By Rylee Seavers | Staff Writer Baylor Career and Professional Development will hold its annual Etiquette Dinner on April 6 in the Paul L. Foster Campus of Business and Innovation room 250. The dinner is a chance for students to learn about proper etiquette in business settings said Haley Davis, career event and program coordinator. “It’s the little things that make a good candidate stand out,” Davis said. Davis said companies are often looking at how a person interacts with people and carries on conversation before hiring. They want to hire people that will be good representatives of their company,…
Author: Rylee Seavers
By Rylee Seavers | Staff WriterIn the year that Esther’s Closet has been open, it has had over 170 individual outfittings, provided over 450 outfits and supported over 85 newly employed women, Esther’s Closet Coordinator Rachel Pate said.Esther’s Closet will celebrate its one-year anniversary and Women’s History Month on Wednesday at the “Women of Distinction Luncheon.” Esther’s Closet is a local organization that provides workplace outfits to unemployed women at no cost to them. They also provide workplace training, resume writing and business etiquette training to help women excel in the workplace, Pate said. Laveda Brown, founder and CEO of…
By Rylee Seavers | Staff Writer The National Association of Female Executives is a national organization that seeks to empower women to achieve success in their careers and personal lives, according to its website. Communication manager of the Waco chapter Caryn Brown said workplace equality has not been achieved in the United States, and there is still progress to be made.The National Association of Female Executives provides opportunities for women to network, share experiences and hear from speakers at monthly meetings, Brown said. Brown also said female executives have a different set of issues in the workplace than men in…
By Rylee Seavers | Staff Writer Academy Award-nominated director Whit Stillman will visit Baylor for the Albaugh Lecture and a screening of his 1989 film “Metropolitan.” The Albaugh lecture will be held at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the Barfield Drawing Room of the Bill Daniel Student Center. A screening of “Metropolitan” will be held at 5:30 p.m. Friday in 101 Castellaw, and students will be able to ask Stillman questions following the screening.Dr. Michael Foley, professor in the great texts department of the Honors College, said he asked Stillman to talk about his art and the ideas behind it. Foley…
By Rylee Seavers | Staff Writer Better Together BU is holding “Baylor United: A Prayer Vigil for Immigrants & Refugees” from 12:15 to 1 p.m. Wednesday in front of the Bobo Spiritual Life Center. Better Together BU is an interfaith organization that gives students the opportunity to share their cultural experiences within their community and to get to know others. The purpose of the vigil is to bring positive awareness to issues such as President Trump’s proposed travel ban and the Baylor sanctuary petition, as well as make people of other cultures feel welcome at Baylor, said Plano sophomore Wafa…
By Rylee Seavers | Staff Writer The Baylor Interdisciplinary Core and This Matters hosted a panel on Monday in Alexander Hall to discuss the current refugee crisis throughout the world.Dr. Mark Long, professor in the BIC and director of Middle East studies, and Dr. Candi Cann, professor in the BIC, spoke on the crisis and answered questions from students. Cann discussed the difference between a refugee and an emigrant. A refugee is a person who was forced to flee a country and did not choose to leave, whereas an emigrant is a person who leaves a country voluntarily, she said.…
By Rylee Seavers | Staff WriterThe White House unveiled President Donald Trump’s budget plan on Thursday, which proposes eliminating the National Endowment for the Arts. The budget, titled “America First – A Budget Blueprint to Make America Great Again,” must pass through the House and Senate budget committees and a vote on the House and Senate floors in order to be adopted, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The budget can be amended in the House and Senate.The National Endowment for the Arts’ purpose is to promote equal access to the arts for all Americans. Its appropriation…
By Rylee Seavers | Staff WriterDr. Amir Hussain will speak at Baylor about his new book, “Muslims in the Making of America”, which details the role that American Muslims have played in defining what it means to be American. The event is at 3:30 p.m. Thursday in Mclinton Auditorium in the Paul L. Foster Campus for Business and Innovation and followed by a book signing.Hussain has been a professor of theological studies at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles since 2005. His main area of study is Islam in contemporary North America, according to the LMU website. “Hussain is an…
Video by Morgan Kilgo | Broadcast Reporter, Story by Rylee Seavers | Staff Writer Former Baylor President and Chancellor Ken Starr released a new book detailing his time as president of Baylor. Starr spoke on religious freedom at a McLennan County Republican Women’s meeting on Tuesday. The meeting was followed by a book signing. Starr said he loved telling the Baylor story as president and chancellor, and writing “Bear Country: The Baylor Story” was a way for him to continue doing that. The book was also an opportunity for him to address the scandal that led to his dismissal as…
Everyone has heard the cliche “trust your instincts.” During Vladimir Putin’s time as president, he has annexed Crimea, which belonged to the sovereign nation of Ukraine, targeted opposition journalists and politicians and made waves within the U.S. government after allegations that members of the Trump administration had contact with the Russian government prior to President Donald Trump’s election. A 2016 Pew Research poll found that only 22 percent of Americans have a favorable opinion of Russia. Similarly, 72 percent of Americans believe that Russia had something to do with the Democratic National Convention and Clinton email hackings, Pew Research found.…
