No Merger for Baylor Medical College

The Baylor College of Medicine has decided to remain independent, abandoning consideration of a renewed affiliation with Baylor University, The Houston Chronicle reported. The medical college, facing severe financial difficulties, attempted a merger with Rice University, but those negotiations ended amid significant faculty opposition at Rice. Many faculty at the medical school were nervous about the idea, floated after the end of the Rice talks, to join forces with Baylor University. Medical college officials said Wednesday that they believed they had a strategy to deal with the financial issues as a free-standing institution.