15 Pictures That Prove Why Being A Bear Is The Best

Baylor has many different aspects that make it the perfect place for people looking for a smaller college. From fountain mall to Moody Library to the BSB, Baylor has a lot of places that are good for hanging out, studying, napping, or pretty much anything you can think of. Tie your hammock up anywhere, or go sit on one of the benches outside the sub, and you are good to go to have quite time to your self, do a little devotional, or hang out with friends. Another upside- lots of people walk their dogs around campus, so if you are coming from far away and miss your dogs, there are always some around campus. Check out these awesome pictures that prove why being a Bear is the best.

1. Pokey O’s are a Waco favorite.

They come to a lot of events at Baylor. Ice cream and cookies are already great, so put them together and they are superb. Fountain mall is a great place to chill and eat pokey o’s, or just chill in general. There are tons of events that happen around fountain mall all year long. For example, in the fall semester Zeta Tau Alpha has Think Pink Week to support their philanthropy and during the spring you can try to shoot a free throw to get a free shirt to support the basketball teams. Just the other day the riding club had some horses out to advertise their club, and Alpha Chi Omega had a puppy pen to advertise their annual Healthy Relationships Week!

2. Intramurals are a big way involved on campus.

Whether is be on a team in your dorm, or with a sorority/fraternity, intramurals teams are super fun to participate in (or just watch because not everyone is into sports). Available sports range from flag football to walleyball to soccer to rugby. Joining an intramural team is also a good way to meet new people around campus. And it’s not even about winning. Although some teams do get pretty competitive, having fun is the main goal of intramurals. So you don’t have to worry if you have never played sports. Everything goes through IM Leagues, so it’s super organized and easy to keep up with the game schedules.

3. Probably one of the best parts of being a freshman at Baylor is running the line.

Although it can be a little scary at the first game, running the line is so much fun! You have to show up pretty early to be at the front (my friends and I showed up two hours early for each game), but if you’re not to worried about that then you can show up when you want and just run. Sitting in the line section is pretty great as well. Baylor hooks up all the new students with the best seats in the stadium (right behind the opposing team). So not only are you going to have a sideline view, you will also be in the perfect spot to distract the opposing team during the game (which comes in handy at big games like TCU, OU, and WV).

4. Baylor has a wide variety of Greek organizations to pick from.

Students can choose from the Interfraternity Council , Multicultural Greek Council, National Panhellenic Council, Panhellenic Council, or Local Organizations, all of which come together to make up 40 different greek organizations. The Interfraternity Council includes 13 fraternities such as Pi Kappa Phi, Delta Tau Delta, and Kappa Sigma. The National Panhellenic Council makes up 5 organizations such as Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity.

The Multicultural Greek Council makes up 9 organizations such as Beta Kappa Gamma Fraternity, Delta Epsilon Psi Fraternity, and Delta Kappa Delta Sorority. Panhellenic Council makes up 8 sororities such as Alpha Delta Pi, Pi Beta Phi, and Kappa Kappa Gamma. Other Local Organizations account for the last 5 groups such as Kappa Chi Alpha Sorority and Kappa Omega Tau Fraternity. At Baylor 25% of all students are involved in some sort of Greek organization, so it is an awesome way to way to get connected to other students, work with a new philanthropy, and stay involved on campus.

5. Do I even need to explain this one?

Baylor comes with so much history. Baylor first began in 1845 when the Baptist Education Society requested a charter for a Baptist University. Four cities, Travis, Huntsville, Shannon’s Prairie and Independence, put in bids to have the university, and after deliberation, Independence was selected. In 1886, Waco University and Baylor University combined to form Baylor University at Waco. Since then Baylor has grown to more than 1,000 acres and annually educates more than 15,000 students per year.

6. Baylor is not only home to the Bears and the Lady Bears, but also literal bears.

Lady and Joy are the two bears that live in the in campus bear pit by the sub. Baylor Chamber are the care takers for the bears and are responsible for feeding, putting them in their sleeping chambers every night and letting them out every night, and making sure the pit stays clean. Lady and Joy stay in the pit yearlong and since they are fed special diets by Chamber, do not hibernate.

7. One of the amazing things Baylor does through Baylor Law is host an adoption day for children going through the foster care system.

For nines years now Baylor Law has hosted this event and helped to finalize the adoption of several kids each year. On the 2016 adoption day, 41 kids joined their forever families thanks to Baylor Law.

8. Basketball is another fun aspect of Baylor.

The Lady Bears Basketball team has 6 consecutive Big 12 Championships under their belt. The Men’s Basketball team led Baylor to its first #1 ranking in school history this season. The atmosphere of the basketball games is awesome, and Fixer Upper star Chip Gaines is often present in the Bear Pit with the students to cheer on the Bears.

9. If you go to Baylor you will know Miss Mei.

Miss Mei makes the cookies at Memorial Dining Hall and is one of the sweetest women you will ever meet. Whether you come in with a to go box to load up on cookies, or are grabbing one on your way to class, Miss Mei is going to be there at the cookies to greet you with a smile. She will always tell you goodbye and to be safe if the semester is coming to a break, and if a holiday is coming up she will have little goody bags with the cookies in them.

10. One of the symbols of Baylor University is the Judge Baylor statue.

Back when Baylor was beginning, Robert Emmett Bledsoe Baylor, one of the founders, stated that he wanted to see every student that went to Baylor. His statue was placed facing Waco Hall because of this. Every student at Baylor is required to take two semesters of Chapel in Waco Hall. Therefor, by facing Judge Baylor to Waco Hall, he can fulfill his dream of seeing all of the students that choose to come to Baylor.

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11. Baylor is a place of community.

After a student was faced with a situation of racial discrimination, hundreds of other students rallied to her side. Students started the #iwalkwithNatasha hashtag and surprised her outside of Waco Hall to walk her to her next class as the BSB. Not only did students show up to show their support, Interim President David Garland and other faculty members gathered to show that Baylor is about community.

12. Waco features a farmers market every Saturday market where you can go buy fresh food and other things from local venders.

But, beginning this past semester, Baylor hosts a free farmer market on Fountain Mall for students to come get free fruit and vegetables.

13. One of the biggest traditions at Baylor is Homecoming weekend.

There is the pep rally, parade, tailgating, and the football game. The parade, which happens on Saturday morning before the game, is the largest collegiate Homecoming Parade in the country. It runs along 5^th street, so freshmen have the luxury of living on campus and being able to walk to the parade. The game is also one of the highest attendance games Baylor has (homecoming and TCU are probably the biggest two). At the pep rally the spirit squads perform, there is a giant bonfire on Fountain Mall to celebrate, and the eternal flame is lit.

14. Line camp is such an amazing experience.

It is your first time officially meeting students from your class. Whether you choose the campus line camp or the mission trip line camp, you are going to create a bond with your small group through all of the activities and small group wind downs y’all go through. From the trip down to Independence to doing a mock All University Sing, you learn different things about everyone in your small group and the other group you pair up with. You also get a little experience of what it is like to stay in the dorms and eat in the dining halls.

15. Finally, the best (in my opinion) thing that Baylor has to offer are the therapy dogs that come every semester during finals.

The therapy dogs come to the basement of Moody to sit and students are welcome to come see them on a study break. It is just a way for students to wind down during finals so they can get that little boost they need to get through finals.