Robert Gilbert

No Excuses Accepted Robert Gilbert

The late Rev. Robert Lewis Gilbert was the first African American graduate of Baylor University, graduating with a B. A. degree in 1967. He was referred to as "Little Giant" by family members due to his small stature yet enormous heart and passion for justice. He was the first black teacher assigned to a formerly all-white public school in Waco. A well-known civil rights leader in Central Texas, Gilbert served as pastor at Carver Baptist Church--a congregation that grew over 500% under his leadership. In 1980, he was named Citizen of Texas and in 1992 he received Waco's Outstanding Humanitarian Award. No Excuses Accepted highlights Gilbert's journey as a courageous spiritual leader. Having struggled with a severe case of rheumatoid arthritis since the age of 14, Gilbert was known as a fighter. As he states in No Excuses Accepted, "God says, You can! God says you can do anything. There is nothing on this earth strong enough to hold you back...my life has tested the limits of God's strength and power."