Blair Browning

Transcript

Derek Smith:
Hello and welcome to Baylor Connections, a conversation series with the people shaping our future. Each week we go in depth with Baylor leaders, professors, and we're discussing important topics in higher education, research, and student life. I'm Derek Smith, and today we are talking with Blair Browning. Dr. Browning serves as professor and chair in the Department of Communication at Baylor.
A two-time Baylor graduate, he has taught at Baylor since 1999. And in 2012, he was named the Collins Outstanding Professor. Since 2008, he has served as host and emcee of all University Sing and Pigskin Review, and we are deep in that season right now. And he's with us today on the program. Blair, thanks so much for taking the time to join us.

Blair Browning:
Derek, thanks for having me with you. It's great to see all that you've continued to do at Baylor. Derek is a graduate of our program in the Masters of Communication Program, so it's fun being with you.

Derek Smith:
A proud comm graduate, and I've known you for about 20 some years now, about as long as I've known anyone here at Baylor. So it's good to have you finally on the program and to get to talk in this format and visit a little bit, even though we get a visit not as much as we used to, but it's always fun when we do.

Blair Browning:
For sure.

Derek Smith:
Well, we mentioned Sing. We are fully leaning into Sing season right now. For you, when does Sing season begin? Because you got to prep and get ready to do a lot of things.

Blair Browning:
My prep does not quite look like the students' prep, so they are definitely deeply immersed right now. But yeah, I get to kind of just waltz in next week. And as long as I say the names of the organizations correctly and say them with enthusiasm, no one's there to see me. So I'm there to set the table for them, and they work so hard on it. So it is a pretty awesome experience at Baylor.

Derek Smith:
You've been doing this for 18 years.

Blair Browning:
I think that's right. So I took one spring off. We did a study abroad for a semester in 2018, but I think since 2008, every other Pigskin and Sing.

Derek Smith:
Does it seem like 18 years to you?

Blair Browning:
Man, it does and it doesn't. I mean, I do a little bit at Pigskin where I have shown what the kids wear for Halloween. And looking back, the first one that I did, my son was about nine months old, and Keely was I think two and a half or so, and now she's a sophomore at Baylor and is in Sing and Pigskin.
And so when you think about it like that, it's like, oh man, I've been doing this for a long time. But then again, George Stokes, you may know that name, was the host of Sing who did it for 35 years. So I'm like, I've been doing this for 17 or 18 years and I'm not even halfway. So in that context, I'm just a baby.

Derek Smith:
And he was a long time announcer, a PA announcer at Baylor as well, right?

Blair Browning:
Baylor football games and also a telecommunication professor.

Derek Smith:
Very cool. Good tradition there for sure. Visiting with Blair Browning here on Baylor Connections. Let's zoom out just a little bit. A lot of Baylor people will know you because of Pigskin or Sing, but your Baylor story goes a lot deeper than that. So take us back just a little bit. What was it that brought you to Baylor as a student, and did you ever imagine that you'd be here in 2025 still here and talking about some of these things?

Blair Browning:
Yeah, it's pretty amazing. I do feel like the Lord paved the way, just went ahead of me and creating that spot. I think it is a typical story for a lot of Baylor people where they have that I just knew type of account. And I came to visit from Boulder, Colorado. Most people were like, Boulder to Waco, it doesn't feel like the normal pathway. But came to visit and I wanted the appeal of a Christian university was certainly strong, but then the fact that it was a large Christian university.
So I love that there are places for people that are 1,500, 2,000. I loved the big-time sports. I loved all the opportunities, and so I came and I did. I went back with my parents and I said, "This is where I'm going." And so it was automatic. I came and moved into Penland in fall '91. So I was the class of '95, which was the sesquicentennial class, Derek. I had to learn how to say that word, but it's the 150th class.
So now again, I think just last week or a couple of weeks ago, we had the 180th birthday of Baylor. So I have been here a while, but I just love it. Got to recruit for Baylor for a couple of years. Thought I wouldn't close the door to get a master's, so I pursued that, and then it just opened up an opportunity to teach and became this passion that I hadn't really set out to do, but just became crystal clear that this is what the Lord had for me. And I love it. Now I'm in my 26th year teaching.

Derek Smith:
Wow! So you went from being a student to working in admissions, as you said, and then to teaching. I feel like you've done a lot to help students plug in at Baylor and immerse themselves and get connected here as a teacher and just getting to know people. For you, what did that immersion into Baylor family and Baylor traditions or just different organizations look like for you as a student?

