From a television show filming on campus to public education and stroke risk, TCU is in the news.
INSTITUTIONAL
Demi Moore adds star power to ‘Land Man,’ Taylor Sheridan’s latest Paramount+ production
Feb. 9, 2024
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Taylor Sheridan’s constellation of A-list stars just seems to expand as his Paramount+
universe explodes. Sheridan’s latest production, “Land Man,” has signed Demi Moore
— star of “Indecent Proposal” (1983), “A Few Good Men” (1992) and “Ghost” (1990).
Moore will star alongside Billy Bob Thornton. Production has begun with filming reported
around Fort Worth. A wide net was cast for background actors with oilfield experience.
Early this year, local agency Legacy Casting sought current and former track and field
athletes for a scene to be shot on the TCU campus.
Evaluating palatability in young children
Feb. 8, 2024
Frontiers
A study by students and faculty from the Burnett School of Medicine at TCU and the Harris College of Nursing & Health Sciences, along with doctors from Cook Children’s Medical Center, found the acceptability
of a given medicine by a child is directly related to the drug formulation. While
a standardized approach for creating uniform oral liquid drug formulations for different
therapeutic categories is presently not attainable, a current opportunity does exist
to standardize an approach used to assess the palatability of oral drug formulations
in children.
Bob Schieffer College of Communication Celebrates 10-year Anniversary
Feb. 7, 2024
BNN Breaking
TCU’s Bob Schieffer College of Communication celebrated a decade of excellence with a series of events and discussions, marking
the 10-year anniversary of its naming after distinguished alumnus and former “Face
the Nation” host Bob Schieffer ’59. The celebrations commenced with the Schieffer Symposium, a panel discussion featuring
prominent journalists, and continued with a captivating discussion titled “Schieffer:
Then & Now” with Schieffer and CBS News field producer Elizabeth Campbell ’18 reflecting on their time at TCU and their illustrious careers in journalism.
TCU, Brite Divinity School, University Christian Church celebrate 91 years of open
hearts, minds, conversation at annual conference
Feb. 2, 2024
Fort Worth Report
Ever since he was a Brite Divinity School student, Nathan Russell ’14 M.Div. has attended Ministry Week, a free annual faith conference that provides clergy and
people of faith a space to engage in a series of lectures, workshops and worship services
with renowned preachers from across the country. The program is co-sponsored by Brite
Divinity School, TCU and University Christian Church and held this year at Broadway Baptist Church. The
program initially began as a lecture series in 1888 and later became the weeklong
Ministers Week in 1933.
FACULTY
An Arlington police union wants a Crime Control and Prevention District. City prefers
budget process
Feb. 13, 2024
KERA News (Dallas, TX)
Leaders of an Arlington police union want the city to create a special tax district
to fund police programs, but city leaders have not publicly taken up the issue of
creating a Crime Control and Prevention District, or CCPD. Johnny Nhan, criminology and criminal justice professor, said creating a CCPD is a tougher ask
than it was when Fort Worth created its CCPD, when crime rates were higher and “tough
on crime” policies reigned. “The appetite for paying more taxes and things like that
are not necessarily the big sell these days,” Nhan said. “It’s not the most appealing
thing. It’s particularly difficult, in my opinion, for the police because they do
usually take the lion’s share of this budget.”
Ted Cruz blames Dems for failed border bill. Who drafted it and what would it have
done?
Feb. 9, 2024
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Statements made by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz attributing a failed border security bill to
his Democratic counterparts and blaming them for its collapse are unfounded, according
to political science experts. Political science professor James Riddlesperger said that Cruz’s statement was “of course not” true. “But it’s an election year,
and those are the claims that he is going to try to use as leverage for his re-election
campaign,” Riddlesperger said.
Stroke risk is no longer just for older people with growing rates among young adults
Feb. 9, 2024
The Dallas Express
Lifestyle factors, such as obesity and low levels of physical activity, have increased
young adults’ risk for stroke, experts say. This risk has grown by 44% in the past
10 years, according to Dr. Claudia Perez, assistant professor at the Burnett School of Medicine at TCU, KERA News reported. “About 80% of stroke is preventable through living a more brain-healthy
life, being active, eating healthy, making sure you’re sleeping well and avoiding
things like tobacco and drugs and reducing the amount of alcohol that is being consumed,”
Perez said.
