Every spring commencement, alumni celebrating 50 years since their TCU graduation dress in purple caps and gowns and wear medallions commemorating their golden anniversary. They walk into the graduation ceremony for the current class, carrying a banner displaying the year they graduated from TCU, as the crowd applauds.

The 50-year reunion weekend marks their welcome into the Quinq Club alumni group. While the only step to membership is reaching the milestone anniversary, those who have experienced the festivities on campus recommend participating in person.

“It made us feel important,” said Sharon Vester ’67, a Quinq Club board member and former president. “The school does a really good job of patting their 50-year graduates on the back,” said Terry Adams ’66, the Quinq Club president-elect.

Following their procession through the commencement ceremony, the group walks to the Dee J. Kelly Alumni Center to enjoy a meal together. Dale Young, ’66, former Quinq Club president and emeritus board member, recalled how he reconnected with an old roommate and two women he graduated with at the event. “It’s like I never left TCU,” Young said.

Current Quinq Club board members walk around the event, passing out pins and congratulating the newest members. Those who don’t attend the 50-year reunion can pick up their pin anytime they attend an alumni event.

Quinq Club Gatherings

The first meeting of the Quinq Club was in spring 1973. Today it has 10,000 members; 300 alumni are active in the Fort Worth-based club. 

Brooke Shuman ’03 (MEd ’07), director of alumni relations, described the club as an opportunity to stay connected with the university. “Most [members] have lived past their full careers,” she said, “and they’re looking for connection, community and fellowship.”  

The club hosts three dedicated events a year — a holiday luncheon, a summer social and a group outing. It also invites members to volunteer at university events and join other TCU alumni groups for activities. 

Quinq Club members connect over Mexican food to celebrate the holiday season. Courtesy of TCU Alumni Association

The December holiday luncheon includes Mexican food, a photo op with Santa and Mrs. Claus, and sometimes a performance by the TCU choir, band or orchestra. 

At the summer social, held in the Dee J. Kelly Alumni Center, members play bingo, socialize and have lunch to escape the summer heat. The bingo game is so popular that it has a time limit. “We would [play] on all day,” said Vester, adding that the prizes are TCU-themed swag. “Everyone wants to win.”  

One of the most memorable group outings was a taco crawl, where about 50 alumni took a charter bus to four restaurants in Fort Worth to sample tacos and margaritas. “It was such a good time because we didn’t sit with the same people at every place,” Young said. “We went to different tables, so the 50 of us really got acquainted.” During an April day trip to the Winstar Casino in Thackerville, Okla., participants chose to spend time in the casino or spa.

A Walk Down Memory Lane  

The camaraderie is what keeps Adams coming back to the events. “It’s seeing the people that have similar interests, are a similar age, approximately, and just reminiscing about old memories of going to TCU,” he said. 

The club events provide alumni with space to share memories, including impromptu storytelling. Shuman said that the club evolves with each added class year. “The stories and personalities of the classes that are involved are more colorful,” she said, “and I think it reflects on the experiences they were having as students at the time.” 

The memories include pranks that were common at colleges in the ’40s to ’70s — panty raids, streaking and “woodsies.” According to Young, a woodsy occurred when sororities and fraternities would sneak off to Benbrook Lake to drink beer.  

Vester recalled how women her freshman year were supposed to wear dresses when they left the dorm. When they didn’t feel like dressing up, she said, “the trench coat was our standard mode of dress because we usually wore our pajamas underneath and went to class.” 

Giving Back

Members of the Quinq Club participate in volunteer events on campus and around the Dallas-Fort Worth area together with other TCU alumni groups, like helping out at the Tarrant Area Food Bank. Such efforts give members the opportunity to connect with the broader alumni community. 

At the annual Christmas tree lighting in the Campus Commons, TCU alumni groups help at a booth where guests can collect a light-up necklace, write a letter to Santa and make a Christmas ornament. Alumni distributed about 4,000 necklaces last December.  

Quinq Club members don’t just want to sit around, Vester said; they like to help out and be seen around campus. “We’re a fun-loving group, but our whole purpose is to strengthen our ties to TCU and, in so doing, maybe renew some old friendships … make some new ones, all with the underlying cause of, ‘How can we serve TCU?’ ”