From songs about Fort Worth to Match Day, a new dean and energy demand, TCU and its faculty and students are in the news.
INSTITUTIONAL
North Texas cities glow red to celebrate 10th annual Red Cross Giving Day
March 28, 2024
KXAS-TV (Fort Worth, Texas)
Several North Texas cities were bathed in red light at sunset Thursday. In observance
of the 10th annual Red Cross Giving Day, the lights on buildings and landmarks across
the North Texas skyline are turning their exterior lights red. The national tradition
began in 1943 when President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued the first proclamation.
In Fort Worth, City Hall, Sundance Square and Texas Christian University will be lit up red in support of Giving Day.
Fort Worth Chamber to honor Navejar, TCU at annual meeting
March 26, 2024
Fort Worth Report
The Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce honored TCU with the Spirit of Enterprise Award, presented by American Airlines in recognition
of local enterprises for outstanding contributions to Fort Worth’s development. “We
are deeply grateful to receive the Spirit of Enterprise Award from the Fort Worth
Chamber of Commerce, which recognizes our commitment to Fort Worth and its vibrant
community,” TCU Chancellor Victor J. Boschini Jr. said in a news release. “Our 150th anniversary year was a remarkable one, thanks
to the amazing support of the people of Fort Worth. We are proud to be part of our
city’s storied history and contribute to its economic vitality.”
Netflix show spotlights Fort Worth in season premiere; locals react
March 25, 2024
Fort Worth Report
The fictional song “Tap Into Your (Fort) Worth” is the city’s latest brush with small-screen
fame. Netflix comedy show “Girls5eva” featured Fort Worth and its top cultural institutions
prominently in the season three premiere. The show, which follows the comeback of
a washed-up ’90s girl group, is set in Fort Worth but was not filmed there. Its accompanying
song traverses the many features of Fort Worth, from the Trinity River to notable
residents, including journalist Bob Schieffer ’59. “I thought it was hilarious. And they can sing pretty well, too,” Schieffer said,
according to a Bob Schieffer College of Communication blog post. The song also mentions the Fort Worth Zoo, TCU and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “It’s always fun to be mentioned in popular culture, especially alongside TCU icon
and alum Bob Schieffer,” a spokesman from TCU said. “The song is a great example of
TCU’s brand name recognition as THE University of Fort Worth.”
Best colleges in Texas
March 25, 2024
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Choosing a college is one of the most important decisions a person will make for their
education, impacting everything from future earnings and employment to potential student
loan debt and social circles. Stacker compiled a list of the best four-year colleges
in Texas using rankings from Niche. Tuition, student-to-faculty ratio, acceptance
rate and graduation rate are among the factors considered in deciding these rankings.
Number six on the list is TCU, with an acceptance rate of 54%, net price of $42,574 and an SAT range of 1130-1350.
Natural gas leaders reflect on success, obstacles to future growth during TCU summit
March 23, 2024
Fort Worth Report
No productive wells or pipelines were laid in the area when Fort Worth’s Four Sevens
Oil Company first considered drilling gas wells in Tarrant County. Leaders of Four
Sevens reflected on the company’s journey as the Ralph Lowe Energy Institute hosted its 2024 Global Energy Symposium. Hunter Enis ’59 MA ’63, a former Horned Frogs quarterback and one of the partners, said the company’s ties
to TCU, and football in particular, were key to securing the leases. The football
players and athletes they hired had a good work ethic and knew how to work together. “One
month our very top landman was a TCU football player and next was an A&M track scholar,
so it seemed to work,” Enis said. “The collateral benefit of drilling wells was a
lot of employment. If you do it right or make a lot of money, you give people a lot
of jobs.”
Fort Worth unites for Glenwood Park Revitalization: Eco Initiative
March 21, 2024
Hoodline
Fort Worth locals are rolling up their sleeves for Glenwood Park, as the Fort Worth
Climate Safe Neighborhood Coalition and its collaborators, like the Historic Southside
Neighborhood Association and TCU, push a green initiative to buff up the 37-acre community staple. The TCU Day of
Service will be pitching in, a tradition of volunteering across the community now
tying in with the coalition's area-wide cover-up, all in hopes of nurturing Glenwood
Park back to peak form.
TCU names Notre Dame leader as new dean of Neeley School of Business
March 20, 2024
Fort Worth Report
TCU has named a new dean for the Neeley School of Business after a nationwide search. Craig Crossland, senior associate dean for academic programs for the Mendoza College of Business
at the University of Notre Dame, will become the John V. Roach Dean of the Neeley
School of Business on June 30. “In my new role, I look forward to working with Neeley
students, staff and faculty to provide an integrated, world-class student experience,
enhance the school’s reputation for research excellence, build new collaborations
across campus and with the business community, and further strengthen the Neeley School’s
renowned culture of inclusive excellence,” Crossland said in a news release.
