By Rachel Smith | ReporterNew Student Programs staff and student leaders are finishing training and proceeding to more technical preparations for 2017 Orientation and Line Camp.During the fall semester, New Student Programs staff selected nine Student Leadership Team members and a large group of Line Camp leaders, who took a leadership development class during the spring semester. Coordinator for New Student Leadership Kimberly Black said New Student Programs staff recognizes that hosting Orientation and Line Camp is a university effort. “Even though we’ve been tasked with the programming, it’s the campus community that makes it happen,” Black said. “It’s very…
Author: Rachel Smith
By Rachel Smith | ReporterThe Korean Student Association hosted its third annual Hanin Gala Banquet on Monday night in Paul L. Foster Campus for Business and Innovation.Vallejo, Calif., senior Stephen Zipperer, vice president of the Korean Student Association, said the event recaps the entire year with the members who have joined throughout the year. “We like to celebrate diversity in [the Korean Student Association],” Zipperer said. “You can see this in our officer board. We’re not all Korean. [The banquet] just aims to get others who may be afraid to join [Korean Student Association] to see what it’s like.” Zipperer…
By Rachel Smith | ReporterDancing in the rotunda of the Mayborn Museum to ’80s music might not be a typical Sunday morning student activity, but that didn’t stop museum staff and graduate museum studies students from filming their video entry for When You Work at a Museum blog’s Museum Dance-Off competition.Voting for videos by geographic region will occur in rounds leading up to the Thunderdome round. Voting for Western U.S. Group 1, which includes the Mayborn Museum’s entry, will begin April 20 on the blog’s website. Jess Outten, Mayborn Museum visitor services manager, said the museum’s social media accounts will…
By Rachel Smith | ReporterBaylor Activities Council is accepting applications for partnerships to provide student organizations with funding, support and event planning expertise.Baylor Activities Council is a student organization that partners with other student organizations to put on campus events. Megan Harper, graduate apprentice for traditional programs in Student Activities, said Baylor Activities Council mostly works directly with student organizations to amplify their events. “We are attached to Student Activities, so we have the funding and event expertise students are looking for,” Harper said. The application is open to all officially chartered student organizations, Harper said. “We are looking for…
By Rachel Smith | ReporterBaylor International Justice Mission will host Stand for Freedom, a two-day event to raise awareness about human and sex trafficking, today and Friday.The event’s schedule includes free food, pop-up shops of businesses that promote ending human trafficking, carnival games, speakers, showings of TED Talks and documentaries, worship, a candlelight vigil, yoga and a concert by indie/folk singer Isaac Gill. Activities will begin 6 p.m. today in the Baines Room of the Bill Daniel Student Center and will continue from 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday on Fountain Mall. Dallas sophomore Kylie Erlenbusch said the event will…
By Rachel Smtih | Reporter Students and community members will participate in the Freshman Class Council’s sixth annual Gut Pak Run on Saturday morning.“They told us to tell people no one’s ever thrown up doing it before,” said Eden Prairie, Minn., freshman Matthew “Chewy” Ocenasek, Freshman Class Council member. The run will begin in front of Waco Hall and follow Speight Avenue to Vitek’s BBQ, where runners will eat a Gut Pak, a signature barbecue menu item, before running back to campus. All proceeds from the event will benefit Mission Waco’s Jubilee Theatre. “Everybody can go out and just enjoy…
Baylor Medical Service Organization will host a Thank-You Gram Fundraiser April 5 to 7 to raise money for the Waco Family Health Center.The organization will sell thank-you cards that will be given to professors. Brea, Calif., junior and Medical Service Organization treasurer Daniel Truesdale said. Adding candy to the cards is optional. “It’s something very small that has a huge impact,” Truesdale said. “It’s personal because you can write in the card.” Medical Service Organization members will sell cards in the Baylor Sciences Building atrium. “This is our first semester doing this,” said Sugar Land junior Sasha Asthana, Medical Service…
“This Is Us,” an NBC TV drama series that aired in September, just completed its first season and is the best show on television. This is not a column about “This Is Us,” but this is a shameless plug. The show follows Jack and Rebecca Pierson, a couple raising three kids in the 1970s, and their children throughout their adolescence and adult lives. The show follows no chronological pattern and weaves stories from their childhood and adulthood in an artful way to illuminate themes in the characters’ lives. Jack’s parenting ability usually brings me to tears, but during one episode,…
