From helping in the aftermath of a hurricane to the impact of the pandemic on nursing homes and friendships, TCU and its faculty, staff, students and alumni are being featured in the news. Check out the latest roundup of newsworthy Horned Frogs.
INSTITUTIONAL
TCU gave football tickets to Xavier students displaced by Ida
Sept. 4, 2021
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
TCU is opening its doors to the New Orleans Saints next week. It also welcomed displaced
students from Xavier University of Louisiana for the football game against Duquesne at
Amon G. Carter Stadium. TCU issued approximately 70 tickets for the student section
to Xavier students who have relocated to the Dallas-Fort Worth area following Hurricane
Ida. Xavier had to close its campus due to damage sustained by Ida. TCU is also helping
with providing meals to the students who are staying at the Hyatt in downtown Dallas.
Horned frogs are making a comeback. No, not those horned frogs.
Sept. 3, 2021
The Dallas Morning News
The Horned Frogs are making a comeback. Not the purple and white kind you find at Amon
G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth. The actual horned frogs — horny toads. In 2008, Texas Christian Universitybegan a genetics research project. From 2011 to 2016, the Fort Worth Zoo conducted
a pilot study to test ways of reintroducing lizards to the wild. As the national paper
of Texas, and one that fought many battles with Fort Worth newspaperman Amon G. Carter,
we’re not all TCU fans, but we’re cheering for these horned frogs.
Xavier University students receive shelter, hospitality in Dallas
Sept. 2, 2021
KXAS-TV
Several dozen students from New Orleans' Xavier University are currently sheltering
at the Hyatt in Downtown Dallas. The journey here hasn't been easy, but they're undaunted.
The university will cover students’ lodging and meals. However, local partnerships
have been critical; like the one they’ve established with TCU, which uses the same dining service as Xavier University. “We go there in the mornings,
we pick up the food, we bring it back over here and then our students are able to
eat,” he said.
Restaurant deals for wearing purple Fridays for TCU football
Sept. 1, 2021
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
It’s the holiday season in Fort Worth, and I am not referring to pumpkin spice season. Go
Purple Fridays are like weekly holidays every fall. On Fridays, we get free Chick-fil-A. Or a free
Pearl Snap kolache. Or — this is definitely worth it — free Rogers Roundhouse funnel
cake. You don’t even have to be a TCU Horned Frogs football fan. All you have to do is wear Frogs purple the day before a football game.
FACULTY & STAFF
The pandemic continues to strain nursing homes. What happens if a lot of them close?
Sept. 9, 2021
The 19th
Nursing homes were closing before the pandemic: more than 550 from June 2015 to June
2019, more shuttering each year than the previous one, affected by staffing shortages,
high costs and a decline in occupancy. But the coronavirus pandemic has hit nursing
homes particularly hard. If large numbers of nursing homes close, it’d be “a nightmare,”
said Assistant Professor Kimberly Posey.
Change before you have to
Sept. 8, 2021
CF Grower
According to Dave Malenfant, the green industry faces unique challenges when it comes to shipping and logistics,
and understanding the factors that impact supply now is essential to keeping up with
the demands of the future. Director of outreach and partnerships in the Center for
Supply Chain Innovation at TCU Neeley, Malenfant presented “Future Trends in Logistics:
Partnering for Success” at this year’s virtual Nursery Guide Live. He discussed the
trends he’s observed over his 30-year career, predicted the future of supply chain
management and provided insight as to how you can prepare your business for the challenges
ahead. “Change before you have to.” That was the simple piece of advice Malenfant
began with.
Free food options offered on campus for students
Sept. 7, 2021
The Rambler, Texas Wesleyan University
Baptist Student Ministries (BSM) is another faith-based organization on campus that
offers weekly free lunch. Jessica Tuggle, associate director, had worked with BSM at TCU for five years and had been planning
to bring a BSM organization to the Texas Wesleyan campus when COVID began. “I was
a college student myself, and I know that, you know, you need free food here and there.
So, we want to be serving the campuses this way. And really like anytime that we can
have the opportunity to do community service, or any way that we can be serving campus,
we want to take that opportunity,” said Tuggle.
Why have inaccuracies thrived during the pandemic? Evolving science and politics.
Sept. 6, 2021
Fort Worth Report
Although it’s not a new phenomenon, local experts say misinformation has thrived during
the pandemic in part because of the scientific community’s evolving understanding
of COVID-19 — which doesn’t always translate to unified guidance for the public — and
the politicization of the virus. “This is the first time that we’ve had a worldwide
health issue that impacted every facet of life,” said Amy Faith Ho, an assistant professor at TCU and UNTHSC School of Medicine.
After COVID-19 lockdowns, children struggle to rekindle close friendships
Sept. 6, 2021
The Wall Street Journal
Months into virtual school last year, Elyssa Katz witnessed her son Noah, age 9, start
to lose interest in his best friend. Since the two couldn’t see each other as often,
it was harder for them to keep in touch; she worried he felt lonely without his go-to
friend by his side. Once vaccinations got under way, she arranged a playdate to help
reunite the two buddies who were previously “stuck at the hip.” She says it was awkward
as both focused on their videogames instead of talking to each other. "Close friends
are people who help you individuate -- growing toward adult independence," said Andrew Ledbetter, professor of communication studies.
