By Camille Kelly | Reporter
Graduation season is here, and students are faced with the option to invest in their own, custom Baylor rings to treasure their university experience.
The Baylor ring tradition honors the university’s legacy as one of its meaningful traditions that has stood the test of time.
According to the Baylor alumni website, eligibility requirements for purchasing a Baylor ring include being a Baylor alumni and undergraduate student who has achieved 75 or more credit hours, a graduate student who has completed 18 credit hours toward their degree or a PhD student who has completed 30 credit hours toward their degree.
According to Cedar Hill master’s student Jasmine Fontenot, getting her ring from San Jose Jewelers right before she graduated with her bachelor’s gave her a way to always be reminded of her hard work at Baylor.
“I knew that it was something I wanted to do because it is a great tradition,” Fontenot said. “Once we graduate, we are told to flip the ring to showcase outward to the world that we went to Baylor, and while we are in school, we are told to have it flipped to face us to remind ourselves that we are a part of Baylor and the Christian mission.”
Fontenot’s ring is circular with a ring of diamonds around the center BU emblem. She chose a style with her parents that was similar to the ring her dad had gifted her mom.
“We wanted something that tied in all three of us together,” Fontenot said. “We got it to match hers in a way, and I also have my initials and the year I graduated engraved on the inside.”
Alum Kristen McPherson customized her ring to feature Pat Neff Hall in the center, surrounded by emerald stones and diamonds, with a twisted band of four pieces that meet at the center seal.
“I wanted something really unique and special, and I’m kind of an extra girl, so I wanted something that nobody else really has,” McPherson said. “It’s a lot bigger than the majority of the Baylor rings.”
For Montgomery PhD student Samantha Stubblefield, she was hesitant to invest in a ring at first, but after ring shopping with her old roommate her senior year of undergraduate, she decided on a ring that was “very much her style.”
“It has the dual band on it with two prongs on each side of a circular seal with the BU emblem and the top layer is emerald stones,” Stubblefield said. “One of my professors actually was looking at it, and she had gone to Baylor for undergraduate and her PhD and she was like ‘Oh, I might go get that and change out my Baylor ring’ ten years later, just because she really liked it.”
Fontenot said her ring will always remind her of Baylor and the rich tradition that pulses through its campus.
“It definitely is an investment, and I would say it is definitely something that you should strongly consider,” Fontenot said. “It is a constant reminder of all the hard work you’ve done and all the support from friends and family.”
According to McPherson, the university ring tradition is one of the things she believes are special about Texas schools.
“You should be proud of where you’ve graduated from,” McPherson said. “Why not have a piece of jewelry that you can wear and show off your time there and just hold on to. You can show your grandkids one day, and it just means more than something that you wear every day. … It’s recognizing how incredible it is to go to such a special school.”