By Rachel Smith | ReporterContinuing Education will offer a three-week GRE (Graduate Record Examinations) prep course to help students prepare for the GRE exam.The course will take place over three sessions on May 20, May 27 and June 3 and will include a mandatory pre-test nine days before the course begins as well as an optional post-test. However, students can take the exam in either March or April as well. Coordinator of special projects Lindy Reamer said she has helped director Gabriela Colman plan the course by finding an instructor and talking with faculty and students to find if the…
Gamma Alpha Omega kicked off fundraising efforts Saturday during their third annual spring philanthropy event, Kick It for Kids.The multicultural sorority raised money for Big Brothers Big Sisters of America during the kickball tournament, where six teams competed for a $500 prize. San Diego, Calif., junior Ele Moroz, who serves as the chapter’s president and new member educator, said she enjoyed publicizing the event and reaching out to sponsors. “I really enjoy organizing it, actually,” Moroz said. “I definitely enjoy watching it all come together.” Each participant paid $10 to participate, and sponsors donated food and gift cards for the…
By Rachel Smith | ReporterStudents will dodge balls but not the chance to help people in need during Beta Kappa Gamma’s Dodge for a Cause tonight from 6 to 10 p.m. in Russell Gym.Beta Kappa Gamma will donate all funds raised through the event to the American Cancer Society during Relay for Life. Amman, Jordan, senior Abdullah Ghali said he expects about 20 teams to compete in the tournament. “There’s not too much Baylor support for [Relay for Life], so it is a good way to make an impact,” Ghali said. Tournament participants pay $10 to play and receive a…
If you have ever spoken with me for longer than five minutes, I have probably asked you what your Myers-Briggs type is.If it wasn’t your Myers-Briggs type, it was likely your Enneagram number or love language — I’m a little obsessed with personality tests.Before I took one, I thought these tests’ results would be minimally helpful at best. However, my perspective changed when I began to notice traces of those results across almost every aspect of my life.Knowing yourself, your tendencies, your motivations and the things that drain you or make you tick is vital to personal and relational maturity.…
By Rachel Smith | Reporter Members of Baylor’s END7 sought to raise awareness about neglected tropical diseases by setting up a table on Wednesday in the Baylor Sciences Building Atrium. Neglected tropical diseases are a group of parasitic, viral and bacterial infectious diseases that cause more than 500,000 deaths per year, according to END7’s website. Seattle junior Megin Parayil, a member of Baylor’s chapter of END7, said the organization aims to end seven neglected tropical diseases by 2020. “It’s really upsetting that people aren’t able to get [treatment],” Parayil said. “I just thought somebody should speak up for them.” These…
By Rachel Smith | ReporterWaco defense attorney and Baylor Law School alumnus Robert Callahan II told students about realities of human trafficking and his experience fighting it.Baylor International Justice Mission and Pre-Law Society hosted Callahan Tuesday evening in the Bill Daniel Student Center. Callahan, who has prosecuted crimes, including those against women and children, said he wanted to get involved with International Justice Mission after he heard about the organization during his second year of law school. “Little did I know God was going to create an opportunity for me to do that right here in Central Texas,” Callahan said.…
By Rachel Smith | Reporter Baylor International Justice Mission students participated in the END IT Movement Thursday by wearing a red “X” on their hands to spread awareness about human trafficking and modern-day slavery.International Justice Mission is an organization that works to rescue victims, bring criminals to justice, restore survivors and strengthen justice systems to stop violence before it begins in order to protect the poor from violence in the developing world. Grand Prairie junior Sarah McWilliam decided to get involved with the organization after hearing International Justice Mission founder Gary Haugen speak in Chapel.“I think a lot of people…
By Rachel Smith | Reporter Mayborn Museum Complex staff and graduate museum studies students met Wednesday to begin planning their video for “When You Work at a Museum” blog’s fourth annual international Museum Dance-Off competition. Their core project team consists of graduate students in the museum studies program, but participation in the video is open to Mayborn staff as well as all Baylor students. Dr. Kim McCray, lecturer of museum studies and part of the core project team, said they will film the video sometime in March to submit by the contest deadline on March 31. “For me, it’s a…
