Baylor News
Death tolls continue to rise in Israel and Palestine after Hamas — the governing Palestinian body in the Gaza Strip — launched a surprise attack on Israel Saturday. In retaliation, Israel sent air strikes to the Gaza Strip Monday.
In March 2022, Riley Gaines — a 12-time NCAA swimmer from the University of Kentucky — lost the 200-meter freestyle race by a hundredth of a second to Lia Thomas, a transgender athlete from the University of Pennsylvania. Wednesday evening, Gaines visited Baylor to speak to students about how allowing transgender athletes to compete in collegiate sports goes against what Title IX vows to protect.
Jury selection will take place Friday in a Title IX and negligence lawsuit filed by a former Baylor student against the university, former head football coach Art Briles and former athletic director Ian McCaw. Following jury selection, the case will be tried in Waco’s U.S. District Court starting Oct. 16.
The newly created Biblical Journeys in the Holy Land study abroad program has been postponed from May 2024 to January 2025 due to the escalating Israel-Hamas War. Trip coordinator Dr. Cynthia Shafer-Elliott said faculty will keep a very close eye on the situation in collaboration with the Study Abroad Office.
Waco News
State News
President Donald Trump has approved the execution by firing squad of Nidal Hasan, the former Army major convicted of killing 13 people in the 2009 Fort Hood mass shooting, with the execution scheduled for 1 p.m. Dec. 3 at the Central Texas military installation, roughly an hour from Baylor’s campus.
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.