By Rylee Seavers | Staff Writer The Texas Senate Committee on State Affairs passed Senate Bill 6 on Wednesday. The bill is referred to as the Texas Privacy Act and relates to regulations and policies for using bathroom and changing facilities. The bill has now been passed to the full Texas Senate, according to a press release. “My thanks go to the entire committee and all of the witnesses, who listened and contributed to the debate. Ultimately the Senate Committee agreed that we must put the safety, privacy and dignity of our children above anything else,” said Texas Senator and…
Baylor students were honored on the House and Senate floor of the Texas Legislature on Feb. 22. The students were honored for being Bob Bullock Scholars and interns for the Texas Legislature. Rep. Charles Anderson was present and made remarks, as well as staff from the offices of Speaker Joe Straus, Sen. Kirk Watson , Rep. Kevin Roberts and various Baylor alumni, said Rochonda Farmer-Neal, Baylor director of government relations. The Bob Bullock Scholars program was created in 2000 in coordination with the Bullock family, members of the Texas senate, and Baylor, according to its website. Bullock was a public…
By Rylee Seavers | Staff WriterThe Texas Legislature heard testimony on three new bills regarding abortion on Feb. 15. The bills were left pending in committee – a form of delayed action, according to the House Research Organization – and have not yet been rescheduled for public hearing, according the the Texas Legislature website. If passed, the new bills would provide regulations on the disposal of any fetal tissue resulting from an abortion, prohibit dismemberment and partial-birth abortions and only allow authorized facilities to donate fetal tissue to accredited universities for research purposes.One of the bills, SB 8, would prohibit…
Dr. Roman Lunkin, a senior fellow at the Institute of Europe, Russian Academy of Sciences, spoke to students, faculty and staff about religion, politics and society in Russia. The event was held in the Kayser Auditorium in the Hankamer Academic Center, on Friday and was open to the public. “[We have] a problem of global persecution and global discrimination of christians in different countries of the world,” Lunkin said.Lunkin’s presentation mainly focused on the role that religion plays in Russian politics and society. He previously served as a part of the Keston team in Russia. The Keston Institute specializes in…
By Rylee Seavers | Staff Writer Texas State Senator and Baylor alumnus Kirk Watson filed five bills relating to sexual assault and Title IX on Tuesday. If passed, Senate Bills 966-970 would require changes to Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code and higher education Title IX policies, including an amnesty policy, an online reporting system for sexual assault cases and anonymous reporting. “There’s little question that the scandal at Baylor has focused attention and highlighted issues related to sexual assault on campuses,” Watson wrote in an email to the Lariat. “But this isn’t just about Baylor. Institutions across our state and our…
By Rylee Seavers | Staff Writer The B3 Institute at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley is working to transform the school into a bilingual, biliterate and bicultural institution. After the legislation was passed to create University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in 2013, the UT board of regents decided that one of the guiding principles of the university would be to explore biculturalism, bilingualism and biliteracy, according to the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley website. The website also states the B3 Institute was created to implement these principles. “The B3 Institute has [a] purpose to facilitate the…
By Rylee Seavers | Staff Writer Baylor Career and Professional Development and the Baylor Alumni Network have created a mentor network for students and alumni to connect.The program allows students to find alumni based on industry, company, affinity and location and reach out for career advice, said Jarrod Mathis, programming specialist for Career & Professional Development. The program was opened to students on Monday and already has about 400 alumni in the system, said Jon Sisk, director of network engagement for the Alumni Network. Sisk said the Mentor Network has been in development for many years and will provide alumni…
By Rylee Seavers | Staff WriterA four-car crash, resulting in one fatality, occurred at 3:40 p.m. yesterday on the northbound side of Interstate 35 said Garen Bynum, Waco Police Department public information officer.All three lanes on the northbound side were closed between the 17th street – 18th street and University Parks Drive exits.There were three crashes on I-35 on Thursday. The first wreck caused two vehicles to roll over on the northbound side resulting in minor injuries, Bynum said. The second was a minor collision on the southbound side, also resulting in minor injuries, which caused traffic to slow on…
By Rylee Seavers | Staff Writer As millennials have become the nation’s largest generation, making up a majority of the workforce, business professionals weigh in on working with a younger generation. In May 2015, millennials in the U.S. labor force numbered 53.5 million, making millennials the largest working generation, according to the Pew Research Center. Nearly a year later, in April 2016, millennials became the largest living generation in the United States, according to the Pew Research Center. Millennials are “first generation digital natives,” according to the “How Millennials Want to Work and Live” report by Gallup. Seventy-one percent of…
By Rylee Seavers | Staff Writer Phi Kappa Chi is accepting nominations for the annual Light Your World Professor Award. The award is meant to honor a professor that has had a positive impact on the lives of students. Phi Kappa Chi created the Light Your World Professor Award because the fraternity felt that students needed a way to recognize these professors, said DeSoto senior Ezra Zepeda, external vice president of Phi Kappa Chi. Previously, the nomination only came from members of Phi Kappa Chi, but they recently decided to open the nominations to all students, Zepeda said. “To have…
