Josh Huffman, co-chair of the Class of 1973 reunion, was selected as Mr. TCU. Photo from The Horned Frog 1973 yearbook

Josh Huffman ’73 and Gail Landreth, co-chairs of TCU’s Class of 1973 reunion committee, never strayed far from TCU.

They said they have purple running through their veins and have been eyewitnesses as the university has grown and reshaped itself over the past 50 years. 

“Oh, it’s incredible,” Huffman said. “I mean, it’s absolutely incredible. You really don’t recognize it.”

A half-century’s worth of changes, many in the past 15 years, have left the campus looking almost nothing like it did when they roamed the grounds.

Huffman and Landreth said that some ’73 graduates who are returning this weekend for the reunion might wonder if they’re in the same place they were when collecting diplomas as members of the 100th graduating class at TCU.

“They’re going to come back and just be astonished,” Landreth said.

“It was very engaging and friendly, and I thought that that was just the greatest way for a college to be. You know, it hasn’t lost that feeling, and I think that’s just wonderful.”
Gail Landreth, co-chair of the Class of 1973 reunion

One thing has endured over the past 50 years.

“You did not walk the halls or on campus without saying hi to everybody that you passed,” said Landreth, who married while at TCU and followed her husband, Bill Landreth ’71, to SMU to finish her bachelor’s degree as he went to graduate school.

“It was that kind of a campus. It was very engaging and friendly, and I thought that that was just the greatest way for a college to be. You know, it hasn’t lost that feeling, and I think that’s just wonderful.”

The TCU Alumni Association holds a 50-year reunion each spring, but as the university celebrates its sesquicentennial, bringing the centennial class home provides a bonus feature to the commencement for the 150th class.

The reunion committee and Alumni Association have planned several events for May 12-13, beginning May 12 with the Medallion Ceremony at Robert Carr Chapel. President Daniel Pullin will present 78 members of the 1973 class with a 50-year medallion to be worn during the morning commencement ceremony the following day. 

While most ’73 graduates are coming to Fort Worth from various locales in Texas, some are traveling from as far away as Oregon and New York.

“I think that people are looking forward to seeing their old friends and reconnecting with people they haven’t seen in years and years,” said Huffman, a former TCU cheerleader who was selected as Mr. TCU. “My enjoyment is just reconnecting with old friends.”

Sixty-four of the 78 who receive medallions will take part in the 9 a.m. commencement at Schollmaier Arena, one of four graduation ceremonies, and make the same walk they did 50 years ago to receive their diplomas, as a precursor to the sesquicentennial class receiving its diplomas.

The reunion attendees will then head to the Dee J. Kelly Alumni & Visitors Center for a brunch that caps off the reunion weekend and their transition from a Golden Frog, an alumnus who graduated less than 50 years ago, to the Quinq Club for those who have reached 50 years.

Those changes the past 50 years? All for the better.

“Everybody’s talking about remembering what it was like when we were here, and how it’s changed for the way better,” Landreth said. “The campus is wonderful, our sports teams are incredible and a lot of dreams came true for us froggies since we’ve left. The kinds of things that we have always wanted for our school are all happening, and it’s just so gratifying to still be part of it and to enjoy it.” 

Photo from The Horned Frog 1973 yearbook