This week in Christian history: Baylor charted, 'Four Chaplains' tragedy

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Sunday, January 30, 2022

Baylor University chartered – Feb. 1, 1845

The campus of Baylor University | Baylor University/Morty Ortega

This week marks the anniversary of when Baylor University, a prominent Baptist academic institution, was chartered by the Republic of Texas, at the time a sovereign nation.

Baylor traced its origins to the actions of the Texas Baptist Education Society, which in the previous year had successfully petitioned Texas’ congress to create the school.

The university was named after co-founder Robert Emmett Bledsoe Baylor, a judge and a minister, with the first classes being held in Independence, Texas.

“In 1886, Baylor and Waco University consolidated to form Baylor University at Waco,” explained Baylor on its website.

“From humble beginnings in Independence, Texas, the campus has grown to approximately 1,000 acres in Waco, Texas, annually educating more than 19,000 men and women to pursue their individual life callings.”