Amethyst gets it name from the ancient Greek word amethustos, which means sober. It was believed that wearing amethyst could help instill a sober and serious mind.

This specimen sits in the Joan Rogers Conference Room of the Mary Wright Admission Center and was a gift from R. Nowell Donovan, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs, in 2011.

Its plaque reads: “Amethyst is a form of quartz colored by iron. This particular specimen is an example of an amethyst ‘cathedral’ from Brazil. It is formed as a geode in a basaltic lava flow. Amethyst is the official gemstone of Texas Christian University. A purple and white banded specimen gifted by Oscar Monnig, sits at the heart of the University Mace.”