New Study Finds that Flock Safety is Instrumental in Solving 10% of Reported Crime
in U.S.
Feb. 8, 2024
WCBD-TV (Mount Pleasant, SC)
A comprehensive study, conducted by Flock Safety with oversight from independent criminology
researchers at TCU and the University of Texas at Tyler, reveals significant positive
outcomes from agencies utilizing Flock Safety, connected security platform technology.
“As Flock Safety products have become more ubiquitous in the world of law enforcement,
questions of effectiveness and usage are concerns of the public. To address these
issues, it is important for independent research conducted by research universities
to examine their usage and social impact,” said Johnny Nhan, professor of criminology and criminal justice and associate dean of graduate studies.
“Not only is Flock Safety actively supporting independent inquiry, but it has also
been fully transparent and accessible during every stage of the research process.
As a researcher who is scrutinizing this technology and its real-world usage, I have
been impressed by the company’s academic approach that fully supports the peer-review
process,” Nhan said.
Right-Wing Bloggers Busted During Militia Border Tour
Feb. 8, 2024
The Texas Observer
The Texas Department of Public Safety recently arrested two right-wing bloggers riding
in a caravan near Eagle Pass after finding what law enforcement described as a plastic
bag containing a “white powdery substance,” marijuana and THC edibles in their Mercedes
SUV, which also reeked of cannabis. Daxton “Chip” Stewart, professor and assistant provost for research compliance journalism, said anybody
can say they’re a journalist. “The First Amendment’s for everybody,” he said. But,
he added, “One of the norms of journalism is that journalists don’t participate in
the things that they’re covering. They’re neutral; they’re observers.”
Fort Worth wants students to learn more about government. A Texas law makes it tricky.
Feb. 8, 2024
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Concerns regarding a state law passed in 2021 put an end to efforts begun by Fort
Worth’s Task Force on Race and Culture to improve college and workforce readiness
among Black and Hispanic high school students through civic engagement. The law presented
challenges to this effort because it prohibits schools from requiring or giving class
credit for “direct communication” between federal, state or local officials for “political
activism, lobbying or efforts to persuade members of the legislative or executive
branch.” Keith Gaddie, Hoffman Chair of the American Ideal and professor of political science, says H.B.
3979 and Senate Bill 3 are the result of the ongoing debate about the American narrative.
“It’s an effort to further isolate education in a manner that it’s only about technical
processes and establishing things that only serve to create a trained workforce for
the marketplace, but not necessarily a trained citizen,” Gaddie said.
Texas Republicans find an endorsement from Governor Abbott comes down to one issue
Feb. 5, 2024
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Gov. Greg Abbott says he made a mistake in who he endorsed in the last election cycle,
following a vote to remove education savings accounts from an education bill in November.
This cycle’s endorsements come as the Republican Party is “at war” in Texas over issues
like education savings accounts, said Jim Riddlesperger, political science professor.
STUDENTS
How medical students are leading the charge on street medicine
Feb. 12, 2024
American Medical Association
At the most recent AMA Interim Meeting, medical students demonstrated what practical
applications look like. Following an education session sponsored by the AMA Medical
Student Section that examined the practice of street medicine — providing care to
patients without homes in the places where they convene — students assembled 100 care
kits. Funded by a grant from the AMA Foundation, the kits contained essential items
for people without homes such as over-the-counter medications, hygiene products and
hand warmers. Both the education session and the creation of the care kits were spearheaded
by AMA-MSS members Shad Yasin and Anand Singh. “There is the educational component, which is so valuable to all of us as students,
but our goal was that we wanted to make our programming a lot more interactive and
a lot more engaging while we’re still including that educational component,” said
Singh, a third-year medical student at Burnett School of Medicine at TCU who is chair-elect of the AMA-MSS governing council.
