Spring 2009 in photos

TREE LIGHTING GIFTS More than 400 presents were collected for the Order of Omega fundraiser at the annual holiday tree lighting in December. The gifts benefitted the children of Child Protective Services of Fort Worth.

ENTREPRENEUR Colleyville Heritage High School senior Steven Crandall was awarded the $5,000 top prize in the TCU Texas Youth Entrepreneur of the Year Award in February for his lawn service business.

MIDNIGHT PANCAKES  A line of more than 1,000 students extended down two flights of stairs in December for the 30th annual Late Night Breakfast, served for the first time in the University Union.

MINISTERS WEEK The Rev. Donald B. Mills ’72 (MDiv) was given the Distinguished Minister Award for General/Institutional Ministry during Ministers Week in February.

TAMAS UNGAR TRIBUTE In celebration of his 30 years of service, the School of Music presented a concert honoring Piano Texas director Tamas Ungar in March. Guest artists, TCU faculty and former pupils performed with Ungar.

VIEWING HISTORY  About 200 people watched the swearing in of President-elect Barack Obama during a campus Inauguration watching party, complete with purple popcorn, pizza and balloons.

Overheard at TCU

“Homo sapiens are but one of 30 million species alive on this planet right now. That’s less than 1 percent of all the species that have ever lived. What might we learn from the success stories of other organisms that have thrived here?”
– Dayna Baumeister, biologist and founder of the Biomimicry Guild, on the process of finding sustainable solutions to planetary problems by echoing nature, at the Frost Foundation Lecture for Global Issues

“We’re on the cusp of a major decision in this country: We’ll either go with more and more government aid or we’ll stick with our free market capitalist system, which will have winners and losers. How it will turn out, I don’t know.”
– Matthew K. Rose, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad CEO and TCU Trustee, at the Tandy Executive Speaker Series in February, on crucial months ahead for the federal government

“Your generation is the first truly international generation. But humans must begin to see themselves as ‘planetary people,’ rather than focusing only on how they connect with the local community.”
– Mary Evelyn Tucker, Yale University professor and co-founder of the Forum on Religion and Ecology, at Brite’s Fourth Roman Catholic Lecture

“We think feeling good about yourself helps you succeed, but that’s not necessarily the case. Kids may think they’re better, but they’re legends in their own mind. For college students who think they’re so smart they don’t really need to study, that overconfidence can lead to failure.”
– Jean M. Twenge, Author of Generation Me: Why Today’s Young Americans are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled and More Miserable Than Ever Before

By the numbers … December 2008 commencement

887 students receiving diplomas

28 states represented in the graduating class

29 countries represented in the class

10 grads with a perfect 4.0 grade-point average

1,335 words in Chancellor Victor Boschini’s address