Waco-Baylor University: What is Waco really like?

[PanTerra]

Originally Posted by txstate

I didn't stutter or make a typo. That's a true statement, you would know that if lived here.
I don't make the rules, I just follow them. Old Waco money, Baylor, masons, control this thing here.

I did live there. Even brought business in. Working on a huge project there right now. Got any references to that? I would love to read up on it. Anything from the Waco Trib?

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by PanTerra

I did live there. Even brought business in. Working on a huge project there right now. Got any references to that? I would love to read up on it. Anything from the Waco Trib?

I don’t know about the Masons. Maybe the Antioch Church. Here’s an excellent and in depth article about present day Waco that rings true to me after living there for 13 years.

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article...-joanna-gaines

[Mark Senior]

Originally Posted by texasdiver

I don’t know about the Masons. Maybe the Antioch Church. Here’s an excellent and in depth article about present day Waco that rings true to me after living there for 13 years.

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article...-joanna-gaines

Oh my gosh, what an article. I've only finished half, of it, to get back later, I've got life to REALLY live, so far, all the Gaines, has been a very good or very bad influence on Waco, but a HUGE one at that, I had NO idea. I'm leaning toward an overall, not so good influence, Antioch influence, is debatable, by MANY. Wow !!

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by Mark Senior

Oh my gosh, what an article. I've only finished half, of it, to get back later, I've got life to REALLY live, so far, all the Gaines, has been a very good or very bad influence on Waco, but a HUGE one at that, I had NO idea. I'm leaning toward an overall, not so good influence, Antioch influence, is debatable, by MANY. Wow !!

Do not underestimate the influence of Antioch and the other big Baptist churches on Waco. It is often subtle but pervasive. And really affects who rises into leadership positions in the community. I'll give you a couple of examples from the 13 years that my wife and I lived in Waco.

1. I worked at Midway school district for 9 years which covers most of the more affluent southern suburbs of Waco. Religion isn't really a factor on who gets hired. Teachers and other staff are always coming and going. But it has a large effect on who gets promoted to leadership. There are an unusual number of principals and top administrators at Midway who all attend the same few churches, mostly Antioch but also one or two of the big Baptist churches. Is this coincidence? I sat on several teacher hiring committees for new principals and assistant principals (teachers participate on the committee but don't really have a final vote). Took me a couple of years to actually see what was going on. Top administrators would be speaking about how X-candidate has "more leadership potential" than Y-candidate and I could never see it from the interviews and resumes what they were talking about. Finally another teacher whispered in my ear: "That's code for he goes to the right church" and it all made sense. It was a subtle way of preferencing active church membership in the hiring process without ever actually saying it.

2. My wife was in medicine and worked for a public clinic. She had been passed over for several leadership positions and was never one of the inner circle of good old boys who ran the clinic and local hospitals. She didn't really care because she was more interested in teaching and practicing medicine than being an administrator, but it was curious because she was highly qualified and well liked. A couple of weeks before we were leaving town for good, our daughter who was a HS senior and active in one of the local church youth groups was being honored with all the other HS graduating seniors at the local Baptist megachurch in Woodway. So my wife and I attended even though it wasn't something we normally do. Walking into the service, we ran into one of the ushers was a top administrator at one of the local hospitals who knew my wife. He was all gushing about how he didn't know we were members and was so happy to see us. Thought it was sort of weird but southern Baptists are like that anyway. The next day Monday morning my wife gets an email from this guy saying that they have this hospital liaison leadership position that he thinks she would be perfect for and wants to know if she is interested. It was the first time in 10 years that she is offered a position like that and it was totally out of the blue. Coincidence?

3. I had several black friends who were teachers looking to be administrators. Both of them attended mainly white Antioch and other mainly white Baptist churches. Not because they were interested in it. They were bored to tears. But for career advancement. If you are a black professional and want to advance into leadership positions in Waco in white professions you had better attend the right church and be their token minorities. We actually laughed and discussed how many times you need to show up and be seen each month to maintain your cred. White people love them some token minorities who know how to dress, behave, and attend the right church. Not too many, just the right amount to give them a little multicultural color.

4. I had a neighbor who had a local business that required lots of word of mouth customers. He had his truck wrapped with one of those full-vehicle advertising wraps to help promote himself and his business. But what brought in the most business by far was attending the local Baptist mega-church. Not just that, he would park his truck at the far edge of the lot right next to the entrance every Sunday so that all the church goers driving into the church parking lot would pass right by his truck with the business signs on it and be reminded very week that he was one of them. That is the sort of thing you have to do if you want sell insurance, run an exterminator business, or a catering business etc. etc. that depends on word of mouth.

I expect this is not unique to Waco and pretty much the way things are done throughout the south. But it is most definely pervasive in Waco to a degree you won't see in places like Dallas, Austin, or Houston. Waco is a fairly booming place for people with skills. And you don't really need to check off any religion boxes to get in the door with most professions. But if you want to rise into any sort of leadership position, even in PUBLIC jobs like schools and public clinics, you will find it is very much controlled by just a few churches. Antioch is not the only one. The big Baptist churches too. Antioch is just the most visible and overt about it.

[PanTerra]

Originally Posted by texasdiver

I don’t know about the Masons. Maybe the Antioch Church. Here’s an excellent and in depth article about present day Waco that rings true to me after living there for 13 years.

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article...-joanna-gaines

Hey, you can see my project in one of the Magnolia pictures.

[txstate]

All of Wacos elite all meet at grand lodge 92 beneath the earth (secret rooms) I cant make this up. Talk to a Waco elder whos live here more than 40 years, The facebook creator came for one of those meetings.

[PanTerra]

Originally Posted by txstate

All of Wacos elite all meet at grand lodge 92 beneath the earth (secret rooms) I cant make this up. Talk to a Waco elder whos live here more than 40 years, The facebook creator came for one of those meetings.

They meet in the tunnel that runs underneath Baylor campus. That's a secret so don't tell anybody.