Baylor in the News – Feb. 2-8, 2025

Contact: Baylor University Media & Public Relations, 254-710-1961
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Note: The opinions expressed in these articles do not necessarily reflect those of the University.

Baylor University faculty experts and researchers highlight Baylor’s Black Gospel Archive, technological advancements to benefit food insecurity, power structures showcased through fashion and a longstanding Texas collegiate partnership that benefits student worship.

Featured News

Texas Standard: Black Gospel Archive receives $2.48 million grant to add oral history, increase space

Baylor’s Black Gospel Archive is featured, with Stephen Newby, D.M.A., The Lev H. Prichard III Endowed Chair in the Study of Black Worship, discussing the importance of the collection and how it will expand with help of the new grant funding. This story also aired on radio stations across the state via Texas Public Radio. 

National/International

Yahoo! News: New mobile app launches to combat food insecurity in Mower County  

Craig Gundersen, Ph.D., The Snee Family Endowed Chair at the Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty and professor of economics, is interviewed about a new app that connects community members with food resources and volunteer opportunities. Gundersen says the app is “a way of gauging the amount of need and whether food insecurity is improving or decreasing.”

Inside Higher Ed: A Need for Digital Resources on Media Literacy for College Students 

Baylor University’s free media literacy course for students is mentioned as a solution to concerns about college students’ digital literacy skills amid a growing technological world of misinformation.  

Faculty Focus: Effective Strategies for Sustaining Student Attention during PowerPoint Lectures

Baylor entrepreneurship Ph.D. candidate Jacob Hoekstra authored this essay, which dives into researched strategies for engaging students when using PowerPoint presentations, including small-group discussions, polling tools and cold-calling.   

USA Today: Degrading or empowering? Why people can’t stop talking about Bianca Censori’s naked dress

Lorynn R. Divita, Ph.D., associate professor of apparel design and merchandising at Baylor, discusses the fashion theory of “vicarious consumption” and its role in the pop culture debate over Ye West’s wife’s revealing dress at the Grammy Awards. She also mentions "the pendulum of fashion" as bringing the opposite of a current trend once it is exhausted.

 Your Tango: 11 Brilliant Phrases That Shut Down Overly Opinionated People 

This article mentions a Baylor University study that highlights how couples don’t always want an apology during an argument but instead a willingness to give up power, which can contribute to finding common ground during conflict with others. 

Local/Regional

Baptist Standard: Worship Initiative a partner in training worship leaders 

Chason Disharoon, associate director of Baylor’s Dunn Center for Christian Music Studies, explains how the Worship Initiative has partnered with Baylor to successfully sustain Worship Lab, an annual music summer camp hosted by the Dunn Center that allows students to have direct training from those involved with the Worship Initiative.   

Waco Tribune-Herald: Baylor Opera to stage fairytale opera ‘Hänsel and Gretel’

Baylor Opera Theatre presents Engelbert Humperdinck’s 1893 opera Hänsel and Gretel, featuring a 25-piece orchestra and a cast of Baylor Opera singers. The production aligns with the season's fables and fairytales theme and continues the opera theater’s lineup, which includes Into the Woods, Cinderella and Little Red’s Most Unusual Day.

Waco Tribune-Herald: Waco businesses eye tariff specter, economist says proposal would cost Texas $45B in GDP, 360K jobs

Lourenco Paz, Ph.D., associate professor of economics at Baylor, offered his perspective on new U.S. tariffs, saying the current administration “will try to implement its agenda as fast as possible while the GOP controls both chambers of the Congress” and one way to achieve cooperation is through credible economic threats.

KCEN-TV: ‘Important to decide what they support, what they don’t’: Central Texans join nationwide protests against ‘Project 2025’ 

Patrick Flavin, Ph.D., The Bob Bullock Professor of Political Science, discusses the Trump administration’s recent executive actions and the “Project 2025” document. 

ABOUT BAYLOR MEDIA & PUBLIC RELATIONS

Baylor's Office of Media and Public Relations (M&PR) supports the University's Baylor in Deeds strategic plan as a premier Christian Research 1 university by focusing on faculty research and expert opinions, innovative teaching, major awards and recognition, and community involvement. Through its media coaching workshops, the Baylor M&PR team develops faculty experts to effectively communicate the impact of their research or speak as subject-matter experts into national trends and conversations with media outlets, through Hot Topics and on the Baylor Connections podcast. Our faculty expert directory is available on the M&PR website.

ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked Research 1 institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 20,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions. Learn more about Baylor University at www.baylor.edu.