For the past four years, Baylor University’s mariachi group has brought traditional Mexican music to campus through a student organization called Mariachi Osos Dorados — or Golden Bears.
This fall, the group reached a new milestone: becoming an official ensemble under Baylor’s School of Music.
Mariachi music has deep roots in Mexican culture and is known for its emotional vocals, string instruments and vibrant costumes. At Baylor, the ensemble has become a cultural touchpoint for Hispanic students and a way to share that tradition with the wider campus community.
Sophomore psychology major Rachel Colón, a vocalist with the ensemble, said joining Mariachi Osos Dorados has been a way to reconnect with her culture.
“Being able to reconnect with that part of my culture, even though I didn’t grow up with it, has been beautiful,” Colón said. “It makes me proud to be Hispanic.”
Colón and her sister grew up in Honolulu, Hawaii, with little exposure to Mexican culture before college. Stories like hers are part of what motivated Baylor’s School of Music to bring the group officially under its wing this year.
The ensemble began as a student-led organization four years ago. This year, it officially joined Baylor’s music program — a change that director Marcelo Boccota Kuyumjian, known to students as Dr. K, said brings greater stability and long-term support.
“It gives a little bit more stability and consistency in the work we’re doing,” Kuyumjian said. “It doesn’t feel like every performance has to make or break the group anymore.”
He said students previously fundraised to buy their own instruments and ties. Now, the School of Music helps provide uniforms, instruments, rehearsal space and performance bookings.
The group performs at campus events and community celebrations, often drawing large crowds during Hispanic Heritage Month.
But Kuyumjian said the ensemble’s significance goes beyond logistics or funding.
“This ensemble is about connection — with each other, with families and with the community,” he said.
Most of the group’s members aren’t music majors, something Kuyumjian sees as a strength.
“It’s wonderful having students from different colleges come together for something like this,” he said. “It helps bridge communities — within Baylor and here in Waco.”
Kuyumjian hopes to continue expanding the ensemble, eventually recruiting mariachi performers to Baylor and offering scholarships for students who participate.
For flutist Sofia Morales, a sophomore music education major, performing with the group is already rewarding.
“Wearing the green and gold traje, representing both Baylor and mariachi tradition, feels really special,” Morales said. “We’re really proud to be a part of it.”
What started as a small student group has become something larger, a stage where culture, music and community meet.
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