By Rylee Seavers | Staff Writer Betsy DeVos’ recent confirmation as U.S. education secretary causes concern from educators all over the nation. DeVos was confirmed on Feb. 7. Vice President Mike Pence cast the tie-breaking vote in the Senate in order to confirm DeVos. In November, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten, issued a statement voicing his disapproval of DeVos’ nomination. Devos’s positions on school choice and vouchers, inexperience as an educator and her family’s investments in education have raised questions about her qualifications to serve as U.S. secretary of education, according to Weingarten’s statement. “Under…
By Rylee Seavers | Staff Writer Communities in Schools is recruiting Baylor students to work as tutors in local schools. According to Communities in Schools’ website, it is the nation’s largest and most effective dropout prevention organization. Communities in Schools’ goal is to keep children in school, said Courtney Powell, volunteer director. Its mission is to surround students with support which will empower them to complete their education, Powell said. The tutoring program is a part of that mission because is gives students the academic support they need to do well in school.“The students that we serve are generally an…
By Rylee Seavers | Staff WriterThe Republican Party of McLennan County hosted Texas Gov. Greg Abbott for the “Lincoln-Reagan Day Dinner” on Thursday evening in Knox Hall of the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame.Prior to the event, protesters gathered outside Knox Hall to protest Abbott’s positions on refugees, climate change, LGBTQ rights and women’s rights. Protesters chanted “climate change is real” and “muslims are people too.” The protest was nonviolent, and Waco police were present. “I came because I disagree with the way that Governor Abbott has been handling the refugee situation,” recent Baylor graduate Daniel White said. White said…
By Rylee Seavers | Staff WriterA refugee relief dance and silent auction will be held at Lake Shore Baptist Church on Friday. One hundred percent of the proceeds from the event will benefit the International Rescue Committee.The event will begin at 7 p.m. A $10 donation is suggested. The IRC is an organization that helps people whose homes and jobs are being threatened by conflict or disaster to “regain control of their future,” according to its website. The IRC has its roots in the American branch of the International Relief Association that was founded in 1933 at the suggestion of…
By Rylee Seavers | Staff Writer A new Baylor study details the effect that faith-based organizations have on the homeless population in 11 cities across the United States. The study, “Assessing the Faith-Based Response to Homelessness in America: Findings from Eleven Cities,” was authored by Bryan Johnson, co-director of the Baylor Institute for Studies of Religion, and non-resident William Wubbenhorst, fellow in the Baylor Institute for Studies of Religion. For the study, a faith-based organization was defined as “an organization for which a particular faith (e.g., Christian, Jewish, etc.) serves as the primary motivation to serve individuals and families experiencing…
The Baylor in Washington program and the Baugh Center will host the Data Coalition’s policy director, Christian Hoehner, from Washington, D.C., for the “Lobbying for Better Government: Agenda Setting and Coalition Building in Washington D.C.” event.Hoehner has been the policy director at the Data Coalition for a year. The Data Coalition is an organization that advocates for government information to be published as machine readable data, according to its website. Its principle belief is that if government information is collected in a uniform manner, it will be easier to access and interpret, Hoehner said. “It’s [taxpayer] data,” Hoehner said of…
By Rylee Seavers | Staff Writer Former head football coach Art Briles has dropped the libel lawsuit against Baylor regents without any settlement. The libel suit was filed in early December 2016, alleging that three Baylor regents had damaged Briles’ reputation, preventing him from being hired for another head coaching position, according to KWTX. “All he wanted was his good name,” Briles’ attorney Earnest Cannon said in an interview with KWTX. Baylor University officials declined to comment to the Lariat on the dropped lawsuit. Cannon told KWTX that Briles chose to drop the case because he wants to move on…
By Rylee Seavers | Staff WriterPresident Donald Trump announced his nomination for the Supreme Court on Tuesday night: Neil Gorsuch,10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judge. The vacancy opened after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in February 2016. Trump’s policies have many wondering how the Supreme Court will change in relation to the new administration.Dr. Dave Bridge, associate professor and undergraduate program director in the department of political science believes that as political polarization increases, it is more difficult for elected branches of government to pass legislation.“One strategy that both parties can use is, instead of trying to pass…
Ivanka Trump is a wife, mother and successful businesswoman. She is someone that women all over the world can look to for inspiration and strength. However, a majority of feminists do not support the first daughter, and level harsh criticism at her. A quick google search of her name illustrates this.The feminist movement claims to support women and their rights, but this seems not to be the case when a woman disagrees with their views. Ivanka Trump doesn’t fit the mold of a modern feminist— to most, her support for her father makes her an outlier. Ivanka Trump very well…
By Rylee Seavers | Staff WriterLocals met to discuss how to make Waco a welcoming community in light of President Donald Trump’s executive actions. About 100 residents gathered at the Mission Waco chapel at the Meyer Center Community Clinic on Washington Avenue to discuss the president’s executive actions and what to do in response to them. The event was sponsored by the Waco Immigration Alliance and Grassroots Leadership.The goal of the Waco Immigration Alliance is to make Waco a welcoming community for all immigrants of every faith, religion and legal status, according to its website. Attendees were invited to sign…