Baylor News
Black History Month has been a part of the American tradition for over 100 years, and this February, Baylor’s own Black Student Union and African Student Association are bringing the celebration to campus.
When Barbara Ann Walker and the Rev. Robert Gilbert walked across the graduation stage on June 2, 1967, Baylor University had gone over 120 years without granting a degree to a Black student. The story of Baylor’s integration is long, challenging and still developing, but more than anything, it is a story centered around the actions not of governments or university administrations but of outspoken support from students themselves.
“She was one of those people that those other students of color were gravitating to, because she was a waymaker,” Hernandez said. “She was saying, ‘No, you belong here. And look, with this accomplishment, I belong here too.'”
With the ceremonial groundbreaking of the Memorial to Enslaved Persons set to take place in late February, Dr. Todd Copeland gave insights on the lives of Ann Freeman — a slave believed to have served the university’s namesake, Judge R.E.B. Baylor — as well as other slaves throughout the university’s early history.
Waco News
In an age when supermarkets overpower local growers in the race to supply consumers with affordable produce, it seems that gardening has been neglected.
Networking is one of the first steps to developing a successful business, area businesswomen say, but gender can play a role in holding potential entrepreneurs back from getting started.
This generation of college students has been called spoiled and selfish, tuned out to the problems of the rest of the world. More than 10,500 attendees at last weekend’s Passion Conference in Fort Worth Convention Center set out to change that perception.
There’s an epidemic affecting elementary students across the nation, and it’s not childhood obesity or attention deficit disorder.
State News
Texas voters turned out in historic numbers Tuesday, delivering victories for State Rep. James Talarico and forcing a runoff between Attorney General Ken Paxton and incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in the state’s U.S. Senate contest that claimed national attention. The total early-voting turnout of more than 2.5 million marks the highest ever for a midterm primary election. The results also kicked off the 2026 midterm cycle.
National
Politics
INTERNATIONAL
The Iran war is now in its 46th day. Iran responded by restricting access to Hormuz, which carries about a fifth of the world’s seaborne oil, and moving to toll vessels transiting the strait. Waco drivers are already feeling it. The local average hit $3.38 a gallon last week, up 21 cents in seven days and 75 cents year-over-year, according to AAA data.
Gas prices in Texas have surged more than 70 cents per gallon since the U.S. went to war with Iran three weeks ago. The near-total shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz has driven oil prices up more than 40%, pushing the national average to its highest point since 2023 and sending diesel past $5 for the first time in three years.
The largest U.S. military operation in the Middle East in decades unfolded as American and Israeli forces struck Iran Saturday, killing its supreme leader and triggering retaliatory strikes from the Gulf to Israel. The White House said the campaign is aimed at dismantling Iran’s military and toppling its government.
Dr. Joshua Alley, assistant professor of political science, said part of the Trump administration’s interest in Greenland has to do with America’s national security strategy.