Fort Worth medical students learn life-saving skills from mother who lost son to opioid
overdose
Feb. 8, 2024
NBC-5
Burnett School of Medicine first-year Angel Sheu and Dr. Ric Bonnell, director of service learning, are researching how Narcan is reversing the effects
of an opioid overdose. “It will tell us not just how many lives were saved, but again,
did it take more than one dose? Was the training sufficient,” said Bonnell. “We really
hope that this will help us be able to better train medical professionals and first
responders in the future.”
Lumber, Labor, and Love: TCU’s 2024 MFA Candidacy Exhibition
Feb. 7, 2024
Glasstire
Each spring semester, TCU presents an exhibition of works by its second-year MFA candidates.
Aside from being an opportunity to showcase the newest projects made by students halfway
through the program, the candidacy show also validates that these artists have been
approved to move forward in the program and are on track to receive their degrees
next spring. This year’s exhibition, titled “Refract,” presents works by Mckee Frazior, Austin Lewis, Elijah Ruhala and Raul Rodriguez. It is notable that it is the first time in recent memory that the MFA program cohort
features all male artists. Beyond the title’s theme of distortion, a first glance
across the artists’ bodies of work also points to a connection related to the use
of construction materials and ideas related to labor.
Camille Morrison queen in 75th annual Krewe of Louisianans ball
Feb. 5, 2024
Plaquemine Post South
Camille Morrison, a sophomore, was crowned queen of the 75th annual Krewe of Louisianans Ball in the
nation’s capital, while retired New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees reigned
as king. For Camille, the honor was a huge surprise. “I was completely caught off
guard, so it took me a second to realize what was happening,” she said.
ALUMNI
U of T researcher seeks out new insights on the universe's oldest galaxies
Feb. 8, 2024
University of Toronto News
Jacqueline Antwi-Danso ’17, previously a Clark Scholar, is studying massive galaxies that formed “when the universe
was still just a baby.” She remembers a book from her junior high school library describing
how stars are born and how the most massive stars die in gigantic explosions called
supernovae. “I study massive galaxies in the very distant universe — some of the very
first structures that formed after the Big Bang nearly 14 billion years ago,” she
said. “We're trying to understand why these galaxies formed the way they did and how
they became so big so quickly. We’re finding them at increasingly earlier times, as
far back as when the universe was just 4% of its current age.”
This former cheerleader broke barriers at TCU. Now he is coming back to share his
story
Feb. 7, 2024
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Ron Hurdle ’71 had just won a spot on the cheerleading team in 1969 and came back to his dorm room
to celebrate with friends. He knew something was wrong as his roommate answered the
phone and quickly hung up. The next time it rang Hurdle answered, and a voice on the
other end said: “You will never cheer for me” and “We are coming to get you” with
racial slurs mixed in. They never showed up but it showed how the news of a Black
cheerleader was spreading on campus and even outside of it. “It was something unique
because before that time, we were off to ourselves, everything seemed fine,” Hurdle
said. “We were down with the student body and we would play records on the jukebox
and we danced and we played cards, everything was fine. But when this happened, the
whole atmosphere had changed.”
Hometown author brings his process to kids
Feb. 2, 2024
Odessa American
Young adult author Jeramey Kraatz ’08, had a homecoming of sorts when he visited Reagan Elementary School to talk to students
about his unique storytelling point of view and the writing process. “The trick to
that is you don’t usually do that much better next time if you’re not fixing it. I
can tell you that from experience because after going through this year and a half
of working on the first book and revising it and editing it, when I sat down to write
the second book, I could hear my editor, or I could hear my own editorial voice in
the back of my head saying, ‘Jeramey, this chapter is too long. Jeramey, this scene
is not working. Jeramey, these characters aren’t making smart decisions’ … And what
happened was my first draft ended up being so much stronger on the second book than
my first draft of the first book because I knew what I was doing,” Kraatz said.
