year’s Super Bowl winners—Amy Hightower Brees ‘79 (Drew’s stepmom) is on the 2010 BAA Board of Directors. Best wishes to Drew, Amy, and the entire Brees family. Sic ‘Em Saints!

Check out Drew Breese and the 2010 Super Bowl by visiting these sites:

NFL website

ESPN website

New Orleans Saint’s website

Interview with Drew after game

Drew Brees Super Bowl highlights

Super Bowl commercials

Drew Brees commercial

Drew Brees bio

For biographical stories on each recipient, see the Baylor Line story Honoring Achievement.

Click here to see photos from the 2010 banquet and reception.

On Friday, January 15, 2010, at 7 p.m., the Baylor Alumni Association bestowed the Distinguished Alumni Award upon four Baylor graduates — Dr. James Kroll, Dr. Rebekah Ann Naylor, Bob R. Simpson, and Robert C. Zamora — at a black-tie banquet in the Cashion Academic Center on the Baylor University campus. A reception prior to the banquet started at 6 p.m. Presented annually since 1965, the prestigious award honors Baylor graduates whose records of service have merited the honor and acclaim of peers and colleagues.

Dr. James C. Kroll is director of the Columbia Regional Geospatial Service Center and the Henry M. Rockwell Professor of Forestry at Stephen F. Austin State University. He earned two degrees from Baylor, a BA in 1969 and a MS in 1970. Kroll, widely known as “Dr. Deer,” is a regular contributor to the Sportsman’s Channel, the Men’s Channel, and to Texas Hunter’s and North American Whitetail magazines.

For the past few decades, Kroll has focused on creating and implementing the Forest Resources Institute (FRI), which aimed to gather information about forestry, forest research, and wildlife using geospatial technology. But his vision stretched much farther than animals and forestry — in February 2003, Kroll used geospatial technology to map the debris from the Columbia space shuttle that literally fell over his house. Kroll’s technology is widely used today in mapping features on the surface of the earth.

Dr. Rebekah Ann Naylor is a surgeon at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Fort Worth and a former medical missionary in Bangalore, India. She graduated from Baylor in 1964 and later became the first woman to graduate from the surgical program at UT Southwestern Medical School.

Naylor has always had a passion for helping those in need. In the 1970s, she traveled to Bangalore, India, where she served as a medical missionary for twenty-eight years in the Bangalore Baptist Hospital. In 2002 she returned to Fort Worth, becoming the director of student education in the department of surgery, as well as a professor and mentor, at UT Southwestern Medical Center. This year Naylor continues her service as a caregiver, as she returns to the Baptist Global Response as a health care consultant.

Bob Simpson is chair and co-founder of XTO Energy Inc., a nationally recognized company in Fort Worth. He graduated from Baylor in 1970 and earned a master’s degree in 1971. Simpson found a passion for the business world at an early age, working his way up the ladder at corporate giants such as Merrill Lynch, Arthur Andersen, and Southland Royalty Company.

In 1985, Simpson co-founded the small, seven-member Cross Timbers Oil Company, later renamed XTO Energy, with the premise of acquiring oil and gas production and hiring good people. XTO Energy now has twenty-four hundred employees nationwide and was recently sold to Exxon Mobil in an all-stock deal for $31 billion. Simpson continues to serve his community as co-chair of various events through the Careity Foundation.

Robert C. Zamora is a retired superintendent of South San Antonio ISD. A 1965 graduate of Baylor, Zamora overcame many challenges throughout life. As the son of non-English-speaking migrant workers, Zamora’s education was important, but not deliberate. His passion and talent resided in sports: a basketball player, an all-state baseball player, and even a lead pitcher as a freshman in high school.

Zamora had no intention of going to college, but he was recruited by Baylor’s baseball and basketball teams. Athletics carried him through graduation and even led him into another academic arena, coaching at his alma mater, South San Antonio High School. He found his way into educational administration, eventually being named superintendent. Zamora retired in 2002 and continues to serve as an advisor to South San ISD as associate superintendent.

