Baylor University

Baylor University is a private Baptist university in Waco, Texas. Chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas, Baylor University is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas, one of the first educational institutions west of the Mississippi River in the United States, and is one of the largest Baptist universities in the world. The university's 1,000-acre campus is located on the banks of the Brazos River next to freeway I-35, between the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and Austin. Baylor University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

Baylor University athletic teams, known as the Bears, participate in 19 intercollegiate sports. The university is a member of the Big 12 Conference for all NCAA Division I athletics

In 1841, 35 delegates to the Union Baptist Association meeting voted to adopt the suggestion of Rev. William Milton Tryon and R.E.B. Baylor to establish a Baptist university in Texas, then a self-declared republic still claimed by Mexico. 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 Judge R. E. B. Baylor.

More than 16,000 students study at Baylor University, representing all 50 states, the District of Columbia and approximately 89 foreign countries. The university clubs and organizations provide each student with an opportunity to become engaged with an organization that shares his or her interests. Baylor University has a total undergraduate enrollment of 13,859, with a gender distribution of 42 percent male students and 58 percent female students. At Baylor, 36 percent of students live in college-owned, -operated, or -affiliated housing and 64 percent of students live off campus.

Baylor's alma mater is "That Good Ol' Baylor Line." In 1906, a student penned humorous words to the tune of "In the Good Old Summer Time" and they became generally accepted among the student body as the school fight song. However, in 1931, Enid Eastland Markham, wife of music professor Robert Markham, felt the words were neither dignified enough nor representative of the total university, so she decided to write new lyrics, which were soon sanctioned as the official school song. The Good Old Summer Time tune was later arranged to fit Mrs. Markham's "Baylor Line" through the work of Jack Goode, Donald I. Moore and Charles F. Brown.


Graduates acclaimed for their work in the arts include Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Steven Stucky, GMA Dove Award-winning composer Bruce Greer, Grammy Award-winning Christian recording artist Phil Driscoll, Christian recording artist David Crowder, Grammy-winning Gaither Vocal Band tenor David Phelps, screenwriter and director John Lee Hancock (with works including The Blind Side, nominated for the 2009 Academy Award for Best Picture), screenwriter Derek Haas (with works including 3:10 to Yuma and Wanted, both nominated for multiple Academy Awards), Emmy Award-nominated director Kevin Reynolds, Emmy-winning actress Angela Kinsey (the character of Angela Martin in NBC's The Office), Emmy-nominated actress Allison Tolman, Tony Award-nominated actress Elizabeth A. Davis, actress Carole Cook (a protégé of Lucille Ball), stand-up comedian Jeff Dunham, up-and-coming actor Britain Simons, and The Silence of the Lambs writer Thomas Harris.

Also alumni of the university are Chip and Joanna Gaines, who graduated in 1998 and 2001 respectively. They are the stars of the HGTV show, Fixer Upper and are frequently involved in the Baylor community. 

Alumni known for leadership in the private and public sectors include People Magazine co-founder Hal C. Wingo, The Weather Channel CFO Jerry Elliott, American Airlines CEO Thomas W. Horton, Western Refining CEO Paul Foster, Allbritton Communications Company (the parent company of Politico) founder Joe Allbritton, XTO Energy CEO Bob R. Simpson, chairman of the McLane Group and former owner of the Houston Astros Drayton McLane, Jr., chairman of the Martin Organization and former PayPal executive Rod D. Martin, Oracle Corporation CEO Mark Hurd, former chairman and CEO of Stanford Financial Group Allen Stanford, EXUSMED CEO and founder of Empowering Spirits Foundation A. Latham Staples, former mayor of San Antonio Phil Hardberger, former Governor of Texas Ann Richards, former Federal Bureau of Investigation director William S. Sessions, and former US Ambassador to Sweden Lyndon Lowell Olson, Jr.

Professional athletes who graduated from the university include Cleveland Browns quarterback and 2011 Heisman Trophy-winner Robert Griffin III, Phoenix Mercury WNBA player Brittney Griner, four-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Johnson, and Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Ted Lyons.

Grammy–winning recording artist Willie Nelson, actor Austin Miller and Senator Rand Paul attended Baylor but did not receive degrees from the university. Former United States Vice President John Nance Garner (Franklin D. Roosevelt President) received an honorary doctor of laws degree from Baylor in 1936. Actor and comedian Bill Cosby received an honorary doctor of humane letters degree from the university in 2003,which was rescinded in 2015.