TCU’s Neeley School of Business gets new dean
March 19, 2024
Fort Worth Business Press
Craig Crossland has been selected as John V. Roach Dean of the Neeley School of Business. Crossland,
who has been serving as senior associate dean for academic programs for the University
of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business, was selected following a nationwide search.
“I’m deeply honored to serve as the next John V. Roach Dean of the Neeley School of
Business and want to extend my sincere thanks to President Pullin, Interim Provost
Wormley, and the entire TCU community for this wonderful opportunity,” Crossland said.
“It was clear from the beginning of the interview process what a special place TCU
is, how strongly people identify with this outstanding university, and the extent
of the positive momentum already in place.”
TCU medical students match at top medical residency programs around the nation
March 15, 2024
FW Inc.
Sam Sayed’s American life began when his mother and father moved from Egypt in the mid-1970s
to seek a better life in the land of the free. They immigrated to Minnesota and later
moved to Fort Worth. Sayed, a senior med student at the Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine at TCU, found out he’s moving to Minnesota for his residency at the prestigious Mayo Clinic
in Rochester. Sayed was among the members of the Class of 2024 who learned where they
will spend the next four to seven years of their medical careers during the medical
school’s Match Day event. “When these students walked into our school four years ago,
they walked into the health care profession during the uncertainty of the pandemic,
each with a passion to help others despite that uncertainty,” said Dr. Stuart D. Flynn, founding dean. “This moment is the culmination of four years of hard work and dedication.
These are future physicians that will make all of us proud. They will continue to
learn about their patients, their illnesses and themselves.”
FACULTY
THE CHAT: Chatting with Ann Bluntzer on halting natural gas exports
March 28, 2024
KFDA-TV (Amarillo, Texas)
A coalition of 16 Republican states, led by Texas and Louisiana, filed a lawsuit against
the Biden Administration, challenging its recent climate action pausing proposed energy
projects. Ann Bluntzer, executive director of the Ralph Lowe Energy Institute, said the lawsuit is necessary
in order to have secure, affordable and sustainable energy. “Energy demand in the
world will continue to climb. And there is nothing in the near future that indicates
that oil and gas demand will go down,” Bluntzer said. “We are going to need more of
all energy sources.”
Arlington Museum of Art debuts two must-see nature-inspired additions
March 28, 2024
D Magazine
Adam Fung never thought he would go back to the Arctic Circle. A painter and associate professor
of art, Fung originally saw the Arctic Circle as part of a 2016 residency that took
him around the Svalbard archipelago. “It felt like a once-in-a-lifetime experience,
and it was also kind of precious to me,” Fung said. A friend eventually persuaded
Fung to apply for The Arctic Circle residency program again, and the artist returned
to Svalbard in June 2023. The resulting four-channel film, fathom, will debut at the Arlington Museum of Art as part of One Point Five Degrees, the
first exhibition at the Immersive Galleries in the museum’s new location.
Firefighter remains hospitalized after shooting
March 26, 2024
KTEN (Sherman)
Arlington Fire Chief Bret Stidham shared emotional words while giving an update on
firefighter Brady Weaver, who was shot and remains hospitalized after responding to
a wellness check at an apartment. Johnny Nhan, criminal justice professor, said the shooting could change the response for these
types of welfare calls, especially when police aren’t always dispatched. Nhan said
police could be required to treat every “medical and welfare call” as a criminal situation.
“They might be changing their mentality to think every situation has a gun and treat
it like that,” Nhan said. “So, it’s always erring on the side of caution, and I could
see the police taking on a greater role.”
The Fort Worth Circle pioneered modern art in Cowtown in the 1940s and 1950s
March 26, 2024
Southwest Contemporary
In the early 1940s, a group of young, progressive artists in North Texas coalesced
to create the Fort Worth Circle. It was composed of about a dozen talented friends,
largely white and middle-class men and women, who were considered the pioneers of
modern art in Fort Worth. “In part, it’s hard to talk about their legacy because they
worked in so many different styles, which in a way was part of their modernism,” notes Mark Thistlethwaite, emeritus professor of art history. However, the Circle artists helped lay the groundwork
for individual expression and introduced variants of modernism that were new to both
Fort Worth residents and local collectors. “But if they hadn’t existed, there virtually
would have been no modern art in Fort Worth,” said Thistlethwaite.
Texas Health Fort Worth looks to grow one year after designation as Level 1 trauma
center
March 23, 2024
Fort Worth Report
In January 2023, Texas Health Fort Worth was officially designated as a Level I Trauma
Center. One year later, the hospital has experienced growth in its trauma operations. Dr. Stuart Pickell, associate professor of internal medicine at Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine at TCU, said more Level I centers means additional resources and choices for trauma care.
