Local politicians and business leaders were part of Baylor University’s team as the school fought an uphill battle to keep the Big 12 Conference together.

Baylor President Ken Starr praised their efforts, though it is difficult to gauge what effect Waco-area leaders had on the final outcome.

The list includes U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco; Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce President Jim Vaughan; state Reps. Jim Dunnam, D-Waco, and Charles “Doc” Anderson, R-Waco; Waco Mayor Jim Bush and others.

But officials said the concerted effort by all parties has brought an added degree of solidarity to Baylor’s relationships with community leaders.

“What we saw clearly during the past two weeks was the impact of swift and strong leadership on the part of our elected officials when the focus of the discussion becomes what is best for our community,” Starr told the Tribune-Herald on Thursday.

“We were also reminded once again of how much we share in common with Central Texas and how closely the fortunes of the city of Waco and the university are intertwined,” he said.

Vaughan said he thought the school acted wisely in reaching out to as many people as it could to support its cause.

‘Ask everybody to help’

“To me, when you’re up against a wall, ask everybody to help,” Vaughan said. “You never know who might get through or whether the multiple contacts cause somebody to pause long enough to think about, ‘Might there be something we’re missing here?’ ”

Pac-10 Commissioner Larry Scott told the Associated Press on Wednesday that politicians’ work on Baylor’s and Texas A&M’s behalf was game-changing.

“No. 1, I think there was a tsunami of Texas political pressure from Texas A&M and Baylor,” Scott said.

The Pac-10 was working on an agreement for Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State to leave the Big 12 and join its league. Baylor would have been left out of a major conference.

Relationships in place

Anderson said he was in contact with a few Baylor regents, including Waco’s Ramiro Pena, pastor of Christ the King Baptist Church.

But, Anderson said, “we had a background and didn’t need to spend a lot of time (talking about) what needed to be done.”

Anderson said politicians tried “to slow things down and reinforce in folks’ minds, especially the regents (at Texas, Texas A&M and Texas Tech), that there is a greater responsibility to the state and to the people than just what some athletic directors think might be cool for their school.”

Guide for future issues

The ordeal can serve as a guide for dealing with issues that may arise in the future that pose a threat to the well-being of Baylor, Waco or Central Texas, Anderson said.

“I think, if there’s a problem in the future of this severity, I would encourage them to take the same approach: all hands on deck,” Anderson said.

“Certainly, myself, Jim Dunnam and whoever our next (state) senator will be would be very much willing to step into the breach and do everything we could to protect Baylor because it’s such an integral part of our community.

“But, yes, I would say that would be a template for (Baylor) to build on. Hopefully, there won’t be another challenge like that in the future, though.”

An early test

Starr, who took over as Baylor’s president June 1, said he did not expect to face such an enormous test so early in his presidency.

“I was ignorant, and ignorance was bliss,” Starr said. “It has been drinking water out of a very large firehose.”

But the immediate crisis met a successful conclusion, with the Big 12 remaining together, and the lessons of his first two weeks were not lost on Starr, he said.

“What lessons did we learn? That Baylor University is blessed to be surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses in the form of our elected officials, the local civic and business community, and our regent leadership, as well as alumni and friends both near and far,” Starr said.

“When the clarion call was issued, a powerful army assembled and worked together to overcome tremendous obstacles on their way to a stunning victory. . . . We have a remarkable team.”

twoods@wacotrib.com

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