For the first time, the Campus Kitchen at Baylor University competed in “Raise the Dough,” an annual online fundraiser for the the Campus Kitchens Project, a national nonprofit. The fundraiser, which lasted from Feb. 17 to today, allowed Campus Kitchen at Baylor University to compete against 25 high schools and universities to raise money for local hunger relief efforts. College Station junior Rebecca Peirce, director of the Baylor organization, said the money would fund seeds and mulch for its community garden, cooking supplies and potentially a garden shed. “Everything is online this year, so we have a website donors can…
Baylor graduate and Zeta Tau Alpha alumna Laurie Mershon discusses her memories of participating in Sing as a student. Mershon will watch her daughter, Flower Mound sophomore Emily Mershon, perform in Sing as a Zeta Tau Alpha for the first time this spring. Q: When did you graduate from Baylor? A: In ’89. Q: In which group did you perform in Sing? A: I was a Zeta Tau Alpha, and my husband was an ATO. That’s where we met was doing Sing. Q: How exactly did you meet? A: At sing practice. The theme was Motown. He was on stage…
By Rachel Smith | Reporter Baylor Counseling Center hosted its second Hope Peace Love event Tuesday with a fair in the Baylor Sciences Building and discussions and events across campus. During the fair, students played Healthy Relationship Bingo, made Valentines Day cards and learned about mental health awareness. Along with educational resources, students received free prizes, merchandise and food from Pokey-Os and Club Sandwich food trucks. “We decided to do this on Valentine’s Day because we also want to encourage people to love themselves, and that means you take care of yourself, mental health included,” said Monique Marsh-Bell, senior psychologist…
By Rachel Smith | ReporterThe Department of Wellness will put on the second annual Love the Run You’re With 5K starting at 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 17 in conjunction with the Counseling Center’s Hope Peace Love event, which takes place Tuesday.Department of Wellness graduate apprentice Sarah Madsen said the race takes place in February to help students reflect on the healthy relationships they do have, like those with friends and family, whether or not they currently have a significant other. “Both the Counseling Center and Wellness Department want to provide activities the week of Valentine’s Day to promote healthy relationships,…
After Veterans Affairs Coordinator Jessica Alford told Waco sophomore U.S. Army veteran Nick Harrington they were going to Subway to discuss a scholarship opportunity, he was shocked to find cameras rolling as he walked into the restaurant. Subway Restaurants of Waco, Temple and Killeen partnered with Soldier’s Wish to surprise the 35-year-old cancer patient with $5,000 on Friday morning at their LaSalle location. The funds came from a fundraising campaign local Subway locations promoted in October 2016 to benefit Soldier’s Wish. “They completely surprised me. I had no idea what was going on,” Harrington said. In June 2016, Harrington was…
By Rachel Smith | Reporter Journalist Sarah Hepola, author of The New York Times best-seller “Blackout: Remembering Things I Drank to Forget,” told students who filled Bennett Auditorium on Thursday night about her journey from a drinking problem to sobriety.“I’m really not here tonight to tell you whether or not to drink,” Hepola said. “What I’m here to tell you is alcohol can’t fix you. Alcohol doesn’t change those feelings. It just makes you forget them for the night.” Hepola’s subject was “Drinking, Blackouts and Seeking Power Beyond the Bottle.” After her lecture, Hepola answered questions from mediator Macarena Hernandez,…
As many children did, I learned the Ten Commandments in Sunday school. When we talked about keeping the Sabbath holy, I pictured bearded old men lying on dirt floors in hut-like houses, staring at their thatched ceilings and doing nothing all day.I don’t think those mental images were at all historically accurate, but it wasn’t until college that I realized my perception of the Sabbath in general was also flawed.Last year, I found myself controlled by a calendar of filled squares. I also found myself avoiding God’s continual tug on my heart to give up a whole day to honor…
Rachel Smith | ReporterAt Cross Cultural Engagement’s Cross Cultural Dinner, domestic and international students and Leadership Living Learning Community members met Tuesday night to discuss the culture of LEAD LLC.The dinner began with a responsive reading and prayer. The event was live streamed on Facebook as a panel of five LEAD students discussed their program. Cross Cultural Engagement offers dinners to students, staff and faculty every other week, often partnering with student organizations to discuss different cultures over international cuisine. “We believe that Jesus calls us to love God and love our neighbor,”Josh Ritter, assistant director for formation, said. “How…