Season Two of ‘The College Tour’ Featuring Baylor University Premieres on Amazon Prime TV
Season Two of ‘The College Tour’ Featuring Baylor University Premieres on Amazon Prime TV
By Lory Fogleman, Baylor Media| November 8, 2021
Baylor students join host Alex Boylan for inside look at Baylor campus, City of Waco
WACO, Texas (Nov. 8, 2021) – Baylor University will make its national debut on season two of The College Tour, an innovative series from Emmy-nominated producers – with segments featuring actual Baylor students – that premieres Monday, Nov. 8, on Amazon Prime TV.
Hosted by Amazing Race winner Alex Boylan and produced by Boylan, Lisa Hennessy and Survivor participant Burton Roberts, The College Tour is a powerful series created to empower high school students to virtually travel across America for an inside look at colleges and universities. Each episode of The College Tour highlights a college or university through the eyes of its students, faculty and alumni, providing future students with an intimate look at life on campus beyond what is written in brochures or websites.
“Baylor is proud to be part of The College Tour, which a new, innovative way to introduce our University to a national audience via Amazon Prime,” said Jason Cook, vice president for marketing and communications and chief marketing officer. “We’re excited for future students and their families to experience Baylor from the perspectives of a diverse group of actual students, an inspirational faculty member and our University president. With segments covering our hometown of Waco, traditions, live bears, excellent academics, Christian mission and outstanding athletics – topped off by a special guest who may bring along a championship trophy – the episode communicates all that makes Baylor truly special.”
“The College Tour is the show you wished you had when applying for colleges in high school,” Boylan said. “College visits can cost upwards of $3,000 per school, which puts them out of reach for many students and families. We are leveling the playing field and providing a free, easy and fun way to tour some of the best schools across the country.”
Filmed on location in May throughout campus and City of Waco, Baylor’s College Tour episode features real students who share their Baylor experiences through their own eyes and own words:
- Trey Thomas, a 2021 health science studies graduate from Plano, Texas, who gives an overview of Baylor’s cherished traditions, from the Baylor Line and Homecoming to Diadeloso and Dr Pepper Hour,
- Lindsey Purdham, a junior corporate communications major from Colorado Spring, Colorado, who provides an insider’s view of Baylor’s hometown of Waco and why Waco is one of the top tourist destinations in the country,
- Aidan Dougherty, a junior human resource management and Spanish major from Waco, who takes viewers behind-the-scenes of the Bear Habitat where Baylor’s live bear mascots — Judge Joy and Judge Lady — greet visitors and students daily,
- Adan De La Garza, a graduate student in strategic management from Weslaco, Texas, who provides a glimpse of what it’s like to cheer on the Bears on a national stage and how to get involved with club sports on campus,
- Mike Nakaoka, a junior history and English major from Honolulu, Hawaii, who shows all the ways students can stay active outdoors on campus and in Waco, from trail running and hiking, to biking and watersports,
- McKenna Louth, a junior neuroscience/pre-med major from Lakewood, Colorado, who takes future students on a tour of Baylor’s state-of-the-art science facility and shares more about the academic rigor, faculty mentorship and opportunities for research that are preparing her for the future,
- Gabby Swinton, a senior choral music education major from Tomball, Texas, who showcases some of the many student organizations and activities that connect Baylor students with friends and create a vibrant campus life, and
- Jack Gebele, a junior marketing/finance major from Hermosa Beach, California, who shows how Baylor’s care for the whole person — physically, emotionally and spiritually — supports Baylor students and helps them thrive.
In addition to hearing from actual students, Baylor’s College Tour episode features Jonathan Tran, Ph.D., associate professor of philosophical theology and The George W. Baines Chair of Religion, and President Linda A. Livingstone, Ph.D.
In his segment filmed in Baylor’s Paul L. Foster Campus for Business and Innovation, Tran gives insight into how faculty invest in students at Baylor, creating an academic experience that propels students to excellence. President Livingstone is featured in one of the University’s sacred spaces on campus, Elliston Chapel, where she shares how Baylor, grounded in its Christian mission, provides world-class academics, big-time athletics, a fun and active student life and more.
Speaking of championship athletics, Coach Scott Drew – who led Baylor’s men’s basketball team to the 2021 NCAA championship – drops by McLane Stadium, with championship trophy in hand, to catch up with De La Garza about cheering on the Bears across all 19 varsity sports.
“You got your head coach of the national champions on the episode. That’s pretty amazing!” Boylan said. “What stands out at Baylor, besides the fact that you get this amazing Christian education on a beautiful campus in a fantastic location, is your traditions. Some of the oldest, not only in the state of Texas but in the country, like Homecoming. And when you see what Baylor does for Christmas and for Homecoming and when freshmen [in the Baylor Line] run out on the football field, I don’t know if there’s a better story out there, how every new class gets to be a part of those traditions and how special that is.”
Season two of The College Tour is now available on Amazon Prime TV and all episodes are available on The College Tour’s own app and website. The Baylor episode and each segment also are available at www.baylor.edu/tour.
ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY
Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked research institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 20,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 90 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions.