This week, Baylor University and the Baylor Alumni Association reached a settlement agreement, ending nearly two years of contentious litigation.
The agreement between the two organizations, Baylor University president Ken Starr said in a press release, was the result of "diligent work."
"“The ultimate goal of both University and BAA leadership has been to bring about a unified effort among all members of the Baylor family to continue to move Baylor forward in a positive direction", Starr said.
Under the terms of the agreement, the university will pay the BAA $2 million for tearing down their Alumni Center that was on University Parks Drive. The group, however, will have to change its name, likely to the Baylor Line Foundation, says BAA president Tom Nesbitt. The group will remain an independent not-for-profit organization, but cannot hold itself out as an alumni association. Nesbitt added that the organization will focus its fundraising efforts on student scholarships and continue to publish the Baylor line.
For Baylor, per the agreement, the university will be allowed to operate the Baylor Alumni Network for outreach, events and engagement programs for alumni. Additionally, the agreement – reads the statement released today by both organizations – "also provides for the addition of three alumni-elected members to the Baylor Board of Regents. The first three Regents (serving one-, two- and three-year terms) will be agreed upon by both parties and appointed to the Board in June 2016".
"In 2017 and in each year following, all University alumni will be invited to participate in annual open elections that determine new alumni-elected members of the Board of Regents. The first alumni-elected Regent to replace the one-year appointee will be seated in June 2017."
The agreement comes just weeks before an expected trial date of March 28.