Happy 180th Birthday Baylor

Chartered by the Republic of Texas on February 1, 1845, Baylor University stands today as the oldest continuously operating university in the state. Baylor’s original campus in Independence, located in Washington County in South Central Texas, placed Baylor students in an environment surrounded by dynamic leaders and positioned faculty and alumni to serve the local community and state in increasingly impactful ways — a tradition of leadership that continues today.
Just nine years before Judge R.E.B. Baylor and others created Baylor University, the state’s founding fathers gathered in nearby Washington-on-the-Brazos to adopt a Declaration of Independence and write a constitution for the Republic of Texas. And when Texas joined the United States in 1845, Judge Baylor helped write the state’s first constitution.
The town of Independence and the surrounding area continued growing in importance throughout the 1850s owing to its highly esteemed educational and religious institutions. Prominent men of letters, medicine, and law, following the judge’s lead, were attracted to the community. In fact, Baylor’s first president, Henry Lee Graves, lived across the street from Gen. Sam Houston and his family.
In 1886, Baylor University’s trustees decided to merge with Waco University (another Baptist school) and relocate to Waco, Texas. Just as Independence once had, Waco offered Baylor the opportunity to thrive in an environment of mutual support, with local leaders and campus officials working together to impact the lives of citizens and students alike.
A rapidly growing city in the heart of Texas, Waco became known for the abundance and diversity of opportunities it offered in higher education. Over the years, Baylor has played a direct and enthusiastic role in Waco’s standing as a center of entrepreneurship, public service, religious leadership and educational excellence, and local citizens have played a large role in the University’s development into a preeminent Christian research university.
Today, Baylor and Waco stand at the center of a network of dynamic developments in the worlds of technology, engineering, medical care and cultural advancement that runs from San Antonio to Austin and Dallas along Interstate 35. From Baylor alumni who have become leaders in Waco’s economic growth, such as Chip (BBA ’98) and Joanna Gaines (BA ’01), to others who have served in leadership roles in the city’s municipal government and judiciary, such as recent Waco mayor Dillon Meek (BA ’07, JD ’10) and former mayor and current Baylor Regent Kyle Dever (BBA ’86, JD ’93), Baylor’s commitment to joining in its hometown’s success is bountifully evident.
As Baylor University continues to pursue the mission embodied in its official motto — Pro Ecclesia, Pro Texana, Pro Mundo (For the Church, For Texas, For the World) — it joins with local leaders in investing in the surrounding community to impact the future of Waco and produce graduates whose lives and careers will make a lasting difference in the world.