By Cassidy Pate | Reporter
From the moment my mother carried me into my first Baylor basketball game, I was hooked. Though I wasn’t even a year old, the institution called out to me. My father was the athletic trainer for the men’s basketball team at the time, so a trip to the Ferrell Center was a night on the town for my family. My Baylor onesie said it all: Baylor was my destiny.
Nevertheless, throughout the years I had my doubts that Baylor would be my forever home. I mean, who could blame me when I was a grouchy toddler trying to nap in the bleachers of Floyd Casey Stadium? And do not get me started on those smelly basketball players who felt it necessary to high-five my shy little self after beating Kansas. How could I possibly be drawn to such a thing? Well, here I am, 20 years later, raving about the school that has never left my side.
This may sound like an admissions letter, but I can guarantee that as a junior at Baylor University, concerns have become more prevalent following my acceptance. Right now Baylor is reinventing itself after a few difficult situations, such as Title IX sexual assault issues and transitions in presidents. The Baylor that I grew up supporting has become a hot topic for all of the wrong reasons.
Toward the end of my freshman year at Baylor, every headline gave the university a negative connotation. Me, being the optimistic girl that I have always been, believed all of the rumors to be simply rumors and that Baylor’s integrity would remain steadfast. To my dismay, however, the truth was released, and it was nothing but shameful. With this, my faith in my beloved university began to fade.
I am not one to voice my personal opinion in public, but to say that I was disappointed was an understatement. While I knew the institution of Baylor would never be lost on me, I knew things would be different from that point on. As the sexual assault cases continued to pop up one by one, the news only shared the headlines that pulled Baylor down. I found myself doubting what I had always known. Baylor was a part of me, but how could I support it with all the negative light?
Well, it’s simple. We’ll march forever down the years, as long as stars shall shine. Baylor we are, and Baylor we will always be. Despite some poor decisions, the university and its standards have remained intact for me. Those standards being a scholastic environment centered on the students and a campus that embodies Christ with an eagerness to learn and a student body that supports one another. These values still exist, but we have to know where to find them.
To say that Baylor is suffering is true, in a sense, yet there are more gains than losses in terms of academic integrity and spiritual growth. Baylor we are, and Baylor we will always be. This is for the forever Bears. Thank you for creating the playground of my past, my current study hall and my future alumni foundation.
