Running the Line is one of the most beloved traditions on Baylor’s campus — really in college sports. Every year, seniors get one last chance to welcome the Bears onto the field at the last home game. Don’t take that away, too.
This university is special because of two things: the Christian environment and the student experience. The life students get to live here is unparalleled. From the classes to the on-campus experience to the sports, there are so many reasons people fall in love with the school and the Waco community.
This fall — with a global pandemic threatening to tear everything apart — Baylor has chosen to cater to its freshmen. That makes sense. It’s their first year on campus, and they deserve as magical an experience as everyone else got to have. But they’re going to be here a while longer.
Graduation? Gone. Spring Break? Gone. Diadeloso? Well, that’s gone too. The best parts of the Baylor experience have already been taken away from seniors.
Freshmen will get another chance at all of these.
The last home game of their senior year is something students look forward to for over three years. It creates a lasting bond between the student and the school, and Baylor is risking that connection by taking away all that makes it so great.
So why not let the seniors run? Baylor has deemed it safe, so let the students who won’t have another chance to run, run.
Give sophomores next year the opportunity to run alongside the new freshmen. Or, if that’s not an option for whatever reason, let seniors run the line at other sporting events this year.
Imagine: 250 seniors stream out of the tunnel at Ferrell Stadium before a top-five matchup with Kansas. 100 men and women of Baylor about to graduate from their university, but before that, they get to sprint from the outfield at Baylor Ballpark all the way to the bleachers.
The best idea is bringing the tradition back to McLane for graduation. Every senior gets the chance to run the line in reverse — sprinting from the upper decks down to the student section, through the stairs and all the way to their seats.
Seniors just want their one chance. Every other class got it, and if they won’t have all the other wonderful traditions Baylor fosters, at least let them hold onto that one.
