Each month we connect with alumni who are making a difference in their careers and communities and find out how Baker helped them along their way.
Erik Bailey, ’91, and Kurt Cooper, ’89
Bailey and Cooper are Kappa Sigma fraternity brothers and great friends who met while working in the dish room in the BU cafeteria.
Erik Bailey, ’91
What was the first moment that made Baker University feel like home?
Growing up in Baldwin City, I always felt comfortable on and around campus. When I became a student, I wanted to be involved in new experiences and meet new people. In my early days as a Gessner Hall resident, I heard the Rolling Stones playing across the hall. The record belonged to Mark Bowerman, and we both had just joined Kappa Sigma.
What was your first memory of Alumni Weekend/STAG
My first memory of Alumni Weekend was at the end of my freshman year. The upperclassmen introduced me to some of the people that they had been talking about, and it was exciting for me to get to know them. As the years have gone by, it is always exciting to connect. I love seeing people from Kappa Sigma and other parts of campus. I always meet new people in the form of current students or alumni.
Who made the biggest impact on you while at Baker?
I had the opportunity to be a part of a travel interterm to Vienna and Salzburg, Austria, with Dr. Alice Anne Callahan. She was an amazing group leader. The breadth and depth of the experience was amazing, and my love of art, music, food, and history grew exponentially. Additionally, Professor Schearer, Professor Bailey, and Dr. Boyd assisted me with learning experiences outside the classroom.
When I returned to Baldwin City in 2008, Dr. Neuenswander, Dr. Skaggs, and Dr. Wintermantel worked with me to take the necessary classes to match my credentials with state requirements. I have been fortunate to teach in this wonderful community since that time, and that would not have been possible without their efforts.
What are two things that you would tell young alumni about why they should attend STAG?
Attending STAG is a special time. It allows you to reconnect with the past and see the progress that Baker University continues to make. I enjoy walking into a space with fellow alumni and reminiscing about the experiences we shared. Similarly, it is also very exciting to see the unique ways students are making their own stories today. Baker is a wonderful place because it has a rich history and is still filled with vitality in an always changing world.
Why do you continue coming back each year to STAG?
I love coming back to STAG each year to visit with friends—some of whom I only see at STAG.
What do you love about your Baker experience the most?
My Baker experience provided me with friends for a lifetime. Some of my friends get together on a regular basis to go camping. I truly treasure these experiences for the time we spend together. Often the time when we are just sitting around the campfire provides great memories and conversations—many of which are rooted in our Baker experiences.
Kurt Cooper, ’89
What was the first moment that made Baker University feel like home?
My dad served as a United Methodist pastor in the Kansas East Conference, so I was on campus several times before attending Baker. UMY Institute was where I first became comfortable with and got to know the Baker University campus. As a high school student, the campus was a physical space where I was able to grow my faith and claim it as my own.
During my first year of college, I began to feel like Baker University was home. I had attended Shawnee Mission North High School, and I knew that I wanted a smaller college experience. Betty Jo Davis and Ken Snow were so personal and intentional about recruiting students to Baker, which made a strong impression on me. I made so many close friends during that first year of college, and those core friendships and the personal environment on campus made me feel like BU was a home away from home.
What was your first memory of Alumni Weekend/STAG.
New initiates were encouraged to be at the Kappa Sigma house to greet alumni and show them around the relatively “new” chapter house as they arrived. Jim Ferraro and I were showing these two older alums around the house. They both had been students at Baker before World War II. One of the men told us a story about pouring india ink into a brother’s bath as he was preparing to go out on a date. The other, as he looked at a wall displaying pledge paddles from the past, told us that his tailbone was broken by one of those and that it bothered him considerably during the war.
At that moment, Jim and I were pretty wide-eyed. I remember thinking that these men returning to campus was a way of remembering the antics of their youth. They were not so different from myself and my pledge brothers. I was also very thankful that hazing had been eradicated from our pledge program.
Who made the biggest impact on you while at Baker?
You could ask me this question 100 times and get 100 different answers. Walt Bailey was my advisor starting my second year. By that time I had decided on pursuing a B.A. in art. Walt shared one day that anyone could learn the processes of making art. Academically drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, and ceramics were all learnable skills. But the key Walt shared was learning to think creatively! The process of making art from the perspective of a creative problem-solver ranks right up there for me with the teaching of critical thinking at BU. It is a perspective that serves me well every single day.
What are two things that you would tell young alumni about why they should attend STAG?
Attending STAG is a great way to reconnect with friends from your college years. It is also a wonderful way to get to know other alumni from different eras. I have been happily surprised at the friendships I have developed with older and younger alumni over the years by attending STAG and other alumni events.
STAG is also a great chance to walk the campus in person. I remember [president] Dr. Dan Lambert sharing that in our minds we each would walk that campus thousands of times after graduation. Dr. Dan was spot on, so true! But it is even better to get to walk the campus in person.
Why do you continue coming back each year to STAG?
I appreciate the opportunity to reconnect with friends. To tell the same stories over and over again on the porch of the Kappa Sigma house year after year and somehow still find those tales intriguing and funny. And to ask the always-present question, does anyone know what happened to . . .
What do you love about your Baker experience the most?
While I appreciate deeply the academic experience and the learning both inside and outside of the classroom at Baker, the thing I love most about my Baker experiences is the lifelong friendships that were developed during those four short years.
