Sustaining Community
Members and guests of the Baylor Black Alumni Alliance gathered in Waco in September for a weekend of reconnecting with friends, celebrating achievement and worshiping together.
The Achievement Awards Ceremony and Worship Experience, which also highlighted the 35th anniversary of the Heavenly Voices Gospel Choir, were capstone events of the reunion weekend. Other activities included a welcome party, Dr Pepper reception, pregame tailgate and campus tours.
The Awards event included the presentation of the highest award given by the Baylor Black Alumni Alliance: the Rev. Robert L. Gilbert Distinguished Baylor Black Alumni Award. The award recognizes Baylor Black Alumni who, through service, have earned the respect and approval of peers and colleagues in their communities, professions and vocations.
The 2023 recipients of the Rev. Robert L. Gilbert Distinguished Baylor Black Alumni Awards are:
Michael Heiskell
B.A. ’72, J.D. ’74
Michael Heiskell was one of the three founding partners of Johnson, Vaughn & Heiskell in 1984, where he now serves as the senior attorney. Prior to founding Johnson, Vaughn & Heiskell, he served as assistant district attorney for Galveston County and as assistant United States attorney.
Heiskell was named Lawyer of the Year by the Tarrant County Black Bar Association in 1995 and 2000 and received the Presidential Award of Excellence from the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association in 1994, 1995 and 2003. In 2015, he was inducted into the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association Hall of Fame, and in 2020, he received The Blackstone Award, the highest honor bestowed upon a member of the Tarrant County Bar Association. Heiskell was selected as 2022 Baylor Lawyer of the Year by Baylor Law School, and he currently serves on the Baylor University Board of Regents.
Michael McFrazier
B.M.E. ’91, M.M. ’93, M.S.E. ’95
Michael McFrazier, a native of Paris, Texas, is interim provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU).
McFrazier joined the faculty at PVAMU in 1998 after beginning his professional career as a public school music teacher and administrator in the Waco Independent School District. During his 27-year tenure in higher education, he has served as coordinator of minority development programs, coordinator of graduate studies, associate provost and associate vice president for academic and student affairs, vice provost for academic affairs, dean of the PVAMU Northwest Houston Campus, vice president of administration and chief of staff, dean of the Withlowe R. Green College of Education and interim president at Prairie View A&M University.
McFrazier’s honors include Who’s Who in Black Houston, W.T. Bono Professional Award and The Central Texas Role Model Award, among others.
Renita Miller
B.B.A. ’00
Renita Miller is the inaugural chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer for the Wharton School at The University of Pennsylvania.
Prior to joining Wharton, Miller served as associate dean for access, diversity and inclusion and executive director of the pre-doctoral fellowship initiative and lecturer in politics at Princeton University. Previously, Miller was the dean of Berkeley College and lecturer in political science at Yale University. Miller also was a research fellow for the Project of Equity, Representation and Governance at Texas A&M and the Kinder Institute of Urban Research at Rice University.
Miller extends her servant leadership philosophy into collaborations with nonprofits, community organizations and financial institutions, all devoted to addressing critical societal challenges. She has forged impactful partnerships with educational nonprofits that center on providing access to education for first-generation, low-income and underrepresented students.
The Awards event benefited the Dr. Vivienne Malone-Mayes Scholarship Endowment. The ceremony recognized two student recipients of the Dr. Vivienne Malone-Mayes Scholarship and 75 recipients of the Trailblazers Scholarships.
The Baylor Black Alumni Alliance, formerly The Baylor Black Alumni Club, was chartered by a small group of alumni in 1980. The organization was officially recognized and chartered by Baylor in 1985.
To learn more about the Baylor Black Alumni Alliance, visit alumni.web.baylor.edu/get-involved/affinity-groups.