By Tim Woods

Tribune-Herald staff writer

As Baylor Alumni Association president Bill Nesbitt spoke last week at a dinner for senior alumni about warming the relationship with Baylor University regents, some of his audience felt left out in the cold.

The Heritage Club members, who graduated at least 50 years ago, weren’t disappointed by Nesbitt’s speech, giving him a rousing ovation. But some felt jilted by Baylor administration and regents, who did not attend the event.

The club was established in 1977, and the president’s office has sponsored the event each year since. Either the president or key Baylor officials deliver an address, the highlight of the three-day event.

But this year President John Lilley’s office declined an invitation to sponsor the event, according to BAA executive vice president Jeff Kilgore. Neither Lilley nor other administration members spoke at the dinner, leaving the honor to Nesbitt.

And nobody from the administration or regents attended the dinner honoring nearly 400 of the alums, Kilgore and Nesbitt said.

Joe Ross, 71, a 1958 graduate and former Fort Worth schools superintendent, said he and others felt ignored at the Heritage Club event, his first.

“At our table, we asked, ‘Where’s the president?’ ” Ross said. “I thought he might be sick or in the hospital or something. I know that in my role as superintendent, that is the kind of event that you just don’t miss.”

Ross said he was shocked by the regents’ absence.

“I raised the question, are we being ignored, and, if so, why?” Ross said. “I’m certainly in the dark as to what would rise to the level of why a group of regents would miss a meeting of an important group of alumni.”

Ross and others questioned whether they stayed away because of lingering animosity after a couple years of squabbling between regents and the association.

John Barry, Baylor vice president of marketing and communications, said Lilley was unavailable for the April 7 dinner because an important opportunity presented itself for the university and pulled Lilley away.

“There was no intention on the president’s part to be unavailable the night of the Heritage Club dinner,” Barry said. “There was no intent to not attend the event. The responsibilities he has right now sometimes take the calendar out of his hands, and unfortunately this is the case.”

Regents chairman Harold Cunningham, who Kilgore said was scheduled to speak in Lilley’s stead until a week to 10 days before the event, was unavailable for comment, but Barry spoke with him and said Cunningham denied that the regents’ absence was any kind of a planned snub.

“He said, categorically, no, the regents are not intentionally avoiding BAA events,” Barry said. “There are a great many events here on campus, and some regents are able to attend some and some regents attend others, but (Cunningham) was very clear in saying that there has been absolutely no decision on the part of the regents to intentionally avoid or intentionally distance themselves from BAA events.”

In his speech at the dinner, Nesbitt discussed tensions between the BAA and regents, perhaps stemming from former president Robert B. Sloan Jr.’s final days at Baylor and the role some regents perceive the BAA to have played in his departure.

Referring to a recent discussion he had with an interviewer from a firm enlisted to assess the environment at Baylor, Nesbitt said, “I told him that it’s obvious that a majority of regents don’t like the Alumni Association.”

Nesbitt spoke of wanting to improve the working relationship between the BAA and regents. He said, though, that the association would not be willing to sacrifice its independent voice at any cost, something BAA officials have said some regents would like to stifle.

He likened the BAA to a dog and said the relationship can go two ways, based on how the dog is handled.

“A dog can be referred to as man’s best friend, but a dog can also be man’s worst nightmare at times. It all depends on how that dog is treated,” Nesbitt said. “I think we’ve sort of been put out in the backyard and tied up at the end of a chain, and, in a way, yes, that does sort of affect our behavior.”

He added, “We represent Baylor’s largest constituency, by miles, and . . . we want to be a help, but we need to be taken into the house and treated as a member of the family.”

Barry said Cunningham told him he appreciates Nesbitt’s desire to mend fences.

“(Cunningham) said that our vision is ambitious, and he recognizes the need for participation by the entire Baylor family, and he’s encouraged to know that (Nesbitt) wants to be helpful in seeking ways to support Baylor’s forward progress.”

Ross said he hopes the BAA and regents are able to put their differences aside but was at a loss to explain how those differences might negatively affect a Heritage Club event.

