From the gift of medical school tuition to the impact of the drought on the ranching, our TCU faculty, alumni and students are in the news.
INSTITUTIONAL
GRAMMY Museum® Grant Program Awards $200,000 for Music Research and Sound Preservation
June 28, 2022
Business Wire
Funds will provide support for archiving and preservation programs and research efforts
that examine the impact of music on human development. The Centanni Lab at TCU received $10,000. The goal of this project is to investigate whether musical training
is also associated with enhanced neural prediction responses in those with dyslexia,
who may have deficits in prediction.
Fort Worth summer programs are trying to teach kids to read. Here’s what they are
doing.
June 23, 2022
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Fort Worth schools are working with 19 community partners across the city this summer
with one central goal — helping children learn to read. United Community Centers,
which boasted about advancing students during last year’s summer reading collaborative,
has worked with the school district as well as the TCU College of Education to develop a strategy for teaching reading that used multiple approaches programs
implemented recently in Fort Worth schools.
Anonymous Family Pays Year's Tuition for Class of TCU Medical Students
June 22, 2022
Breitbart
*shared on msn.com, USA News and numerous outlets nationally
A generous anonymous family is covering the tuition bill for Texas Christian University’s
2024 class of medical students in Fort Worth this upcoming school year. “This gift
is meaningful beyond words. For the students in this class, it is truly powerful and
will have a profound effect on their future,” said founding dean Dr. Stuart D. Flynn. “I am grateful for the phenomenal generosity of this donor family,” TCU Chancellor Victor J. Boschini, Jr. said.
Plan your classical music listening with this list of summer concerts
June 22, 2022
The Dallas Morning News
The mainstage classical music season may be over, but area organizations are serving
up a variety of musical delights for listeners in Dallas-Fort Worth this summer. Based
at Texas Christian University, Mimir Chamber Music Festival will present in-person concerts for the first time since
2019. Mimir, which routinely offers some of the region’s finest chamber music performances,
will bring together top-notch string players and pianists from around the globe.
South Korean pianist Yunchan Lim, 18, wins the 2022 Van Cliburn International Competition
June 19, 2022
The Dallas Morning News
At a news conference of international musicians, Yunchan Lim, 18, spoke softly and
a mop of hair fell nearly to his eyes. The South Korean pianist had become the youngest
gold medalist. The Van Cliburn Competition preliminary and quarterfinal rounds, devoted
to solo recitals, were held not at Bass Performance Hall, but at Texas Christian University’s handsome new 717-seat Van Cliburn Concert Hall at TCU.
'So grateful': Anonymous donor pays tuition for dozens of TCU med school students
June 17, 2022
WFAA-TV
*Note: numerous ABC outlets across the nation shared this report.
Dozens of TCU School of Medicine students got a good surprise this week: Their tuition for the 2022-23 school year
will be covered. An anonymous family donated the tuition money for all 60 students
in the class of 2024 for this upcoming school year, the university announced in a
news release. “I am grateful for the phenomenal generosity of this donor family,” Chancellor Victor J. Boschini, Jr. said.
Beaumont ISD rejuvenates Pathways alternative learning program
June 14, 2022
The Beaumont Enterprise
Pathways serves as a “disciplinary alternative education program,” reserved for students
who are removed from their regular classes for mandatory or discretionary disciplinary
reasons, according to the district’s website. The school is also partnering with Texas Christian University’s Karyn Purvis Institute of Child Development, which will provide Pathways faculty with intensive training in trust-based relational
intervention.
FACULTY
MMT and the Public Purpose
June 29, 2022
The Pentagon UFO Report
John Harvey, economics professor, was interviewed about his view of the policy implications of
the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's Adaptation Report. “We all know that
the developed countries are creating most of the problems,” he said. “The developing
world pays 75% percent of the cost, and they create 10% of the carbon dioxide.”
