Rachel Anne Hopper, associate director of residence life, was honored this fall for her dedication to students, TCU and the community as a recipient of the 2020 Michael R. Ferrari Award for Distinguished University Service and Leadership.
“Rachel Anne has been indispensable in TCU’s response to COVID-19,” reads a quote from one of her nominators. “She has developed plans for the care of sick students in campus housing. She has also designed the logistics for our campus vaccination partnership with [Baylor Scott & White], based on the drive-through move-in process Housing & Residence Life created for students at the beginning of Fall 2020. COVID-19 has required many new initiatives and problem solving for TCU. Rachel has been at the forefront of managing some of our most critical projects and transforms the quality of our response to COVID-19.”
“When TCU made the decision to partner with Baylor Scott & White to do a drive-thru vaccination clinic, Hopper was asked to help with the TCU planning,” said Chancellor Victor J. Boschini, Jr. when he announced the winners. “She was quick to create layouts, job descriptions and flow plans for volunteers. She knew that we could serve our community, just as our mission inspires us to act.”
Named in honor of TCU’s ninth chancellor, the Ferrari Award was established by the TCU Board of Trustees to recognize the extraordinary situational leadership accomplishments above job or position expectations of a faculty or staff member.
Hopper said she is proud of the work she and her teammates accomplished.
“When we think about how we were able to put together a vaccination clinic, we were able to be very proactive about something. … I think that really instilled a lot of excitement toward the work that we were doing,” she said. “It was one of the most rewarding moments of my career. I will forever remember that I was able to help support such a meaningful opportunity for our community and our TCU community.”