These distinguished alumni were introduced by special friends at the banquet. Dr. Sydney Kroll Register, clinical psychologist at the Veterans Affaris Medical Center in Waco, gave the introduction for Dr. James C. Kroll, and Dr. O. S. Hawkins, president and CEO of GuideStone Financial Resources and former pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas, introduced Dr. Rebekah Ann Naylor. Bob R. Simpson was introduced by Dr. Lane G. Collins, retired professor emeritus of accounting at Baylor. E. E. “Dutch” Schroeder, former Baylor baseball coach, introduced Robert C. Zamora.

To nominate someone for the Distinguished Alumni Award — or for one of the other awards given annually by the Baylor Alumni Association — go to Alumni Awards.

The Winter 2010 issue of the Baylor Line is now available on the Baylor Alumni Association (BAA) website. With a cover story, What Am I Doing Here?, by 2008 graduate and Peace Corps volunteer Claire St. Amant, the issue is full of great stories about alumni who are changing the world.

Also included are profiles of the 2010 recipients of the Distinguished Alumni Awards, which will be presented on January 15. To read about these four amazing graduates, go to Honoring Achievement.

Readers might also be interested in the Special Report that details the events of the fall 2009 regarding Baylor University’s merger proposal to the BAA, the subsequent withdrawal of that proposal by the university, a summary of public response received by the BAA, and expert opinions on the issue from academic and alumni leaders.

Of course the issue includes all the regular features and sections—Around the Quad, Sports Report, BAA News, Under Review, A Look Back, and Down the Years.

The magazine was mailed to BAA members on January 6. If you are a member and do not receive your copy in a timely manner, please contact the BAA at 1-888-710-1859.

Being a member of the BAA is the way to get a hard copy of the magazine and to be able to read the Down the Years class notes section. If you are not a member and would like to join, you may do so online at Membership. Or give the BAA a call at 1-888-710-1859.

To see a photo gallery from the luncheon, go to Award Gallery.

By Meg Cullar

About a hundred people gathered at the Hughes-Dillard Alumni Center on Saturday, December 19, to celebrate the accomplishments of two impressive alumni. Family, friends, and Baylor supporters attended a luncheon to honor Melissa Rogers ’88 with the McCall Religious Liberty Award and Kirk Watson ’80, JD ’81, with the Price Daniel Public Service Award.

In her comments to the crowd, Rogers said, “For a lawyer who is a Baylor graduate to receive an award in Abner McCall’s name is just an unbelievable honor.”

Rogers is the director of Wake Forest University Divinity School’s Center for Religion and Public Affairs and as a nonresident senior fellow within the Governance Program of The Brookings Institution.

“I do not consider myself in the company of previous recipients—such as James Dunn and Ed Gaustad,” she added. “I consider this a time of inspiration and a goad to try to carry the torch of religious liberty as ably as they did and do.”

In receiving the Price Daniel Public Service Award, Watson said, “It means a great deal to me to receive an award from the Baylor Alumni Association. So much of what any of us has accomplished is a result of what happened to us on this campus.”

Watson recalled a conversation he had while a Baylor student with his father. Watson wanted to ask his father about finding a “calling,” and his father’s advice came from Romans 12: to find his gifts and use them for the greater good. After choosing a life of service and receiving this honor for public service, Watson said, “I promise I will recommit to my father’s admonition.”

Watson, the former mayor of Austin, is now the Texas state senator for District 14.

Public officials in attendance included Federal Judge Priscilla Owen, former Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Tom Phillips, McLennan County Judge Jim Lewis, State Representative Doc Anderson (District 56), 133rd District Judge Jaclanel McFarland, and Waco Mayor Virginia DuPuy.

By Claire Moncla

The holidays are about spending time with family and staying connected. And one way to connect with the Baylor family is to support the Baylor Alumni Association, an organization dedicated to keeping the Baylor family fully informed, engaged, and connected.

If you become a member—or just give an additional annual gift if you are already a member—the association will return a gift back to you next April 15. Your membership is important to us. Just this November, we received $149,179, the largest membership revenue total for a single month in the history of the BAA. Your membership also supports this monthly newsletter and allows the association to print and mail the Baylor Line.

