TCU’s Race & Reconciliation Initiative, a five-year scholarly journey into the university’s past, will celebrate its anniversary with the fifth Reconciliation Day at noon, March 26, in the BLUU Auditorium. A reception with food and entertainment will follow.
The program will include a panel discussion with Amiso George, current chair of RRI; Karen Steele, part of the inaugural RRI team; and Jenay Willis, former post-doctoral fellow with RRI, who have co-authored an upcoming book to commemorate the five-year commissioned endeavor, “Race & Reconciliation Initiative: 2020-2025.” They will share insights about the book and suggestions for how it can be used in curriculum. The panel will be moderated by Marcellis Perkins, part of the inaugural RRI team.
RRI, an academically-based, historically-focused initiative, was commissioned by Chancellor Victor J. Boschini, Jr., and Mark L. Johnson, then-chair of the TCU Board of Trustees, in 2020 to study the university’s historical connection to racism, slavery and the Confederacy. The academic team was led by Frederick W. Gooding Jr. and drew upon existing grassroots efforts such as the TCU Portrait Project, the Indigenous Peoples historical marker and more.
“Students, faculty and staff have produced volumes of academic research to tell the full story of Texas Christian University,” said George, including an e-toolkit companion to “The Race & Reconciliation Initiative: 2020-2025,” executed by post-doctoral fellow Emily Castillo, and graduate assistant Sanjana Chowdhury.
“The initiative’s work with Universities Studying Slavery has greatly informed the study of our complicated past and served as an example for many colleges starting down the same path,” George said. “I am grateful for the consistent support of RRI from the highest level at TCU, especially Chancellor Boschini and Chairman Johnson. Without their support, this initiative would not have been possible.”
Milestones and Achievements
- Became the second university in Texas to join the Universities Studying Slavery consortium
- Published three books, including A History to Remember: TCU in Purple, White, and Black; Being in Relation: Indigenous Peoples, the Land, and Texas Christian University; and The Race & Reconciliation Initiative: 2020-2025 (scheduled for release in fall 2025)
- Developed an e-toolkit, a virtual companion to the third book, containing short interviews, discussion questions and more
- Hosted a reunion and reconciliation with descendants of Charley and Kate Thorp, who were discovered through the research of slave descendant communities. The Thorps provided instrumental contributions to the university during its founding years.
- Commissioned two murals in the Intellectual Commons – “We Can Together” and the current “150 Connections,” both collaborations with art faculty and students in the College of Fine Arts
- Established the Heritage Trail, highlighting stories about the racial geography of TCU
- Added three portraits and a statue as part of TCU’s The Portrait Project, including silhouette portraits of Charley and Kate Thorp, created by nationally renowned Fort Worth artist Letitia Huckaby, using photographs of their living descendants
- Created the RRI Oral History Project, which is archived in Special Collections in the Mary Couts Burnett Library
“We should continue to celebrate valuable research conducted over the past five years to inform and enlighten the community and begin the reconciliation process,” Gooding said. “Seeing how the university community has directly benefitted from such transformative work, I remain hopeful that efforts established by RRI will continue to benefit from sustainable support and interested investment at TCU.”
The Plume Award, which is given annually to recognize and reconcile with individuals and organizations that have made a significant contribution to TCU and its goal of fostering a campus community that is welcoming to all, will be presented at a reception March 25 in the Intercultural Center. This year’s honorees are Arnoldo De Leon ’71 MA (Ph.D. ’74), a leading national authority on Mexican American history who has authored 21 books on the topic, and LaDainian Tomlinson ’05, TCU Trustee and chair of the Social Justice Committee, which supported the creation of RRI and unanimously approved RRI’s seven recommendations in Year One.
While the academic portion of RRI culminates at the end of the spring semester, programming will continue under the auspices of the Center for Connection Culture.
“We are proud to continue to engage the campus in RRI programming as we have since 2022 when the initiative was joined with our department,” Aisha Torrey-Sawyer, director of the center, said. “In addition, construction of Sesquicentennial Plaza will begin this summer, which will include more contextual information near the Clark Brothers’ statue to commemorate the efforts of groups who have and will continue to contribute to TCU’s sense of community.”