Blair Browning:
I mean, I love the family metaphor, the Baylor family. A lot of people have heard that, and I think excellent organizations try to claim that metaphor, but I think we really do exemplify it. And I saw it as a student. I had faculty members who had us over to their homes for dinner, for ice cream. I played basketball with one of my professors. And so just getting to have that interaction, having that be almost normative, not the atypical story, but almost the norm just created a norm for me that this is who I want to be for my students.
And so I think being able to follow in the footsteps of the excellent teaching that I received. And it's not just teaching in the classroom, but it's everything that goes on outside of that classroom, outside of the 50 minutes or the hour and 15 minute courses class times. It's how you model the way outside of the classroom imperfectly, but I try and do that faithfully.

Derek Smith:
Visiting with Blair Browning here on Baylor Connections. And you say Baylor family's a metaphor, but I know it's a real thing for you all. Who all in your family has been a part of the broader Baylor family, at least attending here?

Blair Browning:
Yeah. Well, I met my wife Jordan at Baylor. She's also a Baylor grad. We met at Common Grounds.

Derek Smith:
Oh yeah, that's a good Baylor story.

Blair Browning:
How about that? Even though neither of us drank coffee at the time, but we met at a concert at Common Grounds before they had the whole back venue. Everybody just packed into the actual Common Grounds little house there. And so met her there. She graduated from Baylor. Our oldest, as I said, is a sophomore at Baylor. But everyone in my wife's family went, so she had three other siblings. She had three siblings who graduated from Baylor, her mom and dad. So we'll have our second, Boone is a junior and he's only applying to Baylor.

Derek Smith:
So he's locked in.

Blair Browning:
So we hope that he'll get in.

Derek Smith:
Yeah, that's good. Hopefully so.

Blair Browning:
So he'll be class of 2030. And then 2033 and 2036 for Addy and Kirby. They have no option. No, but they all love it. So we've done well, I think, in immersing them into the Baylor family early.

Derek Smith:
The odds say though that one of them will scare you along the way and make you think they're going somewhere else before coming here, right?

Blair Browning:
Yes, one taunts us every once in a while, but we're...

Derek Smith:
You're confident. That's good. Visiting with Blair Browning here on Baylor Connections. So mentioned obviously in the communication department, you came here to teach and now are getting to serve as the leader of it, as the chair of the comm department. Looking back over 25 years, what are some of the ways you've seen your research and teaching interest develop on that path?

Blair Browning:
It's interesting that I've held every role or every rank within our department. I came on as a temporary lecturer, kind of a stopgap fill, and that turned into a permanent lecturer role, and then I became senior lecturer. But along the way, I was driving back and forth to A&M work on my PhD. And after obtaining that, I moved on to tenure track. So I moved into assistant professor, and then associate after getting tenure, and then ultimately became full professor this past year.
So I can identify with everybody along the way. And so serving as chair, I can literally empathize with every single one of my colleagues where I said, "Hey, I've been there. I know where you are right now." And so I think that is special. It's probably not the normal path in academia, but I didn't set out to be a professor originally, but I've been able to align some interest with my research.
As we've connected a lot over communication and sports, I've been able to do some studies there. I got to work with the basketball team for an entire year where I spent a season with the team looking at teams in transition and how you create and sustain cohesion and how you lead through just that constant turnover. Where in a transient culture of a university setting, the players are always going to change.
And so you might only lose one player, but if that person's the glue guy, if that person's a key component, then that next year's roster is going to look totally different. So you look at small group communication and leadership and decision-making, cohesion and all these communication aspects just within an athletic context. The context kept me very riveted, but I was still looking at the same themes and some of those aspects.
It led to some things on interim leadership. I looked one point at Baylor. I had an interim at almost every level. It sparked questions of how do you lead from a temporary role. I remember Dr. Garland was the interim president at the time, and he said, "You know in the end, we're all interims?" And I thought that was such a great word where, hey, just be faithful and lead where you are.
And for however long you're appointed for that time, lead well. I think it's been fun to see that I could actually be really interested and engaged in research as well as teaching, and then almost see how they really, I think, lend to one another.

Derek Smith:
And you were a little ahead of the game with the NIL and transfer portal era, talking about culture and communication at a transient time, probably even more applicable now than you might've realized.

Blair Browning:
Yeah, the roster makeups, you got to study the rosters a lot more each year now.

Derek Smith:
That's true. Visiting with Blair Browning here on Baylor Connections. Well, you mentioned you're part of just about every role in the comm department. What are some of the ways you've enjoyed seeing it grow over the last 25 years to where it is now?

