Fall 2024 - When Shirley Clemons Hunter reflects on her days as a Baylor student, two words come to mind — determination and gratitude.

Although she received several types of financial assistance to attend college, including student loans, the graduate of China Spring High School just outside Waco found it necessary to work throughout her studies at Baylor to make ends meet. Her parents, who hadn't gone to college, weren't a source of support. So Shirley rolled up her sleeves and worked two jobs most semesters, one on campus and the other in town.

"I was determined to complete my degree in four years," Shirley said. "With no one guiding me along the way, I thought I'd be without funds if I took longer than four years."

Through her perseverance, Shirley obtained an education that proved life-changing, preparing her for professional success and personal growth during her marriage to her late husband, Steve Hunter. The two met at Baylor and were married in 1979, just after Shirley earned a B.S. in home economics.

PURSUING JOY

After Steve graduated with a B.B.A. in marketing in 1980, the Hunters moved to Katy, Texas, where they lived until Steve's death in 2021. He was a sales manager with Oil and Gas Digest, a publisher with Golfer Magazine, and communications director with the South Texas Professional Golfers Association (PGA) and South Texas Golf Course Superintendents Association.

Shirley said the gratitude she feels toward Baylor for playing a pivotal role in her life served as her motivation in making a planned gift to the University as a way of increasing the funds within the Shirley and Steve Hunter Endowed Scholarship Fund and the Hunter Family Endowed Athletic Scholarship Fund, both of which the Hunters created before Steve died.

"Attending Baylor University was absolutely God's plan for my life, and only through His grace did it happen!" she said. "The Baylor community became family, and the campus became my home. Early in our marriage, Steve and I agreed that giving back to Baylor was important."

Part of Shirley and Steve's rationale for making financial gifts to Baylor, as well as for informally mentoring more than 30 Baylor students over the years, was to support and encourage young people, paying forward the support, mentorship, and encouragement so many people gave her. "These students bring so much joy into my life, and I am encouraged and blessed to know they will carry the Baylor legacy into the future," she said.

EQUIPPED TO SUCCEED

Through a series of networking opportunities, Shirley landed a job at NCR in 1981 and went on to achieve a very successful 40-year career in sales with NCR, Teradata, Compaq, and Oracle Corporation, retiring in 2021 as vice president.

"I would never have had the opportunity for success were it not for the educational and spiritual foundation I received at Baylor," she said. "Baylor plays such an important role in the world as a Christian research university. I hope these scholarships will open doors for students to experience the intellectual and spiritual growth I experienced and to have an opportunity to achieve success beyond their wildest dreams."