By Matthew Muir | Staff Writer
The Baylor community will have the chance to relive history and learn about traditions at tonight’s Friday Night Flashback event.
One out of many annual events taking place during homecoming weekend, Friday Night Flashback will give visitors the chance to “walk through a flashback of Baylor’s history and traditions” from 6 to 9 p.m. in the Bill Daniel Student Center. Highlighted traditions and history include All-University Sing and Pigskin Revue, Diadeloso, athletic highlights and more.
Twin Falls, Idaho, junior Caitlin Colver serves as this year’s coordinator for Friday Night Flashback. Colver said Friday Night Flashback appeals to visitors’ senses of curiosity and nostalgia alike.
“The purpose of Friday Night Flashback is to show our homecoming guests some of Baylor’s best traditions,” Colver said. “It also allows our alumni to relive their favorite Baylor memories.”
Boerne senior Emma Ingram served as 2018’s homecoming chair. This year Ingram is helping advise the committee and is coordinating the sale of homecoming apparel with the Baylor Bookstore. Ingram said one of her favorite parts of Friday Night Flashback is the generational aspect.
“Homecoming is all about history and tradition. Friday Night Flashback gives you a sneak peek into that and it helps you remember why we are here, how we started and how we’ve come so far,” Ingram said. “[It’s a chance to] reminisce with those around you about what our parents’ generation did, what our generation is going to do, and it gets you thinking now about what future generations are going to do… That’s why I really love it.”
Friday Night Flashback includes a variety of exhibits. As coordinator, Colver decided which parts of Baylor history and tradition to feature. Colver said many of Baylor’s most famous traditions and historical moments are represented, such as a replica of Baylor’s campus in Independence, but also a few lesser-known ones as well.
“A few themes I have displayed throughout FNF are Bear Program, the Immortal Ten and Baylor at Independence,” Colver said. “My favorite display this year is the University Mace and President’s Medallion.”
Colver said she chose some of the lesser-known traditions such as the Mace because she felt a connection with them.
“I chose traditions that were most dear to my heart. The Mace and Medallion were something I have been working on for months,” Colver said. “The Mace is an amazing tradition that very few people know about… [but it’s] only one item in FNF. There are so many more fascinating items from Baylor’s rich history.”
The Mace is a ceremonial item consisting of three parts: a sword given to Judge R.E.B. Baylor’s brother Cyrus in 1813 by Andrew Jackson, a walking cane gifted to Baylor president Rufus Burleson and another cane which belonged to General Sam Houston.
Ingram said she also felt a personal connection with her favorite tradition, Mass Meeting, honoring the memory of the 10 Baylor basketball players who died in an accident on the way to a game in Austin in 1927.
“Mass Meeting has always had a special place in my heart because [the story of the Immortal Ten] and their sacrifice, and I really love that tradition every year,” Ingram said. “I love that we highlight it so much across campus.”
