The legacy of the enslaved men, women and children who built and sustained the early years of Baylor University was formally honored last week with the unveiling of a new “Memorial to Enslaved Persons” on the Texas campus. The tribute marks the first permanent campus structure dedicated to acknowledging the role of enslaved labor in the university’s founding in 1845.
The memorial emerged from recommendations issued in 2021 by Baylor’s Commission on Historic Campus Representations and approved by the Board of Regents. After the design framework was finalized in 2022 and construction began with a ceremonial groundbreaking in February 2024, the university dedicated the completed structure on Nov. 7 during a ceremony attended by faculty, staff and students on Founders Mall.
Dr. Michael McFarland, an alumnus of Baylor University and a prominent figure in the field of education, gave the memorial address referencing Hebrews 12:1: “We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses.”
“It is truly an honor to stand here today as we dedicate this memorial — a sacred space that acknowledges the courage, persistence, and enduring legacy of the enslaved men and women whose hands helped build Baylor University.
“Today, we pause to remember the unseen and the unnamed — those who labored in the heat, carved the stone, cleared the land, and carried the burdens of others. Their names may not appear in Baylor’s official record, but their fingerprints are etched forever in the stones, the soil all over this campus. Their spirit is woven into the very fabric of this awesome institution.
“The scripture reminds us that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses — men and women whose sacrifice and faith make it possible for us to stand where we stand today. Those witnesses are not simply figures of the distant past; they are the builders, the servants, and the enslaved whose silent endurance paved the way for the future we now enjoy.”
Architectural firm Sasaki worked with K4 Construction of Waco to design, develop and build the memorial. It is designed as a large, limestone-based cascading water feature on Founders Mall with nearby Resonance Garden, an amphitheater-style space created near the landmark to allow for personal reflection on the legacy of slavery.
33 illuminated voids pass through the stone to represent 33 people of all ages enslaved by the university’s co-founder, Judge R.E.B. Baylor, as recorded in the 1860 census.
An inlay map in the ground-level inner ring depicts the enslaved population in Central Texas, including at the Baylor University site, during that historical period.
The memorial is also etched with Bible scriptures and relevant text calling for Christian repentance and reconciliation.
In his commemoration address, McFarland quoted an African proverb that says, “When you pray, move your feet.”
“It means that faith without action is incomplete,” he explained.
“The individuals we honor today lived that truth — they prayed with their hearts, but they moved with their hands. Though bound in body, they were unshaken in spirit. Though denied freedom, they built the foundation for it.”
McFarland gave a personal recollection growing up in East Texas, when his father would often tell him, “Son, we drink from wells we did not dig, and we sit under shade trees we did not plant.”
“As a child, those words seemed simple. As a man, I now know they were sacred,” said McFarland.
“He was teaching me gratitude — and responsibility. Gratitude for those whose work made my life possible, and responsibility to honor their sacrifice by leaving something better for those who come after me.
“That is what this memorial represents. It is more than stone and steel; it is a testament to truth, courage, and reconciliation. It stands as a call to all of us to remember honestly, to live humbly, and to lead courageously.”
The memorial therefore served as a reminder, McFarland continued, that the story of the university, akin to the wider story of the U.S, “is both complicated and redemptive.”
“It reminds us that Baylor’s story — like the story of our great nation — is both complicated and redemptive. It calls us not to turn away from painful truths, but to face them with courage, to persist in our pursuit of justice, and to honor those who labored in obscurity by ensuring that their descendants and all God’s children experience dignity and opportunity.”
The memorial served not only to remember the suffering of the slaves remembered but also affirmed their humanity, according to McFarland. Similarly, the commemoration not only memorialized their labor in building the university but celebrated their legacy.
“This memorial stands as a testament to what is possible when a community chooses honesty over comfort, reconciliation over denial, and truth over silence,” said McFarland.
“This moment reflects Baylor at its best — willing to look back, not with shame, but with purpose; not to rewrite history, but to redeem it.
“May this memorial serve as a place of reflection and renewal — a place where every visitor is reminded that progress is born of persistence, that courage often comes from the unseen, and that the truest measure of a community is how it honors those who had no voice.”
McFarland hopes that every person visiting the site would be reminded that courage is born in struggle, that freedom is purchased through faith, and that legacy is sustained by love.
“As we dedicate this space, let us commit to be builders of a more just and compassionate tomorrow — to live and lead in ways that ensure future generations can sit under the shade trees of our own faithful labor,” he added.
