From the grit of the oil fields to black-eyed peas and to the place of women in the
military, Horned Frogs are in the news.
INSTITUTIONAL
Nov. 19, 2024
Newsweek
If you’re already a fan of Landman, the latest offering from Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan, Newsweek has compiled a list of all the real-life filming locations you can visit. TCU served as the backdrop for scenes featuring collegiate life and athletics. The university’s
track and field stadium, otherwise known as Lowdon Track and Field Complex, is particularly
notable, hosting sequences that involve the family of Jon Hamm’s and Demi Moore’s
characters.
Nov. 18, 2024
Fort Worth Ƶ Magazine
Fort Worth is booming! As the 12th-largest city in the U.S., it’s rapidly transforming
into a prime spot for real estate investing. Recent and planned expansion in higher
education will only help to propel this growth. TCU is also set to expand. The university plans to build more than 30 new structures,
which will significantly alter the campus and surrounding area. This urban village
with mixed-use development will make Fort Worth even more attractive, drawing in businesses,
residents and investors while boosting nearby property values.
Nov. 16, 2024
Fort Worth Report
The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth is featuring a series of large-scale silhouettes
printed on cotton fabric, an outgrowth of a project initiated by հ䱫’s Race & Reconciliation Initiative to pay tribute to Charley and Kate Thorp. The Thorps,
a formerly enslaved couple, were integral to the development and functioning of the
university, but their contributions had gone largely unrecognized until 2022. On Oct.
24, TCU hosted an unveiling ceremony for two portraits created by Huckaby that now
hang on campus.
FACULTY
Nov. 29, 2024
Daily Mail
A leading psychologist has revealed how a record number of people are leaving college
as virgins, with the appetite for sex dwindling among young people. Sarah Hill, who is a professor at TCU specializing in women’s health, appeared on The Diary of a CEO podcast to talk about the birth control pill and its knock-on effects. “What we tend
to see is that people are having a lot less sex than they used to,” Hill said. “They’re
having sex later, they’re having less. More people are virgins when they’re graduating
high school and college than there were in the past.” Hill says the downward trend
is interesting when you consider that birth control was designed “for men and women
to be able to have sex without having to have the fear of pregnancy.”
Nov. 26, 2024
The Marshall News Messenger
UT Tyler welcomed students and mental health professionals for their third annual
Mental Health Matters Conference last week. The theme for the third annual conference
was “Bridging Hope: Empowering Youth Mental Health.” Sessions focused around youth
mental health and emphasized the importance of self-care for mental health providers.
During breakout sessions, attendees learned how to better help migrant youth and queer
families and methods for self-care. Citlali Molina, assistant professor in the College of Education, held her laptop as she showed her slides during a breakout session
focused on immigrant youth. She asked attendees to visualize a safe space and tune
in with their ancestors. During Molina’s session, she talked about challenging how
therapists conduct themselves. For Latino families, physical affection is common.
However, therapists are taught to keep a distance.
Nov. 22, 2024
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
It took Ƶ to make America swallow the idea of lucky New Year’s black-eyed peas.
In 1937, an East Ƶ promoter put the first national marketing campaign behind what
until then had been a Black and southern U.S. custom. In only five years, sales doubled.
The tradition of eating lucky legumes for New Year’s dates back to their arrival from
Africa and Black slave traditions. The way white Southerners usually told the story,
invading Union Army troops during the Civil War ate most crops but left behind black-eyed
peas. “It’s definitely African in origin,” said TCU history professor Rebecca Sharpless, a scholar on American food history. President Thomas Jefferson grew black-eyed peas
at Monticello that he had brought from France, and leading agricultural scientist
George Washington Carver promoted growing them as a way to replenish soil nutrients.
Southern slave cooks shared recipes for black-eyed peas and a related dish, hoppin’
john, Sharpless said.
Nov. 21, 2024
The Presbyterian Outlook
Justin Forbes’s personal experience with his foster son, as well as his professional
expertise in working with youth from hard places, led to the creation of the Fostering
Congregations Initiative (FCI) to equip and empower churches to include children who
have experienced developmental trauma. Through a grant from the Lilly Endowment, Inc.,
the FCI will make it possible for children’s ministry staff and volunteers to be trained
in Trust-Based Relational Intervention® (TBRI). The late Karyn Purvis of TCU developed TBRI over 20 years ago to help children who were being adopted internationally
by well-meaning families who were not equipped to deal with their high levels of trauma.
Nov. 20, 2024
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
On election night, abortion was on the ballot in 10 states — but not in Ƶ. This
led some to wonder why abortion wasn’t voted on in Ƶ. Ƶ is one of 24 states
that do not allow citizen-led statewide referendums or initiatives to be placed on
the ballot. For Ƶ, that means citizens can’t petition to have proposed state laws
or constitutional amendments put to a vote. The only way to get an issue on the ballot
in Ƶ is for it to be a constitutional amendment, said political science professor Jim Riddlesperger. “And that means that it has to be proposed by the Ƶ Legislature in order to
go on the ballot for a referendum for adopting a constitutional amendment,” he said.