“It seems that whatever is going on, this event is above any kind of squabble that is taking place,” Ross said. “These are senior alumni who deserve to be recognized. . . . Somebody should have been there, even if just to say hello.”

twoods@wacotrib.com

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Bill Nesbitt talk to the Heritage Club, April 7, 2008, Waco Convention Center:

I want to thank Jeff Kilgore and the wonderful staff of the Alumni Association. And I want to ask you to stand up. Jeff Kilgore is the very capable leader of a talented, dedicated and hard-working staff. Jeff, please stand. And all of the staff of the association, please stand with Jeff.

Jeff told me that President (John) Lilley and Provost (Randall) O’Brien were on other missions for Baylor tonight. And also head football coach Art Briles and head men’s basketball coach Scott Drew were not available. I jumped at the chance to speak to you because I have something I want to do and some things I want to say.

I want to acknowledge Mrs. Reynolds; also, Kent and Katy Reynolds. You honor us with your presence. And I want to acknowledge Dr. Bill Hillis who was an encourager and inspiration to my son Bill who is a cardiologist in Dallas. It made all the difference in Bill’s life that Dr. Hillis was in the classroom and not in a research laboratory. And I want to acknowledge my cousin, Hallie Jo Reesing, who is a member of the Alumni Council and is a model of the best in Baylor alums, and Bob Feather who is vice president emeritus of Baylor development and who continues to work tirelessly to help us fund the budget of the Alumni Association.

I want to share with you a walk down memory lane with a few pages from mother’s 1936 Roundup. And then I want to talk to you about the relationship between the regents and the Alumni Association.

Shortly before entering Baylor in the Fall of 1935, mother met and fell for a handsome young man, originally from Valley Mills, graduating from Gatesville High School, recently graduated from Trinity University and now teaching at the Waco State Home. His name was Bill Nesbitt. In the summer after her freshman year she married him.

The Annual Hankamer School of Business Banquet was held in the Drawing Room of the Student Union every spring. In 1967, my senior year, I was president of the HSB student body so I sat at the head table. My mother and dad had driven over from Gatesville and I was anxious to show them all my recently obtained Baylor sophistication. The head table was on a platform raised about 3 feet above the floor. Dean Lang introduced President McCall and started back to his seat as President McCall was trying to make his way to the podium. As they passed, they bumped and Dean Lang knocked Judge McCall off the back of the platform. The crowd groaned as the Judge disappeared off the back of the platform. I’ve never heard a louder thud. And there was a huge sigh of relief when the Judge’s head slowly reappeared. How he survived injury I’ll never know. Later, Dean Lang was trying to introduce a dignitary at the head table but couldn’t remember his name. The further he got into the introduction the more panicky he became.

“And now I want to introduce one of Baylor’s most famous sons.  Uh...uh. One of the most celebrated Baylor grads, everyone knows his name. Everyone knows him.” 

The Dean was in his last year before retirement and was having a senior moment. He was stalling, clinging to the desperate hope that if he bought just a little more time the name would come to him. Finally he gave up. I’ll never forget his final line, said gruffly, “What’s your name?”

I want to introduce to you my wife, Dwana Nesbitt, and my mother, Nona Margaret Gilder Nesbitt and my son, Joe Nesbitt.

 I graduated with a BBA in the Spring of ’67 with a major in accounting. My confidence got a boost when Vernon Garrett, Walter Plumhoff, Harold Cunningham and other Baylor greats with Arthur Andersen demonstrated an interest in me. Vernon Garrett is here tonight and I want to say hello Mr. Garrett and thank you! I opted for law school and started at Baylor in the Fall of ’67. My Dad died in the Spring of ’68. Mother lived on the farm where I’d grown up in Gatesville. Executive Vice President Reynolds heard about her situation and offered her a job as a dorm director at Russell Hall. It was a godsend. Mother loved everything Baylor and all those young girls loved her. I still have women telling me how much they loved my mother and how much her kind and gentle wisdom meant to them during their years in Russell Hall.

