By Ada Zhang
Staff Writer
President Ken Starr announced today the official termination of the Baylor Alumni Association’s license to use the Baylor name after the Transition Agreement vote on Saturday failed to reach the two-thirds ‘yes’ vote majority.
The agreement, had it passed, would have merged the BAA with the university and allowed The Baylor Line, the official BAA magazine, to continue using the Baylor name.The termination notice was sent to the BAA on May 31 and became effective on Sunday, according to a university-wide email from Starr. The university is giving the BAA 90 days to phase out of its use of the Baylor brand.
Even though the agreement did not pass, the university is going forward with many changes outlined in the agreement, Starr wrote in an email to the Baylor community.
Starr said the university has offered qualified BAA members university employment and is trying to create an alumni advisory board.
“That board will be broadly representative of Baylor’s 165,000 alumni around the world,” Starr said. “Its members will provide invaluable input and guidance to inform our comprehensive alumni outreach efforts. We will work throughout the current semester to finalize plans for this suggested new entity.”
The Baylor Alumni Network will provide services for alumni that include the Heritage Club, Life Long Learning and the marketing of Baylor Official Ring program. Starr said the university’s main goal is to serve alumni.
“Now, with our focus on energetically serving Baylor alumni around the world, the University will go forward in building a comprehensive – and unified – alumni engagement program equipped to serve a broad range of alumni needs and interests,” Starr said. “We invite each of you to join with us in this noble effort on behalf of our beloved University.”
The BAA could not be reached for comment at the time of publication.
Nearly 55 percent of the BAA members voted in favor of the Transition Agreement Saturday. A total of 1,499 votes were cast,and 830 voted yes to pass the agreement while 668 voted no against the agreement. One vote was counted illegal for being in favor of both yes and no.
Exactly 1,000 votes, a two-thirds majority, needed to be yes in order for the agreement to pass, according to the BAA bylaws.
