By Eden Morris I Reporter
Baylor is known for its many traditions and legacies. According to alumna Amanda Hosni, its greatest legacy is found in the generations of families that attend Baylor, connecting families and bringing them together.
Amanda’s parents, Linda and Eddie Dean, attended Baylor in the early ’70s, while she attended in the late ’90s. Now her son, Cumming, Ga., freshman Hudson Hosni, attends Baylor and is a member of the Golden Wave band.
“My first Baylor homecoming was at 9 months old, and I didn’t miss a homecoming until we got married,” Amanda said. “It wasn’t ever a question of anywhere else that I wanted to be except for Baylor. Baylor brought my parents together. It was just such a tradition for our family. And then, when Paul and I met and got married, it just is something that we shared together.”
Amanda’s parents Linda and Eddie are college sweethearts.
“We got set up on a blind date to what they call the April King dance that her sorority hosted, and the rest is history. We got engaged in ’68, got married in ’69,” Eddie said.
Linda was one of the founding members of a Baylor local sorority that is today known as Tri Delta.
Linda and Eddie got engaged in the graveyard by the Texas Sports Hall of Fame during Homecoming weekend, and they spent their senior year married in an apartment that is still on campus today.
Amanda and her husband Paul got engaged at the swing by Draper Academic Building during Amanda’s senior year, having dated five months prior.
Linda and her friend Bonnie were sorority sisters at Baylor and both named their daughters after their dear friend, Amanda, who was crowned Baylor Beauty. Now, both Amandas live down the street from one another in Georgia, and both have sons — third generation Baylor students — that are freshmen.
“It is great having family tradition in the same school,” Linda said. “It doesn’t matter where you’re from. You still see people you know, everyone coming together. Ever since we graduated, we’ve come back to homecoming just about every year.”
Linda said that she and Eddie used to get rooms at the since torn down Old Main Lodge with 40 of their closest friends from their time at Baylor during homecoming weekend. After the parade, they would cook food together and talk about their college days.
Hudson is thankful for the support and community he has at Baylor and in his family.
“I’m experiencing something they experienced, so it’s very easy to reach out to my dad or grandpa and ask for help with certain things,” Hudson said.
Amanda reminisced about the first Baylor game of the season this year watching Hudson play in the Golden Wave Band with her parents.
“We were singing the ‘Good Old Baylor Line,’ [and] everybody had their paws up. I looked at my dad, and I said, ‘How does this make you feel, looking at your daughter and looking at your grandson, having three generations?’ And he and I got emotional,” Amanda said. “I cried at this game because it’s cool seeing Hudson, though he grew up coming here. It was a really touching moment.”