Abner McCall and Herb Reynolds went out of their way to impress upon me and others the critical role of the Alumni Association. Abner, Herb and later, Bill Underwood, believed that in the unique organizational structure of Baylor the Alumni Association was a critically necessary counterbalance to the power of the board of regents. They believed in the axiom that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. They knew that unlike the University of Texas, Texas A&M, and Texas Tech, there was no outside independent authority appointing regents. At Baylor, the regents appoint 75 percent of their successors. Also, unlike state supported universities, they knew regents were not accountable to the legislature or any other independent body. They believed it was vital that the alumni be informed and remain vigilant. Judge McCall and Dr. Reynolds presided over Baylor for 35 years. And Bill Underwood was interim president for an additional year. All three of them believed it was critical that the Alumni Association retain its independence, remain vigilant, and speak out when necessary.

As you all know, the Alumni Association and the board of regents have had a rocky relationship over the last few years. In the last month, the regents have stopped funding the Alumni Association. I was recently interviewed by an independent firm that was assessing the current environment among the Baylor family. The interviewer told me I was not the first person he’d interviewed. He said he was aware there are some issues between the board of regents and the Baylor Alumni Association. He said he’d been to lots of colleges and universities doing this kind of thing but he’s never seen anything like it is here at Baylor. “What’s the problem,” he asked?

 I told him that it’s obvious that a majority of regents don’t like the Alumni Association. He asked why. I told him the reasons I heard most often were that some regents blame the regents’ dismissal of Robert Sloan on the Alumni Association. Others believe the Alumni Association should be in the role of a cheerleader, cheering the good things and ignoring the thorny ones. I’m sure there are other issues but those are the ones I’ve heard most frequently.

There are many issues. And not everyone here tonight would agree on all of them. But some of us think it’s a mistake for the regents to withdraw financial support from its Alumni Association. I think the regents should do everything in their power to support alumni services, especially something as rich in Baylor tradition as this Heritage Club.

But we have far more in common than we have differences. We’ve reached out to the regents and requested the opportunity to meet with them to work out the problems. I’ve taken the time to get to know one or two of the key regents. We talk. We don’t always agree but we are seldom disagreeable. One of them in particular is interesting. He is successful, capable and talented. And he is complex. No oversimplified stereotypes fit him. Two descriptions do apply. He loves Baylor and he is a determined adversary of the Alumni Association. The more we talk the more confused I become about why we are estranged.

So far the board of regents has declined to meet with us but we have hope they will talk to us in the future. Settling our quarrel will require compromise and we are prepared for that. But reconciliation will not be at the price of giving up the independent voice of the alumni; nor will we compromise our right, your right, to ask questions, stay informed, be strongly supportive as often as possible, and respectfully dissent when necessary.

The fact that I am standing before you tonight and talking to you on these subjects is one of the places where we differ. They believe the Alumni Association shouldn’t talk about the issues. We believe the issues should be identified and discussed. And we believe that the alumni have a right, even a duty, to be informed and to be involved in that conversation. We believe Louis Brandeis had it right when he said sunlight is the best disinfectant.

Though in different times and circumstances, McCall, Reynolds, and Underwood conceived an alumni association, organized and governed in a way that allowed it to think and speak independently. Presidents McCall and Reynolds didn’t always agree with the Alumni Association and were sometimes agitated by its opinions, but they always defended its right to dissent and staunchly supported its critical role in the university.

There are a hundred thousand alumni who devoted years of their lives and all the money they could beg or borrow furthering their educations at Baylor. Many of them, all of you here tonight, care deeply about the university. You and the hundred thousand other alums are the human face of the fabled good old Baylor line. No administrator or regent has a greater interest in Baylor or as much at stake in its future as you. Presidents McCall, Reynolds and Underwood trusted the alumni above all others to keep the good old Baylor Line running straight and true.

Thank you for allowing me to speak to you on behalf of the 150 year old Baylor Alumni Association. And thank you for helping me honor my mother and her freshman year at Baylor and her years as a women’s dormitory director. No one ever loved Baylor more than her.

There is no university anywhere that has such a staunchly devoted base of alumni. Because of people like you, Baylor’s best days lie ahead.