But membership also benefits you. Besides supporting your alma mater and keeping in touch with alumni, it can also help you out at tax time. “One hundred percent of gifts and membership dues are tax deductable,” said Chad Wooten, director of finance and operations. If you are seventy-and-a-half years old or older, the recently extended IRA Charitable Rollover allows you to direct charitable transfers of up to $100,000 for an IRA to an approved charitable organization like the BAA, while excluding the transfer from taxable income. This rollover is available for 2009, and these direct transfers can be used for membership or as a gift to the association’s Sesquicentennial Endowment. For more information, contact Wooten at chad@BaylorAlumniAssociation.com or (254) 710-6428.

Also if you are already a member and would like to support the BAA in other ways, we would love for you to consider taking your membership to the next level as an annual giver at the bronze ($100-$249), silver ($250-$499), or gold ($500-$999) member, or as a member of the Torchbearers Society ($1,000 and up).

A strong foundation of members is vital to the future of the association—which directs programs like Homecoming reunions, Heritage Club, alumni awards, and student scholarships—and to the future of Baylor, which depends on the love and support of its alumni. What better way to end the BBA’s Sesquicentennial year, than by giving?

To join or give a gift, go to our secure online form. Checks to the BAA must be dated on or before December 31 in order for them to be considered a charitable donation for 2009.

By Lisa Asher

Want to share photos of your Christmas festivities?! To have them and other favorites included in next month’s family album, e-mail Lisa@BaylorAlumniAssociation.com.

TUTU CUTE: With her green-and-gold tutu, Sophie Lanier Dill is already a fashion maven. Born on June 10, Sophie is the daughter of Luke ‘05 and Amber Nix Dill ‘04. Here the family is enjoying Homecoming weekend in October. Amber can be reached at amber.dill@hotmail.com.

CLASS ACT: Baylor student body president Jordan Hannah (center) was excited to receive his official Baylor Class Ring at the Baylor Alumni Association ring ceremony on December 1. In addition to posing for a photo with BAA executive vice president and CEO Jeff Kilgore (left) and Baylor interim president David Garland (right), ring recipients were treated to a talk by Vince Clark ‘83, JD ‘85, MA ‘91, who explains the meaning of the symbols shown on the class rings.

THE ACTING BUG: In September, Preston ‘68 and Ronda Dale Kirk ‘68 portrayed Roy and Norma Hubley in Neil Simon’s classic comedy Plaza Suite at the Hill Country Community Theatre in Marble Falls. Since then, Ronda has completed a speaking role in Sodom: The Prophecy Armageddon, her first Screen Actors Guild (SAG) contract. Preston is getting a SAG contract for a speaking role in Under The Western Sun, expected to shoot in the spring. Both also worked on episode seven of the TV show Friday Night Lights, which will air on NBC in early 2010. Their acting avocation has landed each of them in more than twenty films since 2003, from background and extras to supporting and lead roles. This fall, they appeared in a scene with Robert DeNiro for the upcoming Robert Rodriguez grindhouse flick Machete. They have both appeared in national commercials and between them have appeared in more than twenty-five stage productions on seven different stages. [kirk@tstar.net]

THE ADAMS FAMILY: On October 18, Austin ‘03 and Tiffany Mathews Adams ‘03 welcomed a son, Mathew Scott. As you can see, he has already mastered the bear claw at an early age! The family lives in Orlando, Florida, and their e-mail is tiff_adams@yahoo.com.

NEWS WORTHY: With coverage in both the New York Times and the Washington Post, last September’s wedding of Kaja Snell ‘98 and Daniel Meade Jr. was the event of the season. Bears making the scene included (left to right): Tim Pewett ‘97 and his wife, Ginnie; Aron Watman ‘00; Tina Gonzalez Spires ‘99; the bride and groom; Russell Sullivan ‘83; Sarah Cole ‘98; Christian Snell ‘01; and Steve Shaffer ‘98, MA ‘00. The wedding took place in Washington, D.C., where Kaja was a senior lobbyist for the Alliance for Retired Americans. They now live in Manhattan, where Dan is a vice president at CP Eaton Partners, and Kaja says she is looking for a job. She gets e-mail at k_snell@hotmail.com.