By Meredith Howard | Staff Writer
Baylor Kickoff Weekend, a new event-filled celebration of the school year’s first football game, took place from Thursday to Saturday and encouraged students to stay on campus and partake in the festivities.
This is the first year that Kickoff Weekend has been put on by Chamber of Commerce, replacing the previous Traditions Rally event normally occurring at the same time.
The weekend began with freshmen and seniors signing the Baylor Line and a Class of 2023 group photo. All freshmen were encouraged to wear their Baylor Line jerseys to the event.
Athens senior True Head, who chaired Kickoff Weekend, sees the Baylor Line signing as a way for the weekend to incorporate an important Baylor tradition.
“At Baylor, we’re really ingrained in our traditions,” Head said. “Tradition is something that is very important here as compared to other schools, and it’s such an old university— the Baylor Line is something that everyone feels a part of.”
Other events over the weekend included a replaying of the 2018 Texas Bowl at McLane Stadium, a chili cook off and the football game against Stephen F. Austin.
Although Baylor’s Kickoff Weekend promotions were designed to encourage students to stay in Waco over Labor Day weekend, others decided to go out of town to explore other areas.
One of these students was Joplin, Mo., freshman Davin Ducre, who decided to take an adventure to Austin with some of his friends on Sunday.
Ducre visited the “really beautiful” Texas Capitol along with other restaurants and shops, and he said that he enjoyed experiencing the diverse city community and exploring downtown.
Ducre said one cultural scene he enjoyed in Austin that he may not see as much of in his hometown was the graffiti.
“It’s not vandalism—it’s art. It’s beauty, and it’s great,” Ducre said.
Ducre said his Austin trip was spontaneous, and that he’d like to have more time to visit next time.
“It was so neat and incredible, but you can’t see everything in a day so I need to go back…Austin is definitely a destination,” Ducre said.
For students who stayed on campus, Baylor’s Kickoff Weekend was offered as a way to enjoy the football game along with other events over several days.
Similar experiences coming up include Family Weekend on Sept. 13 and 14 and Homecoming on Oct. 10-12.
