Family is Everything at McLennan County’s Sixteenth Annual ‘Adoption Day’ at Baylor Law
On Friday, November 17, Baylor Law joined the McLennan County Department of Families and Child Protective Services and Centex Child Protection Court North to honor McLennan County’s Sixteenth Annual National Adoption Day. The event was a touching tribute to over a dozen central Texas families, highlighting the emotional milestone when McLennan County Judge Nikki Mundkowsky officially finalized their adoptions.
Under the banner of “Family is Everything,” more than 100 volunteer students from the Baylor Public Interest Legal Society (BPILS) volunteered hundreds of hours to convert the first floor of the law school into an ‘Encanto'-inspired town, complete with engaging games, food, and a variety of family-friendly activities and gifts for the soon-to-be ‘forever families.’ Reflecting the spirit of the occasion, many faculty and students took the opportunity to dress as Madrigal family members, infusing the law center with even more cheer and enjoyment as they posed with the new ‘forever families’ for pictures.
City Council member and Baylor Law’s Director of Clinical and Pro Bono Programs, Joshua Borderud, presented a heartfelt proclamation from the City of Waco. Cheryl Gochis, Baylor University’s Vice President for Human Resources and Chief Human Resources Officer, and adoptive parent, offered the invocation. Soon after, Judge Mundkowsky of Waco’s Centex Child Protection Court North officially pronounced each adoption as finalized.
Since launching its first Adoption Day in 2008, the Law School has seen more than 400 children adopted into more than 200 families.
The day’s events served as a testament to the power of community collaboration, legal advocacy, and the enduring spirit of family. As the gavels resonated in the courtroom, they marked not just the conclusion of an often long legal process but the beginning of a new chapter for these families—sealed with love, commitment, and the unwavering belief that family, indeed, is everything.
