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Give Light
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      • Paul and Alejandra Foster Pavilion Ribbon Cutting - Jan. 2, 2024
      • Mark and Hurd Welcome Center Ribbon Cutting - Sept. 8, 2023
      • Tampa - February 10, 2023
      • Newport Beach - October 12, 2022
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      • Mark & Paula Hurd Welcome Center Groundbreaking
      • Southern California - October 26, 2019
      • Dallas - September 14, 2019
      • Dr. Annette von Jouanne Video
      • New York City - May 23, 2019
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      • Houston - May 4, 2019
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Baylor BU Give Light Campaign Priorities Endowed Funds Endowment Impact Founded on Heritage and Love
  • Endowed Funds
    • Faculty Chairs and Professorships
    • Endowed Scholarships
    • Endowed Funds for Growth Priorities
    • Endowment Impact
      • Playing with a Vision
      • Founded on Heritage and Love
      • Q&A with Baylor Chief Investment Officer
      • Baylor University Endowment
      • Opening Doors, Inspiring Artists
      • C. Gus Glasscock, Jr. Endowed Fund for Excellence in Environmental Sciences
      • Sue Mayborn Endowed Scholarship Fund
      • Student Foundation
      • Inspiring Faithful Leadership
  • Capital Projects
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  • Foster Academic Challenge
  • Hord Scholarship Challenge
  • Trailblazer Scholars Program

Founded on Heritage and Love

Founded on Heritage and Love

For Laura Beth Cotton (BA ’75), of Midland, Texas, establishing a scholarship at Baylor University offered a chance to honor her family’s legacy, while also celebrating the ties of friendship that bind her to her alma mater.

“I love the fact that I have history with Baylor, and that the school has a long history and tradition, but it is also preparing and moving well into the future,” Cotton said about why she chose to establish her scholarship. “Baylor is embracing the challenges of the future that will give Baylor students opportunities, whether with the new research category that we have achieved, or the athletic notoriety that we have enjoyed, but also academically through the entrepreneurship programs and the community service programs. Baylor is moving well into the future.”

In 2022, Cotton established the Laura Beth Cotton Alpha Beta Potato Endowed Scholarship to support the School of Education’s students. The scholarship’s name, “Alpha Beta Potato,” a nickname she and her friends gave their close-knit group after meeting in Collins Hall freshman year, pointed to her personal ties to Baylor. The beneficiaries, future generations of education students, honor her family’s legacy.

Cotton’s father, Russell Cotton, grew up in the small East Texas town of Palestine. Coming of age during the Great Depression, Russell knew a college education would be difficult to achieve, until a man came into town, looking for talented football players. He was starting a football team at the College of Mines and Metallurgy of the University of Texas, now known as the University of Texas at El Paso. Russell earned his college degree while playing football, working at a gas station in town to make ends meet. He never forgot the scholarship that opened a door to his future, including his wife, Betty, whom he met at school.

Russell made it clear to his and Betty’s three children, Laura, her brother Dr. James Cotton (BA ’65) and her sister Linda (Cotton) Collom (BSEd. ’70), that college was part of their futures. While only Linda followed Betty’s footsteps as a full-time educator, all five Cottons continued a legacy of teaching through Bible studies at church, establishing a charter school in Tyler, Texas, and even teaching college computer courses as an adjunct faculty member.

When asked what she hopes students gain from the Cotton Scholarship, Laura Cotton referred to a quote by her former pastor Patrick Payton, previously the pastor at Stonegate Fellowship in Midland.

“He taught us that we are each uniquely designed and called and gifted by God,” Cotton said. “A great teacher helps a student, no matter what age, embrace new possibilities, new gifts, new skills. A great teacher opens students’ minds up to different ways of thinking. My hope that, whether it is a student who is going through the education program at Baylor in 10 years or 20 years or 60 years, they are realizing the impact that a teacher can have on future generations in realizing that they are each designed called and gifted.”

Laura Cotton established her named scholarship through a planned gift. As an endowed scholarship fund, the Cotton Scholarship will share with future generations of Baylor students her stories of a family dedicated to education and friendships that have endured more than 50 years of laughter, love and loss. What a legacy, indeed.

Compelled to give to the Cotton Scholarship? Make an impact on School of Education students today.

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Each of us has been entrusted with a great light that can illuminate the path for future generations. When the Baylor Family gives financially to support University priorities, we give light to Baylor's bright future.

GiveLight@baylor.edu
(254) 710-2561

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Baylor BU Give Light Campaign Priorities Endowed Funds Endowment Impact Founded on Heritage and Love
  • About the Campaign
    Back
    • Foundation of the Campaign
    • National Campaign Steering Committee
    • Campaign Timeline
    • Campaign Events
      Back
      • Paul and Alejandra Foster Pavilion Ribbon Cutting - Jan. 2, 2024
      • Mark and Hurd Welcome Center Ribbon Cutting - Sept. 8, 2023
      • Tampa - February 10, 2023
      • Newport Beach - October 12, 2022
      • Nashville - April 28, 2022
      • Atlanta - February 3, 2022
        Back
        • Photo Gallery
        • Event Video
        • Press Release
        • Get Involved
      • Denver - October 22, 2021
      • Give Light Denver Video
      • Tidwell Ribbon Cutting - Aug. 25, 2021
      • Medal of Honor Statue Installation Ceremony
        Back
        • Event Video
        • Photo Gallery
        • About our Honorees
        • Press Release
      • Mark & Paula Hurd Welcome Center Groundbreaking Video
      • Mark & Paula Hurd Welcome Center Groundbreaking
      • Southern California - October 26, 2019
      • Dallas - September 14, 2019
      • Dr. Annette von Jouanne Video
      • New York City - May 23, 2019
      • Benjamin Goff Video
      • Jeff Theiss Video
      • Houston - May 4, 2019
      • Dr. Dwayne Simmons Video
      • Dr. Ann Mirabito Video
      • Washington, DC - February 2, 2019
      • Dr. Lorin Matthews Video
      • Dr. Byron Johnson Video
    • Campaign Impact Report
  • Campaign Priorities
    Back
    • Endowed Funds
      Back
      • Faculty Chairs and Professorships
      • Endowed Scholarships
      • Endowed Funds for Growth Priorities
      • Endowment Impact
        Back
        • Playing with a Vision
        • Founded on Heritage and Love
        • Q&A with Baylor Chief Investment Officer
        • Baylor University Endowment
        • Opening Doors, Inspiring Artists
        • C. Gus Glasscock, Jr. Endowed Fund for Excellence in Environmental Sciences
        • Sue Mayborn Endowed Scholarship Fund
        • Student Foundation
        • Inspiring Faithful Leadership
    • Capital Projects
    • President's Excellence Fund
      Back
      • Support Baylor Students Today
      • Why I Give: Donor Testimonials
    • Initiatives
      Back
      • Health
      • Data Sciences
      • Materials Science
      • Human Flourishing, Leadership and Ethics
      • Baylor in Latin America
    • Academic Units
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      • Arts & Sciences
        Back
        • Baylor Model United Nations team
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        • Spotlight on Research
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