Like Lalani and the women who came before her, Clemons sees homecoming not just as a weekend of celebration, but as a living, evolving tradition that showcases pride and binds Baylor women and the Waco community.
Depending on when they graduated, Baylor alumni will give you a different profile of their time in Waco. From year to year, those differences might be as small as a better football record or a few new faculty, but when you compare Baylor of the 1970s to the campus we call home today, the two schools are vastly different.
“One of the early leaders of the Dr Pepper Museum was a Baylor alumnus,” Summar-Smith said. “He was a Dr Pepper drinker for many years, Wilton Lanning. So I think Waco has a lot of identity in Dr Pepper and a lot of identity in Baylor, and so they’re just a natural partnership.”
The Junior League of Waco brought holiday magic to the Extraco Events Center with its 19th annual Deck the Halls Holiday Gift Market. Held Oct. 23–26, the four-day event transformed the venue into a festive winter wonderland, drawing crowds from across Central Texas for shopping, celebration and community impact.
As Baylor prepares for Homecoming and Pigskin Revue returns to Waco Hall, Greg Rogers’ artistry will once again take center stage — quietly, from behind the scenes.
For many Baylor alumni, homecoming is more than just a fun weekend — it’s a return to the community, traditions and people who formed their college years. And for some, it’s also a cure for something familiar to most post-grads — the fear of missing out.
Before this year’s group set its sights on another postseason run, there was a stretch that changed everything. The 2017 and 2018 teams turned belief into banners, capturing back-to-back Big 12 titles and setting the standard that today’s Bears continue to chase.
Over two decades, Baylor women’s basketball has turned championships into careers. From Sophia Young-Malcolm to Brittney Griner and NaLyssa Smith, generations of Bears continue to define greatness beyond Waco and into the WNBA.
Midway High School product Caden Powell was born less than four months after Baylor hired Scott Drew. Now, he’ll be Drew’s first scholarship Wacoan.
Football is a staple of Baylor’s Homecoming — the oldest such tradition in the nation. Throughout the longstanding institution, there have been numerous memorable moments that magnify the occasion.
The festival will run from 4-10 p.m. on Saturday at Indian Spring Park. This year’s event will debut a bright, multicolored “alebrije” theme, said Julie Cervantes, Parade Director for Dia de los Muertos and Director of Strategic Development at Creative Waco. Cervantes said she expects attendees to go all out with the theme through their costumes and parade floats this year.
In the midst of the homecoming festivities, the Nu Zeta chapter of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc., and the National Pan-Hellenic Council are bringing a stroll-off to campus on Friday from 7-9 p.m. at the Bill Daniel Student Center.
Terry Terracino rang in her 70th anniversary of being Baylor Homecoming Queen by riding in a glimmering black Corvette in the 2024 homecoming parade. Her daughter, Gretchen McCormack, and granddaughter, Dr. Arden Roeder, stood gleefully watching as they, too, celebrated their legacies at Baylor.
Baylor has an overall homecoming record of 51-43-4. Those four ties may be the most interesting — or the worst — homecoming games in green and gold history.
“It brings both Baylor’s campus and the Waco community together to celebrate our shared history,” Chiles said. “The alumni of the past are allowed to come watch an hour and a half long parade that showcases the best of Baylor and Waco.”
In just a few days, Baylor’s 116th celebration of homecoming will commence, ringing in all the craziness and excitement that comes with it every year. Events like Pigskin Revue, the parade and the football game are long-awaited and long prepared for, with students putting in the work toward these events for months prior.
Homecoming is a celebration — a time to gather, get to know one another, share ideas and memories and have fun. Ultimately, I always knew that homecoming was an opportunity, but I never knew it as a blessing until COVID-19.
Slapped on the side of Brooks Residential College, the words, “To you I hand the torch,” are for many, the extent of knowledge on Samuel Palmer Brooks’ Immortal Message. But Homecoming is a better time than any to remember the story behind those words: they’re a message of hopefulness and responsibility, even when the times around us are full of uncertainty, struggle and death.
Soon, streets will be decorated with golden lights and families will gather around bushels of green and gold. No, it’s not Christmas time; it’s Baylor Homecoming! Whether you’re a die-hard football fan or prefer stopping by the bonfire with friends, it’s essential to set a musical tone for your weekend. Here are five songs to add to your homecoming playlist.
From Pigskin to the pep rally and finally the game, here is the complete guide to this year’s homecoming events, which a few extras thrown in.
Beneath the beauty of a beach is a story that students do not see: shattered bottles, tar balls and food wrappers trapped in debris with micro-plastics glued to sand grains like scars. Even on Baylor’s campus, student events and daily activities impair waterways and air quality.
What once felt like home, students describe as distant and constrained after returning from studying abroad. Students said adjusting to life back on campus was more challenging than expected, with many experiencing reverse culture shock.
“Generally, tariffs are considered to be negative for economic well-being,” Davidson said. “So initially, stock markets around the world sank following the imposition of the Liberation Day tariffs. However, since then, the U.S. stock market has rebounded dramatically.”
Waco doctoral candidate and fourth-year graduate student Carol Raymond said she started working toward a doctorate in school psychology to make the “greatest positive change possible.”
Baylor wide receiver record holder reflects on the homecoming festivities and the weekend’s affects on the game.
Former Baylor golfer Ben Crane reflects on his year at Baylor and his time in Waco’s influence on his two-decade PGA career.
The downtown food hall transformed into a Halloween destination, with each vendor decked out in festive decorations and ready to hand out sweets to a steady stream of visitors.
Born in Monterrey, Mexico, Fashion designer Roxana Robles discovered her passion for sewing at a young age. Inspired by her daughter, she founded Dream Couture, a business that’s helped 17 girls live out their prom dreams by providing custom-made dresses they couldn’t otherwise afford.
What we post and how we curate our online presence feel like who we are. But the danger lies in how quickly we assume someone’s feeds tell the whole story. We should not be concluding someone based on what they consume or post.
It’s easy to dismiss elections, especially the smaller ones. Voting is regularly inconvenient, rarely straightforward and every ballot seems to be drenched in roles, propositions and names. If we want support, representation and protection from our state and nation, we have to take the time to communicate. Voting is the first step in that.
