Wayland Baptist University (WBU) is a private Baptist university based in Plainview, Texas. It is affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas. Wayland Baptist has 11 campuses in five Texas cities, six states, American Samoa, and Kenya. Chartered in 1908, it had about 4,000 students in 2021, including about 900 students on its main campus.
History In 1906, James Henry Wayland and his wife offered US$10,000 and of land in Plainview if the Staked Plains Baptist Association and the citizens of the city would raise an additional $40,000. In 1910, the school offered its first classes, though the administration building was incomplete. During the school's first term, a total of 225 students were taking classes in primary education through junior college. After a public school system was well established in Plainview, the elementary grades were discontinued. Wayland Baptist was admitted to the American Association of Junior Colleges in 1926 and would later be approved as a senior college by the Texas Department of Education and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The university is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and the Texas Education Agency for teacher education training.
The school is the oldest institution of higher education in continuous existence on the High Plains of Texas. When a run on the banks during the Great Depression threatened to close the school, George W. McDonald, the fifth president of the school, other administration officials, and faculty agreed to forgo pay to continue educating students, trusting God to supply their needs.
The school admitted no Black students until 1951, when a teacher, Annie Taylor of Floydada, Texas, asked the college whether she could fulfill continuing education requirements at the college. She enrolled with the consent of James W. "Bill" Marshall, the school's sixth president, making Wayland the first four-year liberal arts college in the former Confederate states to integrate voluntarily. This action came three years before the Supreme Court banned public school segregation in Brown v. Board of Education.
In 1979, Wayland opened its first campus outside Texas, in Hawaii. Ten satellite campuses are now located throughout the US.
In 2013, Wayland was ranked as the #72 university in the West Region by US News.
In 2015, Wayland applied for and was granted an exception to Title IX allowing the university to discriminate against LGBT students for religious reasons. In 2016, the organization Campus Pride ranked the college among the worst schools in Texas for LGBT students.
On July 1, 2024, Donna Hedgepath became the fourteenth president and the first woman to serve in the role.
Schools School of Math and Sciences The School of Mathematics and Sciences at Wayland Baptist University administers all mathematics and science courses taught on the Plainview campus and also those taught online. Degrees are offered in math, math education, biology, molecular biology, chemistry, and geology, along with several preprofessional service course areas such as prenursing and pre-engineering. Currently, the school has 15 faculty members—6 math and 9 sciences, with three emeritus faculty. The School serves over 400 students each semester. On average, 20 to 30 students graduate with degrees from the school each year.
Initially, math and science courses were taught in several temporary locations on the WBU campus. Eventually, they, along with most other courses, were taught in Gates Hall, and later also in the library. The Division of Math and Science was formally designated in the 1940s. Science courses were moved to refurbished army barracks located on the north side of the campus in the 1960s. The Moody Science building was constructed in the early 1970s from a generous grant from the Moody Foundation. Several of the features in the new building were designed by faculty members. Since its completion, all Plainview campus math and science courses have been held there. In 2005, the university structure was reorganized, and the Division was redesignated as the School of Mathematics and Science.Estelle Owens (2009) History of Wayland Baptist University, 167 p. The School is housed in the Moody Science Building at 1900 W 7th Street, Plainview, Texas 79072.
List of schools School of Behavioral and Social Sciences School of Business School of Christian Studies School of Education School of Creative Arts School of Humanities and Leadership School of Mathematics and Sciences School of Nursing
External campuses Amarillo, Texas Lubbock, Texas Kapolei, Hawaii Phoenix, Arizona San Antonio, Texas Sierra Vista, Arizona Wichita Falls, Texas American Samoa
Athletics The Wayland Baptist athletic teams are called the Pioneers. The university is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), primarily competing in the Sooner Athletic Conference (SAC) since the 1994–95 academic year. The Pioneers previously competed as an NAIA Independent from 1978–79 to 1993–94; and in the Texoma Athletic Conference from 1970–71 to 1977–78.
Wayland Baptist compete in 17 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, track and field and wrestling; women's sports include basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, track and field, volleyball and wrestling; and co-ed sports include cheerleading and eSports. Until 2018, Wayland Baptist was the only college in Texas to offer a wrestling program.
Football On April 1, 2010, Wayland Baptist announced its intention to bring back the football program and join the Central States Football League (CSFL) in 2012. On December 8, 2010, the Pioneers introduced Jeff Lynn, former head coach of New Mexico Military Institute, as the first head coach in over 70 years. On April 24, 2011, Lynn stepped down from head coach because of family reasons. He would be replaced by former Lubbock Coronado High School coach Butch Henderson. The football team has competed in the Sooner Athletic Conference since the 2017–2018 season which was the first season the SAC added football. The Pioneers all-time record is 34–83, as of the 2023 season.
