Baylor College of Medicine to Remain Independent

After considering mergers or partnerships with Rice University and Baylor University, the trustees of Baylor College of Medicine voted unanimously on Wednesday to keep the medical school independent, the Houston Chronicle reported. Merger talks with Rice broke down recently after Rice officials expressed concern over the potential risks of linking with the financially struggling medical college, and critics of a closer affiliation with Baylor University, a Baptist institution that separated from the medical school 40 years ago, worried about a potential clash of missions between a religious university and a science-based medical school. Medical-college officials said that they had a plan to help get the school back on track financially, and that they could do it alone.