Blair Browning:
Yeah, I was undergraduate program director for nine years, and we grew from 275 majors to over 700. So we have over 700 students in our major right now. And the exciting thing about that is they're getting jobs, they're finding just meaningful work. And yet if you asked what do they do, it's, well, they're in pharmaceutical sales, and they're in HR with the Rangers, and they're going to law school, and they're in ministry, and they're in education.
So they've kind of matriculated all over in so many such a breadth of spaces that it's fun that it's not just a formulaic, you get this major, you get this job. And there's some safety in that, of course. But it's been fun to see that our students can write their own story. Because if you have effective oral and written communication skills, you're going to be in demand. You are conscientious, you're personable, you have integrity, you're going to get a job.
And so I think our students are showing they've learned how to learn and they really develop that interactive skill side where I just feel pretty confident that if our students get their foot in the door, they're going to get the job. And so it's been fun to see the landing spots of a lot of our alums now and just to see our own faculty continue to grow. So we continue to grow as a faculty, both in number and then just in quality.
We're just hiring some unbelievable people. So it's the most natural thing in the world that we keep growing. Because if you take a class with this person or this person, you want to take another one with them. It's a great group to lead.

Derek Smith:
We keep our eye on research, and I've seen a lot of research. You think of the STEM fields or engineering, but I know there's a lot of good research coming out of the Castellaw Communication building as well.

Blair Browning:
There really is. And in arts and sciences, we had the first ever arts and sciences faculty member outside of the sciences get an NSF grant, National Science Foundation. So Dr. Ashley Barrett is doing tremendous things. We have a number of faculty, who I could highlight. But we're really doing some things that I think are going to align very well with Baylor in Deeds. And so I think he will keep hearing from Castellaw.

Derek Smith:
This is Baylor Connections. We are visiting with Blair Browning, professor and chair in the Department of Communication and longtime host of all University Sing and Pigskin Review. And we're going to talk more about Sing here in a little bit. But before we get too far away, I want to ask you, you're talking about teaching Baylor students and you've been doing that now for 25 years, you're a Collins outstanding professor, what do you enjoy most about teaching Baylor students? How constant has that answer remain from 1999 to 2025?

Blair Browning:
It's a great question. Honestly, it's the joy of my life and that I can teach in a way where I'm actually encouraged to integrate faith and learning. And so to be able to talk about, I teach leadership, for example, and to be able to talk about servant leadership and to be able to reference Mark 10:45, which is for even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as ransom for many.
So I can talk about that and, A, not be fired, which I would be at some schools, but B, actually be encouraged to say it. We're not having Sunday School class, but we're intentionally talking about things that really mesh perfectly. I'm teaching conflict in communication right now. So if you think about in the Book of James, it says, everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to become angry. That's a really good word.
It's also scripture, but it's just a good word for everyone. And so to be able to integrate those things is the best. It's the best part of my job that I can hopefully point people to Jesus and say, this is the best way to live, that there's hope. In a really difficult and pretty broken world, there is hope and there is a best way to live. And it's not pulling yourself up from your bootstraps, it's actually looking and saying, "I'm imperfect. Thank goodness we have a perfect Savior."

Derek Smith:
Visiting with Blair Browning here on Baylor Connections. And so obviously teaching Baylor students, you've had opportunities to get involved in a number of different ways across the university. And we mentioned Sing, which is why I think now's the right time for us to be interviewing you here on the program. So let's turn that direction now. Hosting Sing, so how did you first get involved with that back in 2008?

Blair Browning:
I think they wanted to have somebody who had more of a campus presence. At the time, they were bringing in someone to host from California. He was a Baylor grad and great guy, but they were bringing him in. And so as time went on, students didn't have as much connection, I think. Knowing that someone was on campus, it's a little bit of a daunting responsibility when they hand you a mic to 2,500 people every night.
I think Baylor wants to know that someone's not going to embarrass Baylor, and they know that I'm about as pro Baylor as you can find. And so they asked me to do it. I think it was for a year, and it went well enough that they keep re-upping this one-year contract.

Derek Smith:
Yeah, that's good. So obviously you're emceeing and you're moving things along, but how's the way you approach it evolved a little bit so that you can show you, as you said, a little bit of your own personality while keeping that focus on the students?