Novel follows exploits of legendary lawman Bass Reeves
Sept. 5, 2021
The Oklahoman
The second book in Sidney Thompson's trilogy, "Hell on the Border," picks up the story a couple of decades later, in
1884. Reeves is now a deputy U.S. Marshal based out of Fort Smith, Arkansas, whose
duties include tracking down and arresting outlaws in Indian Territory. Thompson,
who teaches creative writing and African-American literature at TCU, writes with a
folksy feel, as if the story is being told by one of the people of the day, perhaps
by the light of a campfire as cicadas sing from surrounding trees and a horse nickers
nearby.
Ask the Experts: Grocery Credit Card Shopping Tips
Sept. 1, 2021
Wallet Hub
“For someone who is in the lower tier income category then their focus would be much
more on grocery savings unless travel included gas,” Robert Leone, J. Vaughn and Evelyne H. Wilson Chair in Marketing, said."For those in the upper-income
tiers then travel (once it opens back up post-COVID) would be a bigger incentive.”
STUDENTS
His father was killed in the Sept. 11 attacks before he was born. Then he lost his
mom.
Sept. 7, 2021
The Washington Post
Sophomore Luke Taylor was born six weeks after American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon on
9/11, killing his father. When his mother died from breast cancer soon after, Luke
and his brother were adopted by his aunt and uncle. Now at TCU, Luke is in the Reserve Officer Training Corps, carrying on the family military
tradition. “It’s like I’m missing something,” he said, “but I don’t know what I’m
missing.”
Conversations: Call for Change
Sept. 2, 2021
KXAS
TCU has never had a Black student government president until this year, and now there are
two leading the Student Government Association and Graduate Student Senate. "I think
we are at a pivotal moment," Ph.D. student Leslie Ekpesaid. "It definitely speaks to change that is occurring on TCU's campus." Senior Lau'Rent Honeycutt said, "I really hope that opens the gates for so many opportunities for students
of color so they feel they truly have a place here all the time, no matter what they
are doing."
ALUMNI
Listen: Councilman Jared Williams explains how he’s handling District 6’s egret problem
Sept. 8, 2021
Fort Worth Report
Fort Worth District 6 council member Jared Williams MS ’14 describes how he spent his first days in office responding to constituents’ complaints
about egrets, a federally protected migratory bird whose nesting habitat includes
Fort Worth. Williams also shares his ideas on policing, public comments and gambling
facilities. "I went to TCU and got my master’s in environmental science. That was where I really took what I
learned … and focused on urban green infrastructure and really tackling questions
of, 'How do we work with communities to reinvigorate marginalized green spaces that
had once been a part of the Fort Worth prairie, but are now Bermuda grass expanses?',”
he said.
Agriculture Report: Breaking new ground
Sept. 3, 2021
ColoradoBiz Magazine
First-generation farmers and ranchers are lured by lifestyle and opportunity. After
10 years as a marketing specialist for companies that included Whole Foods and the
Savory Institute, Sarah Gleason got into bison ranching full-time a little more than a year ago. As with other first-generation
farmers and ranchers profiled here, there was little if anything in Gleason’s upbringing
to indicate she’d develop an interest in working on the land. A Division I athlete,
Gleason swam for TCU and earned a degree in political science. “I felt pretty quickly, like five years
out of college, like I wasn’t meant to work in an office, that I wanted to work with
land and livestock in some capacity,” she says.
ATHLETICS
TCU’s Gary Patterson on whether defenses have caught offenses
Sept. 7, 2021
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Coach Gary Patterson is regarded as one of the top defensive minds in college football. He isn’t arguing
with those who feel great defenses are finally catching up to the high-scoring offenses
these days. “It’s kind of like a paisley tie,” Patterson said. “About every 10 years
you pull it back out and it goes away and it’s terrible and then all of a sudden you
look around and everyone is wearing a paisley tie. I’m old enough now I’ve gone through
three cycles of paisley ties.”
Four schools have emerged as targets in Big 12 expansion
Sept. 2, 2021
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
With the Big 12 eyeing expansion, four schools have emerged as favorites to join the
league: BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and Central Florida. TCU football coach Gary Patterson addressed realignment and expansion during his radio show: “I think we’re going to
end up staying together, I think we’re going to end up adding teams, and I think we’re
going to end up getting stronger,” Patterson said on 92.1 Hank FM. “We control what
we can control.”
TCU men’s basketball to play Texas A&M in Houston on Dec. 11
Sept. 1, 2021
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
The TCU men’s basketball teamhas set its date for the nonconference game against Texas A&M. The teams will meet
on Dec. 11 at Toyota Center in Houston as part of what’s being billed as The Battleground
2021. Sam Houston State and UT San Antonio will also play in the event.