By Lisa Asher, Associate Editor, Baylor Line, and Editor, Between the Lines

Baylor Line news editor Meg Cullar can sing the Baylor fight song without any advance notice–and she proved it last week by warbling it in my office, while a caller on the other end of my speaker phone took notes.

Believe it or not, that’s a pretty typical afternoon at the Baylor Alumni Association. To put Meg’s karaoke performance in proper perspective, you first have to understand the kinds of questions we get from alums, friends, and strangers alike.

Every day, we receive phone calls and e-mails from people who need a specific piece of information. Often, it’s a typical question: How do I update my contact information? Where can I get a replacement membership card? When is the next Baylor Homecoming?

But it’s the atypical questions that are the most interesting, sometimes frustrating, but always fun–at least in retrospect.

There are a whole range of questions and comments about things outside the BAA’s jurisdiction:

• Please do something about the lighting in the Ferrell Center.

• Where are the baby-changing stations on campus?

• Why is there so much dog poop at the Homecoming parade?

We always have a huge number of comments about Baylor football: Why aren’t we winning? When will we win? Who’s to blame for not winning?

And then there are the very specific sorts of queries. We once had an older alumnus call from the nursing home he was living in with a request that we pick him up. He didn’t want to go anywhere in particular, just away. One woman stopped by to ask if she could breast feed her baby in the alumni center, and we provided her with a place.

And then, of course, there was the fight song request, which actually came to us through an online mailbox the alumni association helps maintain for the university. I responded to the woman’s e-mail by saying she could call me and I’d be happy to do what I could. And then I promptly forgot about it.

So when the call came a few days later, I wasn’t really prepared. Actually, when the woman said “fight song,” I assumed she meant “That Good Ole Baylor Line”–and I can sing that pretty well, if I do say so myself. But the fight song–not so much.

The woman, we’ll call her Jane, explained that a friend was retiring from the school where they both worked, and since the retiree was a Baylor grad, the elementary school kids were going to sing the Baylor fight song while Jane pranced around in a bear costume. It wasn’t actually a brown bear costume, but they were going to try to pass it off as a Baylor Bear anyway.

The assembly was taking place the next day, Jane said, and she’d left messages with numerous people at Baylor, with no response. It was, literally, a song emergency.

So Meg came into my office and went through several choruses of the fight song, while Jane wrote down the lyrics and made sure she got the tune right. I asked Jane to send us pictures of the event–and you can be sure that when I get them, I’ll share them online.

So, if you’ve got questions, we’ll be happy to answer them. I’ll even give you my direct line: (254) 710-6434. But please understand that I can’t do anything about the football team–and I still don’t know the Baylor fight song.

By Meg Cullar, News Editor of the Baylor Line

It’s May, and as if end-of-school rituals weren’t enough to keep a person busy, it’s a very hectic time in the production cycle of the Baylor Line. But it’s also the most fun time to be the news editor of the Line, my job for the past fourteen years. Right now, I’m putting together the reporting for the stories for the summer issue’s news section.

That means I’m flitting all over campus, meeting new people, and learning new things about what’s going on. In the last three days, I’ve met half a dozen new people, had the opportunity to sit down and talk to people I’ve only met briefly before, and had long conversations with other people that I’ve known for years. Now what could possibly be more fun?

Two days ago, I sat down with Dr. Mary Ann Jordan, director of the newly revived master’s and principal certification program in the School of Education. I met her for the first time a few months ago when she invited me to be part of a program she was organizing. It was a day for local principals and administrators to be on the Baylor campus, and I was part of a panel discussion as the parent representative, since I’m the PTA president at Waco High School. When I had the opportunity to talk to her for a longer time, it was a delight to learn what motivated this long-time elementary school principal to come back to her alma mater to direct this program and to find out what she’s got planned for the Baylor master’s students.

I also needed a little bit of history about the master’s program, so I sat down with Dr. Robert Cloud for a few minutes. Dr. Cloud is on the Board of Directors of the alumni association and has been a friend to us in so many ways. But hearing him talk about the revival of this master’s program and what that means for the future in the School of Education was enlightening indeed.