Blair Browning:
Yeah, exactly. I mean, I think as people are still settling into their seats, it's fun to have a couple of little bits, but really... First of all, it's long enough. We know that. And so Sing is a great show, but we don't need to hear a whole lot of stand-up from me. I did have one time where a guy said, "You weren't as funny this year." And I was like, "I'm not up there doing stand-up, buddy. I could kill it if I work." No.
So anyway, it's one where I think I've just seen... I'm there to set the table. Just say each group with enthusiasm and it'll go well. But that's I think the joy of it is right now looking at about six or seven nights ahead of me over the next couple of weeks of pretty long nights. Typically, I questioned, why am I doing this again? But then you get backstage and everyone's so excited and enthusiastic, and I'm throwing out fist bumps and high-fives. And it's just really fun.

Derek Smith:
Do you have any favorite bits from over the years? Is it your kid's Halloween or what is it?

Blair Browning:
You should know the one thing that I had as a recurring bit for about 10 falls in a row was some shots at Gary Patterson.

Derek Smith:
Sure, yes.

Blair Browning:
When he went away from TCU, it really took a chunk out of my material. But it's good to have the villain. It's good to have just a friendly nemesis. You got to have a rival. And I think that was actually fun. I always try and integrate sports in something current culture, something Baylor, something athletics typically around Baylor. And so he oftentimes provided some good material.

Derek Smith:
He did. Well, Gary Patterson isn't there anymore, but we've been keeping our eye on the new R1 rankings. Those came out this month. 15 of the 16 Big 12 schools are now R1.

Blair Browning:
Oh, talk to me.

Derek Smith:
The one that is not is in Fort Worth.

Blair Browning:
Oh, this makes me so happy. I will be working that in.

Derek Smith:
Well, there you go.

Blair Browning:
That'll find its way into the opener.

Derek Smith:
I'm glad I could contribute something. Hopefully not too underhanded there, but we're putting that out here, so it's really good.

Blair Browning:
Friendly rivalry.

Derek Smith:
Friendly rivalry, yes, as we visit with Blair Browning. Hey, what's it mean to you to get to be a part of this now that your daughter, Keely, is a part of Sing?

Blair Browning:
It's so fun. I mean, she loves it. But again, it's every group comes in there and they've been working hard. And by the time the performance there, it's so nice they get that payoff. I'm sure by the end they're all ready for it to be over. And then I think a couple weeks after that, they're like, dang, I don't get to see all the people who I've been seeing every single night. And so it's good that it's just for that season, and then they can focus on all the other important things, coursework.

Derek Smith:
Spring semester's pretty busy around here, particularly for students who are involved in that.

Blair Browning:
That's right. For sure. And so balancing intramurals and all the other activities with schooling, but I love it. That's why Baylor so great is because it's not just, hey, hole up in a library and get an education, yes, but the social education is as important. And so to grow intellectually, of course, but I've always been trained up through my time at Baylor that you want to grow intellectually, yes, but also grow socially, physically, and spiritually. And that is the makeup of an incredible Baylor grad who anybody's going to want to hire.

Derek Smith:
Well, Blair, as we wind down in the final couple of minutes, I want to ask you, as you look ahead to Baylor and the comm department, really either one broadly or more specifically, what are you most excited about as you think ahead to maybe your next 25 years here, 26?

Blair Browning:
Man, Lord willing, that'd be great. I love that Baylor continues to be faithful to our mission, that we can educate students for worldwide leadership and service, that it's in a Christian environment. We have our own mission statement in our department, which is excellent teaching, impactful scholarship, and meaningful service in a student-centered Christian environment. And I think that just encapsulates who we want to be.
And so that's what I'm excited about is, man, let's keep teaching with excellence. If we're going to do some research, let's have it be impactful, let's make our service meaningful, and let's do that with students at the center and keeping them in our focus, but in a Christian environment. So ultimately, let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. So it's being student-centered in that Christian environment.
I think that is the bullseye, honestly, and that's what just gets me out of bed in the morning. I meet with prospective students and I can just tell them with authenticity, you will have the best peers. You will have the best faculty. And to be able to say that with 100% belief in it is such a blessing. So I can't wait for Keely to continue through, for Boone, Addy, and Kirby to move into Baylor and for all the friendships that they'll make that you and I have made. And so it's just a special place and love being here.

Derek Smith:
That's great. Well, Blair, thanks so much for your time. And as mentioned at the top, I'm a proud Department of Communication graduate, so it's fun for me to get to highlight that and have you on as well.

Blair Browning:
Thanks, Derek. We're proud of you. [Inaudible 00:22:09]

Derek Smith:
So Blair Browning, professor and chair in the Department of Communication, our guest today on Baylor Connections. I'm Derek Smith. A reminder, you can hear this and other programs online, baylor.edu/connections, and you can subscribe on iTunes. Thanks for joining us here on Baylor Connections.