Juneteenth Museum Comes to Fort Worth After Years of Planning
Feb. 1, 2024
The Texas Observer
An effort to create a museum in Fort Worth honoring Juneteenth has become a key part
of an effort to revitalize Fort Worth’s Historic Southside neighborhood. In 2019,
white police officer Aaron Dean, responding to a welfare check at a house, killed
28-year Black woman Atatiana Jefferson, who was playing video games with her nephew.
Jefferson’s murder lit a fire under a younger generation of activists who aren’t waiting
for change, such as Angela Mack PhD ’23, whose doctoral thesis is about Jefferson and the neighborhood. “I’m a good, ol’
fashioned Funkytown Black nerd,” Mack said. After Jefferson’s murder, Mack changed
her thesis topic to address that tragedy.
ATHLETICS
Loaded with talent, No. 5 TCU baseball eager to follow up College World Series run
Feb. 14, 2024
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
After a magical run to the College World Series in his second season, baseball coach Kirk Saarloos knows expectations will be sky-high for the Horned Frogs in 2024. TCU has won the
Big 12 three straight seasons, and a fourth title would equal the run from 2014 to
2017. While the outside noise has been flattering, that’s all it is — noise. Saarloos
said the only thing motivating the team is its internal standards. “Our expectations
inside our walls and program are to be selfless, strive for excellence and play with
energy,” Saarloos said. “If we do those three things, the baseball will take care
of itself.”
Injuries, open tryouts, renewed hoop dreams: Inside TCU’s season
Feb. 14, 2024
ESPN
Head women’s basketball coach Mark Campbell was off to a charmed start. In his first season at TCU, his makeover was an instant
hit, taking over a team that finished 1-17 in the Big 12 the year before and leading
them to a 14-0 start and the longest winning streak in school history. Then over the course of a few weeks in January, several high-profile transfers were
injured. TCU had to forfeit two games due to a shortage of players. To stay afloat
for the final two months of the season, Campbell had to find players from the student
body who wanted to rearrange their lives to go all-in on college basketball. Six months
earlier, Piper Davis arrived at TCU from Boise after leading her high school to a state championship. She
acknowledged bypassing the opportunity to continue her basketball career at a smaller
school was hard, but she came to TCU for other reasons. When she heard about the team’s
situation, she showed up to TCU Athletics to see how she could help. So did about
50 other students. Sophomore Sarah Sylvester, a 6-foot-3 middle blocker on TCU’s volleyball team who holds the school record for
the most blocks in a three-set match with 13, expressed interest. Sylvester was in,
becoming the first dual-sport athlete at TCU in the Big 12 era.
These 6 TCU football players have received invites to the NFL Draft combine
Feb. 13, 2024
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Six former Horned Frogs received an invite to the NFL scouting combine. Running back Emani Bailey: In his first season as a starter Bailey rushed 1,209 yards and eight touchdowns.
Bailey also had a strong performance in the Senior Bowl earlier this month. Tight
end Jared Wiley: Wiley had the best season of his career with 520 receiving yards and eight touchdowns.
Wiley was voted first team All-Big 12. Offensive tackle Andrew Coker: Four-year started was one of the leaders of the offensive line. Offensive lineman Brandon Coleman: A team captain, Coleman was voted second team All-Big 12 and started the last three
seasons. Coleman could play either guard or tackle at the next level. Safety Millard Bradford: Bradford was fifth on the team in tackles with 54 while intercepting two passes
and returning one for a touchdown.
TCU Rifle Wins Second Straight Patriot Rifle Championship
Feb. 7, 2024
Sports Illustrated
The women’s rifle team won their second straight Patriot Rifle Championship, sweeping
their way through the tournament and winning the team crown in both air rifle and
smallbore. The all-women rifle team tallied team scores of 2390 in the air rifle,
tying their highest team mark of the season and 2349 in Smallbore. Stephanie Grundsoee fired a 591 to aid the Horned Frogs in their title, and Mikole Hogan served as a counter and fired a 581. On the second day of the competition, the all-women
rifle team was stellar in air rifle, with three team members setting career-best marks.
Jeanne Haverhill, Mikole Hogan and Nina Scheutt all finished with marks of 598, shattering their best marks of the season. Another
team score factoring in was Anne White, who had a 594.