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.

Sepia-tinted photographs and yellowed newspaper clippings are not only part of one Wacoan’s personal history, but also that of the journalism, public relations and new media department.