It’s a great day to be a Baylor Bear! No rolling of the eyes, please. Through the years, I opened many of my columns with those words. However, in the past few months those words just haven’t come as easily. So you may be wondering now why I would begin this column with such optimism, considering the serious and difficult issues we have faced in Baylor Athletics over the past 12 months. To fully understand my position here, you would need to be familiar with my motivating source – Mrs. Lucille Beatrice Abercrombie, my mother, God rest her soul. My optimistic nature comes from her. With the recent celebration of Mother’s Day, I decided to honor my mother by summoning her wise counsel. You see, when I was a child, my mom would often say to me, “Baby, if you can’t find the sunshine, be the sunshine.” So in memory of my dear old mom, I am choosing to be the sunshine today.

I have had the honor of working at this great institution for the past 13 years. Because of the outstanding Christian men and women I interact with daily, I cannot imagine a finer place to work. Yet, while the past year has been difficult, I am optimistic about Baylor University’s future for three basic reasons – 1) With key changes, personnel and otherwise, a real transformation is beginning to take shape at our alma mater; 2) I have witnessed and participated in sincere efforts to address our problems; 3) and most importantly, because I believe in God’s amazing grace. With earnest humility, I believe our best days are ahead of us.

On another note, this has been a very busy spring for the association. Aside from day to day operations, we have also hosted several major alumni events including the Men’s Basketball Alumni Day, Letterwinners/Football Coaches Mixer, Fightin’ Bear Golf Classic, and the annual Track Reunion/Dinner at the Michael Johnson Invitational. I hope you had a chance to participate in at least one of these exciting events. If not, there will be other opportunities to get involved this coming summer.

Here are a few upcoming events in which we invite you to participate:  On June 9, the “B” Association will host the annual Houston Area Letterwinners Mixer (TBA, Houston, Texas) and on June 16, we will collaborate again with the Texas Rangers to host Baylor Night at Globe Life Park in Arlington. Please mark your calendars now. Finally, I am thrilled to announce that the “B” Association will host the National Letterwinners Conference (NLWA) on Baylor campus June 27-29. The NLWA is a professional organization made up of representatives from colleges and universities from across the United States that have organizations that recognize and serve their respective athletic alumni and letterwinners. These organizations include male and female former student-athletes in all recognized NCAA sports. This will be the first time Baylor has been the host site for the event. More than 100 representatives from over 60 universities are expected to attend. There are limited volunteer opportunities available at the conference. If you are interested in volunteering for this event, please contact Tammy Hardin at tammy_hardin@baylor.edu, or call (254) 710-3045.

Have a great summer, and we hope to see you again soon.

Sic ’em!

Walter Abercrombie
Executive Director, Baylor “B” Association