The Ƶ Legislature can choose to put abortion laws on the ballot, but the likelihood
of that is rare.
Nov. 20, 2024
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace
Jose Ibarra, the sole suspect in the murder of University of Georgia jogger Laken
Riley, was found guilty on all charges. The 10 charges included three counts of felony
murder, malice murder, kidnapping with bodily injury, aggravated assault with intent
to rape, and “peeping Tom.” “So, the injuries to the skull with the depressed skull
fracture, she could have survived that. Had a concussion, she could have potentially…
survived that injury. If it was severe enough, she probably could have died within
minutes of receiving it,” Dr. Kendall Crowns of the Burnett School of Medicine at TCU, said.
Nov. 19, 2024
Phys.org
To better represent consumers who have traditionally been underrepresented in the
marketplace, brands are increasingly extending or launching product lines that are
more inclusive of a diverse consumer base. However, this new study finds that inclusivity
initiatives may not be seen as equally positive by all consumers. Though these initiatives
are generally met with positivity, consumers who feel underrepresented in the marketplace
— the very consumers these initiatives may serve — may respond less favorably than
represented consumers. Jennifer D’Angelo, assistant professor in the Neeley School of Business at TCU, explains: “Our research examines how feeling underrepresented can increase consumers’
skepticism about whether the products in these expanded lines will fit their needs.
When consumers feel underrepresented in the marketplace, they likely experience products
and consumption situations in which their needs are either unconsidered, unheard or
misconstrued by companies.”
Nov. 20, 2024
Ƶ State Public Affairs Network
The Ƶ Education Agency, or TEA, was set to hold a preliminary vote on whether
to approve a new elementary school curriculum that is part of the state-owned Bluebonnet
Learning resource. The proposed reading and English language arts materials include
lessons from the Bible. The Ƶ AFT teacher’s union has said the materials violate
the separation of church and state, and academic freedom. The union called for the
board to reject the curriculum. Meanwhile, David Brockman of the Baker Institute criticized the materials for overemphasizing Christianity
and limiting coverage of other religions. Brockman is an adjunct professor at TCU and Southern Methodist University.
Nov. 18, 2024
WFAA
Brittani McLaurin was hired as TCU spirit director and head coach of the TCU Showgirls dance team in July. McLaurin
is no stranger to a college football sideline. The former Florida State Golden Girl
has a dance career that spans more than 25 years. “We are the face of the university.
We are the opportunity for our audience, our fans, to connect,” McLaurin said. “We
bring something more: enthusiasm. We bring joy and pride. We bring excitement, and
that’s something everyone is looking for.” Going from dance coach to director of all
spirit programs is a big step. But, McLaurin believes she’s ready. For the last two
seasons, Allison Hodges has been the only Black woman on the team. Hodges is a junior majoring in social
work. “I’m trying not to get emotional,” she said. “Just because here, there’s not
a lot of us. It’s really important to feel like there’s someone who knows what it’s
like and I’m really excited…I know that Coach McLaurin being here is going to inspire
a lot more Black dancers to even think about this being a possibility for them. It’s
like starting anew.”
Nov. 16, 2024
Woman’s World
We all know the vital precautions to keep babies safe from respiratory syncytial virus
(RSV). While the virus is the leading cause of infant hospitalization nationwide,
it can also impact adults over age 60. Like many other serious infections, though,
the symptoms of RSV can be difficult to distinguish from the common cold. RSV symptoms
in adults can appear very similar to the common cold, the flu or COVID-19. This may
include coughing, sneezing, congestion, runny nose, fever, wheezing, fatigue and sore
throat, doctors note. Less common — but potentially concerning — symptoms of RSV in
adults may also include significant shortness of breath, chest pain, bluish skin color
(cyanosis), confusion, decreased appetite and earache, said Dr. Nikhil Bhayani, assistant professor at the Burnett School of Medicine at TCU.
Nov. 15, 2024
Yahoo!News
Women veterans, national security organizations and military historians are pushing
back against recent disparaging comments made by Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald
Trump’s choice to lead the Department of Defense. Kara Dixon Vuic, a professor of history who studies gender and the U.S. military at TCU, said that if Hegseth were to bar women from serving in combat roles it would be
a rare reversal in a centuries-long history of the military expanding toward greater
inclusivity. “Nothing Hegseth’s saying is new,” Vuic said. “People said those same
things about the racial integration of the military. They said similar things about
gay men and women being allowed to serve openly. He’s putting the blame for anything
negative that could happen on a group of people without providing evidence to support
that claim.”
Nov. 15, 2024
Forbes
National rankings, such as the U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges List, are often used to shape opinions during the college selection
process, according to Eric Wood, counseling director at TCU. Not surprisingly, there are rankings specific to mental health and student support
services. For example, The Princeton Review, in partnership with the Ruderman Family Foundation, released a 2024 report that
includes an Honor Roll list of schools based on mental health services on campus.
As outlined in a 2024 report by Forbes.com, it’s important for students and their
families to specifically vet the types of support services available while selecting
a college to attend.