“From a general standpoint, as the population becomes more dense, you’re going to
have more opportunities for accidents and injuries, so it’s important that you have
the accessibility of these services,” he said. “Fort Worth is growing and we should
also be expanding our ability to handle trauma.”
Proposed Kroger/Albertsons merger biggest in supermarket history. Will it hurt consumers?
March 20, 2024
The Dallas Morning News
Albertsons and Kroger want to merge but the Federal Trade Commission says, “Not so
fast.” In legal papers to stop the deal, the FTC says the merger would hurt consumers
and raise prices. Kroger/Albertsons says the opposite will happen: because of the
large-scale purchasing power, prices will go down. Audra Boone, C.R. Williams Professorship in Financial Services, says those most likely to get
hurt are people living in areas without many grocery stores. “Overall, it will be
interesting to see how this plays out,” she said. “Most FTC claims do not result in
a trial. Companies either abandon the deal or they are able to make enough concessions
that the FTC offers it approval.”
Which Tarrant County lawmakers passed the most bills last session?
March 18, 2024
Fort Worth Report
Representatives from Tarrant County authored or sponsored 96 bills eventually signed
by the governor in the 88th regular session of the Texas Legislature. Of the 11,807
bills filed by legislators statewide, 4,550 were passed into law. Rounding up, that
means about two of every five bills filed eventually became law. The arduous process
of shepherding a bill to passage involves negotiating with several gatekeepers. “You’ve
got to get all of those people on the same page to pass legislation, and to pass legislation
in the same form in both chambers and in such a way that the governor will sign it,” political
science professor James Riddlesperger said.
STUDENTS
Volunteers and the American Red Cross work to overcome the national blood shortage
March 27, 2024
Good News Shared
The American Red Cross is battling a national shortage of blood that threatens the
lives of patients needing transfusions, transplants and surgeries. The organization
recently announced it’s dealing with the lowest donation levels in 20 years, equal
to a 40% drop in donations, but people can still help. TCU student Winter Harris recently interned as a blood drive coordinator with the Red Cross. She reflected
on the organization’s helpful crew and how they helped the community give back to
those needing blood. “The Red Cross phlebotomy team set up the tables and equipment,
and I received the first donor just before they were ready to open,” Harris said.
“At the end of the day, we had 34 people come through the door who could donate, making
it a successful drive.”
Activists want public access, support for a long-forgotten Black cemetery near Pilot
Point
March 26, 2024
KERA News (Dallas, TX)
Denton County commissioners will be discussing St. John’s Cemetery, a space in Pilot
Point where hundreds of Black residents were buried, some estimated more than 100
years ago. Getting there to maintain and preserve the cemetery has proven difficult
due to boundary issues. This comes after longtime activists Willie Hudspeth and Chelsea Stallings, a doctoral student at TCU, asked Denton County commissioners to give public access to the cemetery, which sits
between privately owned land and gated rights of way.
Founded by two college students: The story of Escape Aviation
March 24, 2024
Simple Flying
Escape Aviation, founded by college students, offers innovative private jet services.
Kaden Green decided that creating a private jet brokerage agency that allowed for
safe and efficient bookings would be an excellent idea for a business. What Green
lacked was the extensive knowledge of financial and business practices to successfully
launch this business, and thus sought the assistance of his partner, Caleb Boyko. With a joint investment of just $1,500 between the pair, the two were able to hire
a lawyer, acquire software to create an aircraft sourcing platform, and quickly began
the process of establishing the business. Green is now a first-year student at the
University of Miami and Boyko a freshman studying finance at TCU.
Fort Worth’s Spring Gallery Night gives students a chance to show off their artwork
March 21, 2024
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Students make up the many artists who can be seen on the biannual Gallery Night organized
by the Fort Worth Art Dealers Association. While most of the city’s galleries are
involved, the venues are limited. Up and comers and established artists alike frequently
must share walls. That’s especially the case for students and emerging artists. “The
gallery isn’t picking art because it’s supposed to sell. Being outside of that commercial
space is super important,” said Max Marshall, who is graduating with a master’s of fine arts in. She’s showing in the TCU Moudy
Art Gallery. “It’s more than a cube gallery,” she said. “You get an opportunity to
grow in the space. It’s also really cool to watch how other students use it and push
and manipulate it.”
Fort Worth native and Horned Frog Darius Ford is making the most of his spare time
March 18, 2024
KTVT-TV (Fort Worth, Texas)
Fort Worth native and Horned Frog Darius Ford is making the most of his spare time, hosting a recent clothing drive benefitting
Bethlehem Community Center. “I knew from the first time I stepped on campus it felt
like home. I planned to host a clothing drive. I want this to be something for TCU to
give back to the surrounding Fort Worth communities” Ford said. “I was one of those
Fort Worth kids that didn't grow up with much. My goal when I came to TCU was to give
to give back to my community as much as possible, because I know what it’s like to
not have food on the table or clothes to wear.”