After World War II, Baylor University attempted to expand its footprint and prestige as an institution of higher learning. Throughout the 1950s, funds were raised and allocated for construction projects that would grant status, stability, and institutional relevancy to Baylor.
Before Floyd Casey: The Backing of Baylor Stadium at the Dawn of Televised Football by Lauren Christian – The foibles and advances of the fundraising for, construction, and management of Baylor Stadium in the 1950s speak to the investment of Baylor, Waco, and Texas in Baylor Bear football. In the 1950’s alone, Baylor Stadium became both a boon and a burden to Baylor and its supporters across Texas. It was a source of publicity, a point of contention with the community of Waco, and a conduit to bring Baylor into the future of televised football.
Construction and Contention: Tidwell Bible Building by Toni Nogalski – By constructing the Tidwell Bible Building, the university stood to not only honor a well-respected man with important ties to the institution, but also to further cement its commitment to provide a distinctly Christian education. With the opportunity to grow much-needed facilities, achieve institutionally espoused values, and increase Baylor’s reputation, there was ample incentive to pursue this building initiative. Even so, timely construction of Tidwell Bible Building was nevertheless marred by poor timing, logistical complications, and improper planning on multiple fronts.
Too Low to Be Competitive: Faculty Salaries at Baylor, 1951-1960 by Megan Foo – Low faculty salaries plagued Baylor University during the latter half of the 1950s. As the administration and the rest of the university became aware of the fact that the salaries earned by Baylor’s faculty were much lower than the salaries offered by other institutions across the nation, they struggled to find ways to remedy the problem within the university’s financial constraints. Even though plans were formulated to give salary increases based on merit, funds were solicited from the community and tuition went up. The salary increases that those measures enabled were still not sufficient to elevate faculty salaries at Baylor to a level that would be nationally competitive.
Despite the wealth directed toward campus construction, other areas of the university did not enjoy the same level of affluence or attention. Baylor tried to capitalize on the boom of a post-war era by expanding its campus but struggled to allocate scarce resources across different campus constituents.
Papers
Before Floyd Casey: The Backing of Baylor Stadium at the Dawn of Televised Football by Lauren Christian
Construction and Contention: Tidwell Bible Building by Toni Nogalski
Too Low to Be Competitive: Faculty Salaries at Baylor, 1951-1960 by Megan Foo