Yesterday, I got to meet Dr. Gardner Campbell. He is new to Baylor, having arrived last September to direct the Academy for Teaching and Learning. Frankly, it was hard to keep up with the list of ongoing Baylor projects over which he’s now assumed leadership, not to mention the new programs he’s already got up and running or the projects that will be happening very soon. When just about anything having to do with teaching and learning comes up, he says, “OK, I’ll do that.” And he does. This morning, I went to a seminar he conducted at the request of just one person in the Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) Department. So now a whole group of faculty members in MFL knows how to incorporate “digital storytelling” into classroom curriculum.

Are you wondering what digital storytelling is? Do you want to know more about the School of Education’s revived master’s program? Well, you’ll have to wait until the beginning of July for the summer issue of the Baylor Line to arrive. We’ll also have stories in the news section about a sophomore who discovered a math concept, a new way to get a nursing degree, and the student literary magazine. Oh yes, and there will be something about monkeys.

And that lineup is just one section of the magazine. In addition, the Line will include fascinating feature stories, profiles of student athletes, alumni profiles, and the ever-popular “Down the Years” section to help you keep up with your classmates.

Not getting the Baylor Line? Perhaps your membership has lapsed. To sign up as a member of the Baylor Alumni Association, go to Membership, or you might miss out on all the fun.

By Judy Henderson Prather ‘73, DMin ‘02
BAA Communications Coordinator

On Saturday, we will present what is quite possibly my favorite of the alumni association’s awards–the Herbert H. Reynolds Retired Faculty-Administrators Award. Retired faculty members who are being honored include Drs. Robert Collmer (English), Elmer Duncan (Philosophy), Fred Gehlbach (Biology), and J. R. LeMaster (American Studies). The retired administrator’s award will go to Dr. Clif Williams, who retired as a vice president, but also taught psychology and leadership. Between the five recipients, they have given 171 years of service to Baylor.

The association presents nine different awards annually, and I enjoy watching each one as it progresses from nominations to selections, from the behind-the-scenes announcement of the recipients to the very public presentation of the award.

These awards recognize the diversity of the Baylor family. We recognize alumni, young and old. We recognize families who have passed their love of Baylor through the generations. We say thank you to individuals who have made outstanding humanitarian contributions, as well as distinguished church and public service. Though the recipients are often quite humbled by the awards they receive, as fellow alumni we have good reason to be proud of the difference they have made in the world.

On Saturday, as our association president, David Lacy, welcomes the Baylor retirees, he will no doubt acknowledge the contributions of each person there. And (since I wrote his suggested remarks) I’m fairly confident that he will say something like this: “Next weekend, for the first time, Baylor will have commencement services on both Friday and Saturday, and we will watch as a new crop of alumni march out of Ferrell Center–ready to fling their green and gold and make a difference in the world. But you–Baylor faculty and staff–you have stayed on after they left. Many of you have made important contributions in your writing and other works, but perhaps your greatest contributions are made through those students you touch…and change…and send out with a diploma and your blessing.”

I’m one of those whose life was touched and changed by some of those now-retired professors. It’s been more than thirty-five years since I sat at their feet and was sent out with their blessing. Some of my most loved professors have since passed on, with a few hardy folk still around. But, to me, those at the luncheon represent all faculty members, past and present, who have given their professional lives and love to students.

We hear a lot about what makes Baylor different. An extraordinarily beautiful campus, yes. Superb students and outstanding faculty, yes. Even an occasional sports championship. But what makes us different is less tangible than red brick buildings or a Big 12 trophy. What makes Baylor different is what one of my own special professors, Ann Miller, used to call “the spirit of the place.” She once wrote, “You will find an added dimension that makes it distinctively Baylor. A something that takes place here, that seems to hold past the years.”

I wish every alumnus and alumna could be at the luncheon on Saturday, but let me suggest this instead. When you finish reading this, stop a moment and reflect on the faculty who touched your life in this place, and say a grateful prayer for that “something” that has held past the years.