During the thirty-seven days since Baylor's representatives formally presented this significant proposal to the BAA's Board of Directors on September 19, we worked non-stop to give the proposal the due diligence it deserved. This work occurred at the same time as our preparations for celebrating the BAA's 150th anniversary and other events at Homecoming, which is always the busiest time of the year for the BAA staff. Additionally, our work has been significant on the many other regular responsibilities of your alumni association at this time of year.

This proposal made an unprecedented request of the BAA. Accordingly, we gave it the due diligence that was in keeping with a proposal this significant. We have been appropriately and seriously working on establishing the process by which to study the proposal as well as seeking the input of our 19,000 members.

Contrary to the statements of others, we have not taken actions that indicate the BAA would reject the proposal. What we have done is go about our normal business at this busy time of year while giving attention to this new and significant issue. The BAA's "United for Baylor" five-year plan, which has been pointed to as evidence of an inclination to reject the proposal, was actually formalized last spring and presented in the issue of the Baylor Line that came out the same weekend that the Baylor representative met with our board.

The BAA's five-year plan predates the merger proposal. We do not feel that this five-year plan decreases our ability or desire to consider this proposal from the regents. On the contrary, we believe this five-year plan allows us the option to consider any and all proposals to benefit Baylor as we enhance our financial position and make plans to support Baylor and its alumni even further.

 
Giving this proposal its due attention has amounted to a great amount of work these past thirty-seven days, especially considering the measures that were required to address the public-relations campaign that the university initiated two days after presenting the merger proposal to our board. It was never our intent to address this matter in the court of public opinion before conducting our assessment and response, but due to the university's public efforts to seek endorsements of the proposal and to disparage the performance of the BAA, we were compelled to respond in an effort to provide balance, context, and facts to our members for their consideration in this process.  

We had nearly finished assembling the Study Committee and the Advisory Committee, as well as finalizing their specific charges, when the university surprisingly announced its withdrawal of the proposal yesterday. We had also given time and energy to seeking the views of our members regarding this proposal. Receiving such input was needed to determine the attitude of the members we represent. There are many examples of leaders today hurrying through significant legislation without a proper amount of input and discussion, and we wanted to avoid that in this case.

We heard a strong voice from alumni in response to the merger proposal, with 88 percent expressing support for the BAA's independence. You can read them at "Proposal Responses." The rest of the Baylor family heard this voice as well.

What needs to happen now is for alumni to follow up on their expressions of support by providing an increased level of financial support to the BAA. We need young alumni who have not been members to join for the first time. We need annual members to increase the level of their annual gift. We need life members to make a sustaining annual gift. Our organization relies upon this support for its daily operations. Those gifts can be made online on the Membership section of the BAA's website.

While we were surprised when the regents initially submitted their proposal on September 19 and are now equally surprised that they have suddenly withdrawn the proposal, we do want to make it clear that the BAA devoted a significant amount of work over these past thirty-seven days to the process of formulating a response to them.

We will soon formulate a more official response to the university regarding the withdrawal of the proposal. We look forward to identifying new and unique ways that the BAA and Baylor can work together in the future as we serve Baylor alumni. Over many decades, the BAA-Baylor partnership has been strong and successful. We believe that it can continue to be so.

Rae Goldsmith -- a vice president at the Council on Advancement and Support of Education, a nonprofit group that helps universities with fundraising, alumni relations, and communications -- stated in a recent Dallas Morning News article covering the proposal that "the structure isn't what matters, but it's really all about how they (BAA-Baylor) work together and what their mutual goals are."

For the sake of peace and unity for all of the Baylor family, we will put this issue behind us beginning today, focus on our job, and get back to work serving alumni and supporting our great alma mater.

David Lacy '79