Whetsel Basketball Practice Facility Opens

The state of the art Lt. Jack Whetsel Jr. Basketball Facility was inaugurated last week with an opening ceremony and luncheon to honor the major donors.  This wonderful 42,990 square foot addition to the Ferrell Center will super-charge Baylor’s already outstanding basketball program.  The gracious gift by the Whetsel family was accompanied by a great level of support from the Friends of Baylor leadership with whom Coach Drew and Coach Mulkey had met and made a personal appeal to last year.  The two practice courts will bear the names of Friends of Baylor Co-Chairman Jim Hawkins and his wife Nell.  The Stone Athletic Reception room was sponsored by Dary and Lindy Stone. FOB Steering Committee members Ted and Sue Getterman and Rondy Gray made major gifts as well.  It seems as though no major project at Baylor would be possible without the generosity of Jim and Julie Turner and Drayton and Elizabeth McLane who along with Regent Jay and Jenny Allison complete the roster of major donors.

Hewlett Packard CEO Mark Hurd Named Chairman

Due to a highly unlikely situation wherein the former Chairman of the Board of Hewlett-Packard, Patricia Dunn, was accused of “spying” on her own Board, Baylor alum Mark Hurd will now replace Dunn as Chairman effective January 18th.  Hurd, one of Baylor’s most visible corporate CEO’s has been running Hewlett-Packard since April 2005.  According to a USA Today story, “Hurd managed to simultaneously handle the crisis, get a promotion and lay the groundwork for bringing in new Board members friendly to his style of governance.” Sic’em Mark! 

Read the full story.

Baylor Religion Survey Makes National Headlines

An incredibly thought provoking survey on religious attitudes in America was published this week by Baylor’s Institute for Studies of Religion.  The survey made the front page of many of the major newspapers in the country including the USA Today article attached. It is great work by some of Baylor’s bright sociologists and terrific exposure for Baylor and it’s Christian intellectual community. Well done!

Read the full story.

An Interview with Dr. Ken Hall

Dr. Ken Hall, President and CEO of Buckner Baptist Benevolences was recently interviewed by the Dallas Morning News about the international outreach of the ministry.  For those unfamiliar with this highly influential and effective ministry, the article is well worth the time.  Dr. Hall is a man of great integrity and considered one of the great executive leaders in the Baptist world.  FOB is also proud to claim him as one of their Steering Committee members.

Coach Morriss and the Bears Head West

Coach Guy Morriss used last weekend’s 47-10 victory over Northwestern State to tune up his new offense and get ready to head to Seattle to face a dangerous Washington State team.  The game is very important in that it is winnable and it is a major non-conference opponent.  Northwestern State and Army were expected “wins” and TCU and Washington State were “could” wins.  Of course thereafter is the challenging Big XII conference schedule.  It’s difficult to qualify for a bowl without some meaningful non-conference victories.  We need this one.  Good luck to the fightin’ Baylor Bears and Godspeed for those fans following them to Seattle.

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