Cross country/track and field The cross country and track and field program have won a total of 14 national championships. The programs compete at notable track meets and cross country events such as the Cowboy Jamboree, Texas Relays, Drake Relays, and the Michael Johnson Classic. In 2012, Wayland's men's track team won the NAIA National Championship by a margin of 38 points, which was the largest margin of victory in 23 years. Four Wayland athletes won individual championships, in addition to Wayland winning the 4x400 relay championship.
Women's basketball Wayland's women's basketball program, The Hutcherson Flying Queens, has the distinction of being the winningest team in women's collegiate basketball history. On November 30, 2017, during the 2017–2018 season, the Flying Queens posted their 1,600th win, 300 plus more wins than any other women's collegiate basketball team in US history. By the end of the 2016–2017 season, Tennessee who leads all NCAA DI schools, had 1,252 wins, followed by Louisiana Tech with 1,199 and Connecticut with 1,118. Wayland had 1595.
The Wayland women's basketball team has also distinguished itself in the following ways: The Flying Queens are the only team in collegiate basketball history (men or women) to record a 131-game consecutive winning streak (1953–1958). In 2013, the 1953–58 teams were honored as "Trailblazers of the Game" by the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame for the 131 game-winning streak. The team is featured in a documentary entitled Flying Queens: A Basketball Dynasty, directed by Kellie Mitchell and produced by Aperture Art Productions. From the 1948–1949 season through 2017–2018 season the Flying Queens posted 1622 wins against 562 losses for a winning percentage of .743. In this 69-year period, the Wayland Team averaged 23 wins per season. The Wayland Team has won 19 National Championships. The Flying Queens' program has had eight individuals inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in Knoxville, Tennessee. Members of the Wayland Hutcherson Flying Queens have received 212 All-American Awards from various organizations, excluding NAIA Scholar Athletes and a COSIDA Academic Award. Since the 1948–1949 season, when Wayland began keeping official statistics on the Queens, the Wayland Team has had the following affiliations: AAU (Amateur Athletic Union): Between the 1948–1949 season through the 1976–1977 season, Wayland competed in AAU women's basketball and was one of only a few colleges to compete in this classification, as teams were primarily industrial and basically professional. The Wayland Team won 10 National AAU Championships, placed second nine times, and third three times. Wayland Team members received 88 AAU All-American Awards.Nadler S. F. (1980). A Developmental History of the Wayland Hutcherson Flying Queens from 1910 to 1979 (Doctoral Dissertation). East Texas State University. NWIT (National Women's Invitational Tournament): The NWIT was initially sponsored by the Amarillo Chamber of Commerce. Wayland administrators had presented the idea to them because of Wayland's strong desire to have a national tournament limited to college teams. The NWIT was one of the first two national basketball tournaments for college women, coincidentally starting one day apart: the Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics for Women tournament held in West Chester, PA, March 20–24, 1969, and the NWIT in Amarillo, Texas, March 21–24, 1969. Wayland competed in the NWIT for 9 years (1969–1977), winning 9 consecutive NWIT National Championships and receiving 23 NWIT All-American Awards. The NWIT faded in prominence when the NCAA and NAIA assumed governance for women's basketball and was discontinued in 1996. In 1998, Triple Crown Sports resurrected the tournament as the Women's National Invitational Tournament (Women's NIT). AIAW (Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women): Wayland competed in the AIAW play-off structure for nine years, 1974–1982. During that period the team made it to the Final 4 three times finishing third in 1976 and fourth in 1978 and 1982. In both 1974 and 1975 they won the Consolation bracket. NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics): The Wayland Team has competed in NAIA Division I basketball from 1983 through 2018. They have qualified for the National Tournament 25 times garnering 38 NAIA All-American Awards, one COSIDA Academic All American, and 39 NAIA Scholar-Athlete Awards. FIBA (International Basketball Federation): Between 1953 and 1975, Wayland was represented on all seven of FIBA's Women's World Championship Teams. Nineteen Flying Queens have played in FIBA World Championships. Pan American Games: Between 1955 and 1979, Wayland was represented on all seven USA Pan American teams. Twenty-seven Flying Queens competed in these games. Wayland coaches coached the USA's teams to first place victories in 1955 and 1959 and second place in 1971.