By Emily Cousins | Staff Writer
New talking points about the Commission on Historic Campus Representatives were introduced to the Baylor tour guides last week during a staff meeting.
Bullard junior and Baylor Experience and Admissions Representative Katy Dulany said she was one of the people who presented the talking points to the tour guides.
“We have monthly meetings at our job, and sometimes we’ll provide different talking points on different areas, like if people have questions about anything, and just kind of keeping everyone up to date with things that are going on on campus,” Dulany said. “So we were giving a presentation over talking points on the historic commission report that people could include on their tours. Also, if they had questions about anything, just wanting people to be educated about the report. So we presented over that, and just some general advice on having those types of conversations and why it’s important to include that in the tours.”
Dulany said talking points are not required parts of the tour script but helpful responses to questions. She said they highly encouraged all tour guides to read the full report and include the talking points during tours.
Cypress senior and tour guide Kailey Kolb said the meeting covered the bullet points of the commission’s report and many options for responses to questions and facts about various Baylor landmarks,
Kolb said one way they could acknowledge the report was the following:
“Baylor currently has the challenge of reconciling parts of our history that we are ashamed of with the current Baylor that we love to build a Baylor that we can be proud of. There is no better place or time to having these discussions than right now and right here.”
Soon, visitors will see new landmarks on campus due to changes recommended by the historic commission. One of these changes will be the statues that will be crafted of Baylor’s first Black graduates, Rev. Robert Gilbert and Barbara Walker, which will be installed outside the Tidwell Bible Building.
Dulany said many of the tour guides at the staff meeting were supportive and excited about the new talking points.
“I’ve had people even after telling me that they started incorporating things and just feel more able and confident to talk about those things on tours,” Dulany said. “So I think overall, it was received really well.”
