By Arden Berry | Staff Writer
This year, even the construction on I-35 isn’t enough to stop alumni parents from traveling to see both their students and their alma mater for Family Weekend starting this Saturday.
Baylor’s 2025 Family Weekend will be headlined by a Lauren Daigle concert, Taste of Waco, After Dark and the football’s final non-conference game against Samford.
Baylor alumna Elisha Dillon said she and her husband have traveled to Waco from Plano for several Family Weekends to see their daughters. This year, they plan to visit their youngest daughter, Plano senior Lauren Dillon.
“We always enjoy seeing our daughter after she’s been back at school for a few weeks,” Elisha Dillon said. “We like visiting with her and her friends.”
Though this semester’s construction poses a unique challenge when traveling and navigating Waco, Dillon has a plan.
“We’ll be coming in from Plano and we’re planning on coming in pretty early in the day on Friday to hopefully miss a lot of traffic,” Dillon said. “We will do our best to take backstreets as we travel off-campus this weekend, and plan to avoid [I-35] as much as possible.”
Baylor alumni Jeff and Kirsten Fair, who are planning to visit their daughter, Allen senior Abby Fair, said they have been visiting throughout their daughter’s time at Baylor as well.
“We’re always amazed at the improvements,” Kirsten Fair said. “Every single time we come back, something’s better or bigger or newer. And not just with the campus, but even the city.”
Kirsten said her most memorable Family Weekend event was the tailgate before the football game during her daughter’s freshman year.
“Fall of 2022, it was the first time I could wear my shirt that says, ‘Baylor mom,’ and I was so excited about that,” Kirsten Fair said. “I mean, we have a million Baylor things and we’re proud Baylor graduates, but that tailgate was especially fun because my parents came and my younger sister and her whole family and then lots and lots of friends.”
Jeff Fair also said they would adjust their travel plans for construction, but that he was not concerned about driving around Waco.
“I mean, we’ve been driving to Waco for the weekends for forever — over 20 years,” he said. “I would say this year in particular, I mean, we’ll leave probably half an hour earlier than we normally would have. But we kind of know the ways around.”
Despite the extensive construction, these alumni families, with their knowledge of the area and connection to Baylor, are willing to make the trip.
“Coming back to campus always makes me happy,” Dillon said. “Baylor is such a special place to me and our family.”
