College was invented for days like Thursday.
It's the middle of the semester, so all the school kids are immersed in their studies, while still keeping a sharp eye on their social calendars and, of course, RG3 and the Baylor football team.
It was a sunny 71 degrees, a little cool in the shade, but the kind of day that makes a person more than happy to walk all the way across campus.
And it just so happens that this grungy old dude found himself on the Baylor campus today on WacoFork business. I had the pleasure of meeting with Baylor student government external vice president Angela Gray to speak about an upcoming project called Passport to Waco.
Since it's also porches and patios week, we sat outside on the porch in front of the Baylor student union building, which by the way might just be the best porch I've been to this week. It's really pretty there, not to mention the buzz of activity and a plethora of dining choices just inside the doors of the SUB. I opted for a Mooyah burger and chocolate shake, while Gray went for chicken nuggets from Chick-Fil-A. The only limitation for this particular porch is limited seating. There are about 10 4-top tables in the spacious porch area, but I've noticed they tend to be occupied around the standard lunch hour. Fortunately, Gray and I had an early lunch at a little after 11.
Hey, non-Baylor Waco, it's actually pretty fun to park in visitor parking and get lunch at the SUB. Don't worry about the college kids pointing and giggling at you. They won't even notice you. They're too busy thinking about medieval literature and some band you've probably never heard of.
But more than bringing Waco to Baylor, today Gray and I talked about taking Baylor to Waco.
Gray, a native of Corpus Christi, said she appreciates Waco and takes her opportunities to get out and explore new areas around town, especially restaurants. Coincidentally, or perhaps naturally, that's also kind of her job as student government external VP.
The objective of having an external VP, I guess, is to take Baylor into the Waco community, thus the word external. Gray said she wants to work to change some students' perspective that Waco is lame and there's nothing to do here. Yes. We want the same thing, especially since we think that perspective is completely misguided.
So Gray is planning to launch Passport to Waco in the spring. The idea of the program will be to give Baylor students incentive to break out of the Baylor bubble and into local restaurants and other attractions.
Let's see, I think I can think of a few reasons why this is a good idea. It will 1) help Baylor students to experience the town where they're spending a significant portion of their lives and theoretically should 2) give them a better appreciation and respect for the things Waco has to offer. Meanwhile, it 3) gets new business to local restaurants that is pretty likely to 4) result in repeat customers, thus 5) enhancing their reputation among the young, hip college crowd.
Win, win, win, win win.
Yeah, WacoFork wants to be a part of this.
