In October 1950, the national fraternity Alpha Chi Omega conducted a campus-wide poll to determine the ugliest man on campus. Beyond the title of Mr. Ugly, the winner would receive bountiful gifts, including “the perfect weekend,” consisting of a lavish date, a luxurious sports car and a feature in the Baylor Homecoming Parade to promote the competition.

From reading historical documents to writing their own book, students have a variety of English and literature classes to choose from for the spring semester.

In order for the conversation to be productive, Fakhriravari said both parties must be willing to have their own mind changed, rather than solely determined to change someone else’s.

National Mall thrummed as crowds of a million people bunched together and as camcorders rose in unison hoping for a glimpse of history. With the wave of flags, high hopes and wide smiles, the nation waited to witness the inauguration America’s first Black president — Barack Obama.

Long before social media, news print was the heartbeat of every community. Baylor Lariat alumnus Louis Moore made a name for himself covering religion, civil rights and history’s most significant moments at the Houston Chronicle. Even in his retirement, Louis Moore still loves a good story.

Upon its founding, Baylor banned the chartering of national fraternities and sororities. It wasn’t until 1975 that the ban was finally lifted, the floodgates opened and Baylor Greek life’s tumultuous and iconic history began.

What started as an advertisement in The Lariat morphed into Baylor’s own masked vigilante armed with coconut cream pies. For over a decade, the Pie Man turned campus into his bakery of chaos, leaving laughter, whipped cream and bewildered professors in his wake.

To put this monumental celebration in perspective and to celebrate the development of student press over these years, here are 10 important historical developments that succeed the birth of The Lariat.

According to the Texas Collection Digital Archives, the first issue in 1900 included two female associate editors: Eunice Taylor and Sarah Rose Kendall.

Before the Wright brothers took flight or air conditioning cooled a single building, The Baylor Lariat was already in print. Now, 125 years and roughly 12,250 issues later, Baylor’s student-run newspaper continues to tell the university’s story with the same curiosity and conviction that first inked its pages in 1900.

Through all — the good, the bad, the funny and the sad, the Lariat was there. Here are 12 major moments in Lariat history, hand plucked from the archives.

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.

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.

“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.”

“The conversations that we had and the answers that they gave — it seems trivial, it seems silly, but it really got them thinking,” Sweet said. “There were great teaching moments, there were great just personality moments that we got to interact with students. Anytime you can do something outside the classroom, it makes it so much [more] freeing and so much more exciting that way.”

A Waco home held a century-old secret, and Saturday guests got the opportunity to become detectives.

The annual grudge match between the Bears and Horned Frogs consistently comes down to the thinnest of margins. With this much history, every game is an instant classic.

While some professors teach with slideshows and worksheets, history lecturer Dr. Anthony Gaspar teaches material in a unique way — through impressions.

Julia Chinn and Mary Church Terrell entered the spotlight at “Biographies in Bold: Black Women & U.S. Systems of Power” Thursday afternoon. Award-winning authors Dr. Amrita Chakrabarti Myers and Dr. Alison Parker discussed their books about these women at 3:30 p.m. in Moody Memorial Library’s Schumacher Flex Commons.

Baylor history professor Dr. Robert Elder is the first Baylor faculty member to be awarded the Public Scholars grant from the NEH to help his future book project about the nullification crisis, a conflict between South Carolina and the federal government in the 1830s.

Urban renewal has since demolished many homes and buildings in Calle Dos and Sandtown, another Hispanic neighborhood, but the inaugural Hispanic History Month Walking Tour aimed to bring them back through storytelling.

While people outside of the fanbase see us as poor, unfortunate souls grasping onto false hope, they overlook the characteristics that make a Cowboys fan a Cowboys fan — and believe it or not there are many appealing characteristics and qualities about us.

On Wednesday at 3:30 p.m., three professors gathered together to discuss the impact of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hit Broadway production, “Hamilton,” in celebration of the show’s 10-year anniversary.

Baylor’s Pi Mu chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha is a two-time Mosaic Mixer Showcase champion, but this year, they’re not out for another trophy. They’re in pursuit of growing their sisterly bond.

“We should be proud of our cultural and ethnic identities, but that pride should never, of course, make us feel better than other people,” Van Gorder said. “We should use our cultural heritages as resources, not only to share who we are, but to learn and listen and validate other people.”

Released at the end of March, the book is a major contribution to gospel music scholarship, based on over 150 interviews with Crouch’s collaborators, friends and family members. The project blends musical analysis with personal stories, tracing how Crouch’s groundbreaking songs, like “Through It All,” “The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power” and “Soon and Very Soon,” became foundational in modern worship across denominations.

Whether you enjoy fantasy fiction, classic novels or a good picture book, there is inspiration to be found in every story. If you’re seeking new motivation in paper form, here are some of the Editorial Board’s most beloved suggestions.

This summer, the Waco Mammoth National Monument will celebrate its 10 year anniversary of becoming a recognized site by the National Park Foundation. This designation was the result of over six years of hard work between the park staff and Waco community, according to National Parks Service Site Manager Raegan King.

Cowan’s deep dive into the chastity-crazed, right-wing militant leaders of Brazil came from the desire to learn how two teenage students kissing on a bus could be seen as the essence of communism — something a Brazilian official actually said after being on that bus, according to Cowan. Analyzing the origin and effect of this reasoning is the larger point of the “Mobilizing Morality” series.

On Monday almost 110 years since the lynching of Jesse Washington, Baylor University hosted an author talk and panel discussion about the stories and horrors, of Waco’s racist past. This panel was hosted in lieu of the Baylor Press’s recent publication, “God of the Whirlwind: Horror Memory and Story in Black Waco,” edited by Tyler B Davis.