Beginning in 1917, a bear belonging to a Camp McArthur soldier was paraded around by Baylor students. The tradition of a live bear watching Baylor football on the sidelines became a beloved aspect of the school’s identity over the next 86 years.

After a week of voting and deliberation, Katmai National Park and Reserve announced the Fat Bear Week winner yesterday. Bear 32, a brown bear also known as “Chunk,” was crowned the fattest of them all, weighing in at over 1200 pounds.

The Baylor community gathered on Saturday at the Bill and Eva Williams Bear Habitat to celebrate the second birthday of Judge Indy and Judge Belle. The party featured special treats, interactive exhibits, a crowd of students, alumni and families eager to celebrate the bears.

“It’s just going to be a wild ride, seeing everything about it,” Lozuk said. “There’s going to be a lot of changes…. In the next couple of months, they’re going to start getting more independent and start trying to be on their own a little bit.”

Baylor volleyball has been sharing time with both basketball programs in the Ferrell Center, while acrobatics and tumbling has practiced on campus in the Marrs-McLean Gym.

Saturday marked Baylor’s annual “Meet the Bears” event, where students, alumni and fans got the opportunity to meet their favorite student-athletes — snagging a few signatures along the way. The event is an exciting benchmark for many, as it signifies the beginning of the fall athletics season.

Baylor students, faculty, staff and Waco residents started lining up around 8:30 a.m. Saturday to welcome the new bear cubs, Judge Indy and Judge Belle, to campus.

Along with the freshmen on campus, there are two new additions to the Baylor community: Judge Indy and Judge Belle. Baylor will host a Meet the Cubs event from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday to officially welcome the cubs to the Bill and Eva Williams Bear Habitat.