Building Community

In the spirit of Baylor tradition and academic excellence, the University and the Baylor Alumni Association are offering pieces of the past in return for an investment in Baylor's future.
The remaining 1,000 bricks from the demolition of the original Brooks Residence Hall were put up for sale this summer, with the proceeds going toward academic scholarships. 
Baylor employee Kay Boatman and her husband, Jim, saw in the bricks project an opportunity to memorialize Jim's love of the men's dormitory.
Kay, a 1973 Baylor graduate and financial manager for the School of Social Work and Truett Theological Seminary, said the brick is a reminder of her husband's favorite building and the time he spent there.
Though he studied engineering at the University of Texas, Kay says Jim often came to visit friends on the Baylor campus. 
"The Baylor guys were always welcoming," she says. "And he loved the design and construction (of Brooks Hall)."
Jim says of Brooks, "I thought it was a classic building, and it had a lot of neat spaces." He, like many others, was saddened to hear of Brooks Hall's demise, but being able to keep a piece of it adds to the sentiment. "It's nice to have some three-dimensional part of it," Jim says.
The Boatmans say once they receive the brick, it likely will end up in Jim's office in Killeen, where he works at Fort Hood. 
Brooks Bricks for Scholarships, offered at $1,000 apiece, will provide funds to be split equally between the Baylor University Alumni Association Endowed Scholarship Fund and the newly created Brooks Hall Endowed Scholarship Fund, which benefits residents of the new Brooks College.
Baylor alumni and supporters who would like to purchase a brick or contribute to Brooks in other ways can learn more by calling University Development at (254) 710-2561 or on the web at www.baylor.edu/development
- Jennifer Alexander