By Kalena Reynolds | Reporter
Baylor Homecoming originated almost 114 years ago on Nov. 24, 1909. According to Elizabeth Rivera, university archivist of The Texas Collection, the tradition exists thanks to then-President Samuel Palmer Brooks, who created the nation’s oldest homecoming as a way to inspire the community and reunite alumni.
Rivera said the first homecoming was expected to have thousands of alumni in attendance. The Baylor Lariat helped advertise the event by sending out postcard invitations, which included the date, the faces of Rufus C. Burleson and William Carey Crane, former Baylor presidents, and the statement that “faculty and students desire your presence.”
“I think that’s a really powerful word choice — ‘desire your presence’ — because when you show up, you make a place better,” Rivera said. “You bring your story, and that’s what they’re requesting in 1909.”
According to Jeff Pirtle, director of The Texas Collection, the first homecoming featured concerts, a speech from the president, a soiree in Burleson Hall and more. The football game was hosted by Carroll Library on Carroll Field and had over 5,000 attendees.
“If you’ve ever seen early photographs of Baylor when they first moved to Waco in 1887, we’ve got photographs of the entire student body, and it looks like it’s maybe about 100 students on the high end,” Pirtle said.
The next Baylor Homecoming took place in 1915, and it officially became an annual event in 1934. At that point, its name was changed from “Good Will Week” to “Homecoming.”
The traditions that have withstood the test of time for every homecoming are the football game, the parade and alumni reunion parties. Rivera said Baylor utilized these traditions to help reconnect alumni while raising money for the school.
“At that time, Baylor did not have the same endowment and the same financial support that it has today,” Rivera said. “So one way to increase support is bringing back those people who have graduated — bringing home your alumni and welcoming them and getting them reinvested.”
In 1927, tragedy struck when 10 Baylor basketball players died on their way to compete against the Texas Longhorns after a train collided with their bus. Now known as the Immortal Ten, their loss inspired a homecoming tradition that is still recognized today. Since 1947, their story has been retold during the Freshman Mass Meeting, when the Eternal Flame is handed down to the incoming class to continue their legacy.
“They were the best of the best, you know — bright young prime of their youth,” Pirtle said. “It really became a calling cry to Baylor students to live the legacies of those lives as they continued to learn and take on new careers and start families and be part of their own communities and churches … having that spirit live on with them.”
Although Baylor is now known for its Greek Life, it originally had Latin Literary Societies on campus. The men’s societies included the Erisophian Literary Society and the Philomathesian Literary Society, while the women’s societies were the Calliopean Literary Society and the Rufus C. Burleson Society. Similar to modern sororities and fraternities, these societies held service, social and academic events, and they were celebrated during homecoming, where they created floats for the parade.
Over a century later, Baylor Homecoming holds the same values as it did in years past, serving as a way to bring together the Baylor community, alumni and current students alike.
