Business students make their mark

Henderson senior Valerie Vaughn signs a beam in Jones Lobby that will be used in the Paul L. Foster Campus for Business and Innovation. Skye Duncan | Lariat Photographer
Henderson senior Valerie Vaughn signs a beam in Jones Lobby that will be used in the Paul L. Foster Campus for Business and Innovation.
Skye Duncan | Lariat Photographer

By Brooks Whitehurst
Reporter

Baylor business students are picking up permanent green markers and writing on school property, but they have permission.

The Hankamer School of Business’s student beam signing event today is the last chance for students to “make their mark.” The event will take place today from 2-4 p.m. in the Jones Lobby of the Cashion Academic Center.

This event allows students to permanently place their names on the frame of the coming Paul L. Foster Campus for Business and Innovation. Students can sign their name on a steel beam that will eventually be part of the building’s structure.

“We wanted everyone involved in Hankamer to have some way to be involved in this special process,” said Dusty Bedwell, senior director of development in the Hankamer School of Business. “This gives an opportunity for everyone to get involved.”

Bedwell said the beam is open to all undergraduate and graduate business students to sign.

This section is among several others that have been signed by faculty, staff and donors.

The sections will be bolted together Friday at a topping out ceremony for the Foster Campus.

Bedwell said he hopes the beam signing helps students feel connected to the new campus.

The new business building is scheduled to be finished in July 2015.

“Everybody likes to leave their mark in some way,” Bedwell said. “We thought this would be a cool way to allow people to do that.”

Mason, Ohio, sophomore Andrea Scholsser said she was prompted to sign the beam through Baylor’s social media.

“I wanted to come because I found out about the event on Baylor’s Instagram, and I can’t afford a brick,” Schlosser said. “I’m really excited for the Foster campus because it means I won’t really have to leave that area of campus.”

Pearland junior Shenbaga Shankar said she is excited to be able to use the Foster campus for one year, and she said she appreciates the opportunity to leave a legacy.

“I’m a transfer student, I know how much it means to leave your legacy,” Shankar said. “I travel a lot and my family taught me to leave my mark wherever I go, even if it’s only in a small way.”