Transformational Education
Baylor University’s Give Light campaign has raised more than $1.3 billion for the University’s mission and to support the students — both present and future — who will take their places along That Good Old Baylor Line. More than 90,000 alumni, staff, faculty, parents, students and friends of the University have given to Baylor through this campaign.
We see the shape of Baylor’s campus changed. We welcome new faculty, who are here because of donor gifts establishing chairs and professorships. We celebrate the new scholarships that remove obstacles and ease financial worries for our students.
We are proud of our Baylor Family. When Baylor announced its goal in November 2018 of raising $1.1 billion to support everything from endowment to current needs to capital funding, few in the Baylor Family would have predicted the University would announce surpassing that goal more than two years before the campaign’s conclusion in May 2024. As we mark the final phase of the Give Light campaign, we are highlighting some of the amazing things our Baylor Family has made possible, thanks to their generous and truly transformational support.
Scholarships: A Gift Today, An Impact for Generations to Come
The Baylor Family responded strongly to the Give Light campaign’s call to increase the University’s scholarship endowment. In all, alumni, faculty, staff, parents, friends and even students came together to give nearly $329 million to support both existing and new scholarships at Baylor — representing nearly a quarter of the total raised through the Give Light campaign.
“It is truly incredible to see the generosity of our Baylor Family in supporting scholarships for Baylor’s students,” said David Rosselli, former vice president of University Advancement. “Baylor has a wonderful legacy of alumni giving to ‘pay forward’ the generosity of those who helped them in their time at Baylor through scholarships. What has been wonderful to see is how our non-alumni parents, friends and others have joined to support our students in this same way. It is creating a truly touching legacy of philanthropy for future generations of Baylor Bears.”
Baylor saw 781 endowed scholarships created in all 11 of the University’s academic units by the end of March 2023, as well as generous giving to support and grow endowments for existing scholarship funds.
Creating Opportunities for Students
The Baylor Family has used the Give Light campaign to combine giving in transformational ways for students. Over the course of Give Light, Baylor alumni, parents and friends have joined with the University to meet students’ scholarship needs through two new ways: The Hord Scholarship Challenge and the Trailblazer Scholars Program.
In 2020, Dan (BBA ’89) and Jenni (BBA ’92) Hord, of Midland, Texas, established the Hord Scholarship Challenge, making a $30 million gift commitment and challenging the Baylor Family to match their giving to Baylor by establishing new endowed scholarships to help deserving students bridge the gap between merit- and need-based financial aid and unmet financial need. In three years, the Hord Challenge has inspired others to establish 58 endowed scholarships, creating more than $4.3 million in new endowment support.
The Trailblazer Scholars Program was also established in 2020, with the inaugural cohort starting in September 2021. The program, which will support 100 students over four concurrent cohorts, is designed to support students who demonstrate commitment to advancing racial equality and diversity, with leadership and service opportunities provided through Baylor’s Office of Multicultural Affairs. The University has asked alumni, parents, faculty, staff and friends to come alongside these students through scholarship support, and in the last two years, the Baylor Family has established seven scholarships, totaling more than $1.6 million in support of Baylor’s Trailblazers.