DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it — and it's a story worth tellin'. There's a quadrangle at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, that carries a name, a history, and a few living traditions that have outlasted just about everything around them. The marker calls it Burleson Quadrangle, named in honor of Dr.
Rufus C. Burleson, the first president of Baylor's Waco campus. And once you know what's standing inside those four corners, you start to understand why they'd name the whole place after a man.
The Quadrangle took on its current shape building by building, year by year. Old Main went up in 1886. Georgia Burleson Hall followed in 1888.
Then came 1903 — a busy year — when both the F. L. Carroll Chapel and Library and the George W.
Carroll Science Building were completed. Four original buildings framing a single open space, and with that fourth cornerstone set, the Quadrangle became what it is today: a social gathering place and a living link to Baylor's history and tradition. Now here's where the story starts to breathe.
The 1920s brought a ceremony to the Quadrangle called the Ring Out. Every spring, it happened right there in that open space — senior students passing an ivy chain to junior students. That chain, simple as it sounds, symbolizes the handing off of custodianship of the historic bells located in the Quadrangle to Baylor's next graduating class.
The ceremony started with female students. Over time it grew to include male students too. And here's the thing — it's still performed today.
The Quadrangle watched it begin, and the Quadrangle watches it still. Then there's 1945, which turns out to be a consequential year on more than one count. Baylor celebrated its centennial, and during those centennial festivities, a time capsule was placed right there in the Quadrangle.
Since that year, students at graduation time have participated in the passing of the key ceremony — also held in the Quadrangle — and that key opens the very time capsule sealed during the university's hundredth year. You want to talk about patience and tradition living side by side, that's it right there. Also in 1945, a centennial monument was constructed within the Quadrangle using stones gathered from two sources: Tryon Hall, formerly located at Baylor's Independence campus, and several buildings on the Waco campus.
Old stones. Stones that had stood somewhere else, long before. Set together now in that central space, they hold ground quietly while the ceremonies go on around them.
And then there's the bronze. Standing in Burleson Quadrangle is a sculpture of Dr. Burleson himself, unveiled in 1905.
It was created by Pompeo Coppini — Italian-born, Texas-adopted, and by the marker's own word, renowned. Coppini lived from 1870 to 1957, and in that long life he left work in stone and bronze across Texas. This one stands in the quadrangle that carries the name of the man it depicts.
Four buildings. A spring ivy chain. A key to a sealed capsule.
Stones from campuses past. And a bronze figure watchin' over all of it. Burleson Quadrangle doesn't just sit there — it keeps time, passes things forward, and holds what Baylor doesn't want to lose.
That's not nothing. That's the whole idea.
What the marker says
Dr. Rufus C. Burleson was the first president of Baylor’s Waco campus and Burleson Quadrangle was named in his honor. With the completion of Baylor’s four original buildings—Old Main (1886), Georgia Burleson Hall (1888), the F. L. Carroll Chapel and Library (1903), and the George W. Carroll Science Building (1903), the Quadrangle took on its current appearance, and has since that time served as a social area and a link to Baylor’s history and tradition. Burleson Quadrangle has often been the site of the evolving social norms and customs at Baylor. During the 1920s the “Ring Out” ceremony, held every spring in Burleson Quadrangle, became a Baylor tradition and is still performed today. The ceremony involves the passing of an ivy chain from senior students to junior students, and symbolizes the passing of custodianship of the historic bells that are located in the Quadrangle to Baylor’s next graduating class. The ceremony was originally performed by female students, but has since grown to also include male students. Since 1945, students have participated in the passing of the key ceremony, also held in the Quadrangle at graduation time. The key opens a Baylor time capsule that was placed in the Quadrangle during the university’s 1945 centennial. Burleson Quadrangle is the location of a bronze sculpture of Dr. Burleson, unveiled in 1905 and created by renowned Italian-born Texas sculptor Pompeo Coppini (1870-1957). The centennial monument, also located within the Quadrangle, was constructed in 1945 using stones from Tryon Hall (formerly located at the Independence campus) and several buildings on the Waco campus.