Nov. 15, 2024
Newsweek
Donald Trump has promised to impose tariffs on imported goods as part of his economic
agenda in his second term. While China stands to be punished the hardest, other countries,
including U.S. allies, are also set to be impacted. The president-elect ran on a pledge
to use tariffs to boost American businesses, with up to 60 percent duties on Chinese
goods and up to 20 percent on imports from other countries. Although all tariff policies
will need approval from Congress, many economists have already begun speculating on
the impact they will have on the global market. “While (Trump’s tariff policy) stands
to affect the trade relationship with China more intensely, it is expected to affect
trading relations with the EU as well,” Rishav Bista, associate professor of economics, told Newsweek.
STUDENTS
Nov. 20, 2024
Fort Worth Report
Join us for a compelling conversation featuring artist Letitia Huckaby and TCU doctoral candidate Marcellis Perkins M.Ed. ’21, moderated by writer and curator Johnica Rivers. The discussion will explore Huckaby’s
photographs in the special exhibition Diaries of Home. Huckaby was selected to create a pair of portraits depicting Charley and Kate Thorp,
a formerly enslaved couple who played a crucial role at AddRan Male and Female College
(later renamed TCU) from its founding in 1873. The Portrait Project tells հ䱫’s story
through diverse portraiture around the campus that commemorates historically marginalized
and underrepresented members of the university’s community. Now, over 150 years later,
the contributions of this formerly enslaved couple to հ䱫’s history have been acknowledged,
and their legacies will endure.
Nov. 19, 2024
Pointe Magazine
Many ballet programs are fairly small, which can be a blessing or a source of stress.
Chris Landreneau, a senior ballet major at TCU, was used to being the only male student at his home
studio in Louisiana. At TCU, as well, he discovered he was the only man studying ballet
in his year. “Even as the only guy, I’m lucky that we’re such a close-knit group,”
Landreneau says. “But you still have to find balance between dance and your personal
life.” Landreneau made many of his friends at հ䱫’s freshman orientation camp and
through a Christian group on campus.
Nov. 16, 2024
Glasstire
Dallas Contemporary (DC), a noncollecting art space, has announced the 13 artists
selected for its inaugural NTX Graduate Student Program. Earlier this fall, DC launched
a new initiative to provide mentorship and networking opportunities for North Ƶ
graduate students, including Austin Lewis and Elijah Ruhala.
ALUMNI
Nov. 29, 2024
Fort Worth Inc.
When the entrepreneurial itch of Dan Miles ’09 first surfaced, rather than jump in feet first he dipped his toe in Wise County waters.
He had set up a “test project,” as the mechanical engineer calls it, in Bridgeport,
selling re-manufactured air-cooled and water-cooled chillers, cooling towers and pumps,
along with his technical know-how and support. The yearlong test project was a success,
doing about $1 million in sales. “The biggest challenge, and I hate cliches, but sometimes
they’re right … I tell people who are wanting to start their own business, your biggest
challenge is you. Especially those who are currently employed and doing well, or well
enough for them. You’re gonna be apprehensive, you’re gonna be scared of the unknown.
You’re gonna be worried about taking a risk. Your biggest challenge is you. [In reality]
everything can be worked out. If you don’t have the answer, somebody does. Go call
that person.”
Nov. 21, 2024
Fort Worth Magazine
Stately Atelier, the brainchild of three entrepreneurial sisters, is finally making
its grand debut. For anyone lucky enough to catch a glimpse of their first scarf collection,
it’s clear: this isn’t just about fashion — it’s about art, memories and a deep-seated
family bond. Before there was Stately Atelier, there were three Heist sisters: Alyssa (the baby) Andrea ’21, (the middle sibling) and their eldest sister Alexia Heist ’16. Raised in West Ƶ, in a family where the entrepreneurial spirit was as natural
as Sunday dinner, business talk was second nature. “We’ve been around business our
whole lives,” Alexia shared. “Our parents’ company has been a fixture for decades,
and even our aunts and grandparents built businesses of their own. It’s in our DNA.”
Another aspect that binds these three sisters together besides business and family
is their school ties. In fact, all three of them have degrees from the Neeley School
of Business. You could say they all bleed purple as well. Despite having similar educations,
each sister focused on separate majors, which, when combined, create a great foundation
to start a business.
November 18, 2024
UMSL.edu
The University of Missouri–St. Louis has tapped Holly Hull Miori ’07 to serve as its new associate vice chancellor for development. Miori, who holds a
Ph.D. in public affairs and is a certified fundraising executive, has spent the past
11 years working at the University of Ƶ at Dallas in the Office of Development
and Alumni Relations, including the past three years as a senior director of development.
“I always love watching people getting excited about investing in things that matter
to them,” Miori said. “Nothing has brought me more joy than seeing people’s backgrounds
and interests match up with either their alma maters or other meaningful places where
I’ve been across my career.”
Horned Frogs in the News, Nov. 15-30, 2024
Tag IconAlumni/In The News