New TCU network aims to build investment community in Fort Worth
June 28, 2022
Fort Worth Report
Rodney D’Souza and Andrew Hicks saw a problem for investors in Fort Worth: There’s little funding for early-stage
startups, but there’s also a lack of “good deal flow.” That’s why D’Souza, the managing
director of the Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Texas Christian University
and Hicks, a principal at RevTech Labs Capital and adjunct professor at TCU, started
a network to connect deals to investors. “There is money. We all know that,” D’Souza
said.
Heat, drought stress North Texas cattle herds
June 26, 2022
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
The drought and multiple 100-degree days are evaporating stock tanks and drying out
the grass that fatten animals. It’s too early to tell what the economic impact will
be from the current conditions, but some smaller ranchers may be forced to completely
liquidate their herds, said Chris Farley, holder of the Southwestern Exposition and Livestock Show Professorship in Ranch
Management and assistant director of the TCU ranch management program. He is also
a rancher himself and has already sold 200 cattle due to lackluster grass growth in
his pastures near Glen Rose. “It’s literally burning up, drying up and we’ve had no
growth this spring from a grass standpoint,” he said.
What’s next after Roe? For Republicans, joy but also uncertainty over changing debate
June 24, 2022
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Forty-year TCU political science professor Jim Riddlesperger said that issues such as guns, LGBTQ status, gender, crime and immigration might draw
voters, but not with the same passion as abortion. “None of those issues have the
staying power of abortion, in part because it was the critical issue that began the
process of polarization to begin with,” he said.
Judy Bernas: Woman Worth Meeting
June 23, 2022
fortworth.com
Judy Bernas works for an NCAA member institution in a non-athletic capacity and feels the games
she played growing up have influenced her career. “Sports has so many lessons for
all of us — how to be gracious winners, even more gracious losers, discipline, consistency,
commitment, and most importantly, teamwork. The lessons from sports are used in my
professional life every day,” said Bernas, who currently serves as the associate dean
and chief strategy and communication officer for the TCU School of Medicine.
Some Colorado sheriff candidates have an unlikely campaign promise: not enforcing
the law
June 22, 2022
The Colorado Sun
More than a dozen candidates campaigning to be top law enforcement officials in counties
across Colorado are running on a unique platform: Not enforcing the law. These candidates
fit the profile of a loose movement sometimes referred to as “constitutional sheriffs”
whose members promise to act as a bulwark against government overreach and laws passed
by state legislatures that they deem illegal. In 2021, more sheriffs than not said
they believe their authority supersedes federal or state governments in their county,
a central belief of the association, according to research from Holman and Emily Farris, a political scientist at Texas Christian University.
Energy Prices
June 21, 2022
GoodDay Austin
Ann Bluntzer, executive director of the Ralph Lowe Energy Institute at TCU, recently visited Europe and met with the International Agency and the U.S. Department
of Energy. “Energy security is top of mind. Of course, we’re all worried about our
pocketbooks, and what that means for us in regard to energy prices, not only in our
electricity, but also at the pump,” Bluntzer said. “The demand in oil and gas is continuing to go up.”
Texas GOP makes election integrity top priority, pass resolution rejecting 2020 election
June 20, 2022
KTVT-TV
The Texas GOP says a majority of the nearly 5,000 delegates to their convention in
Houston overwhelmingly approved a resolution disputing the results of the 2020 presidential
election. Political Science professor Jim Riddlesperger said, “The Republicans’ emphasis on elections integrity will put pressure on both
Democrats and Republicans. I think the challenge for both political parties is going
to be to turn out the vote and to do so in such a way that their turnout cannot be
questioned.”
The future of gas prices
June 13, 2022
KPRC-TV
The European Union recently agreed to ban most Russian oil imports, an aggressive
and punitive sanction against Moscow for its war against Ukraine. Ann Bluntzer, executive director of the Ralph Lowe Energy Institute at TCU, said, “This is a hard
decision for the member countries of the EU to make, especially in regard to their
own energy security. The EU is funding Russia’s war machine to the tune of almost
a half-billion dollars per day by purchasing oil, natural gas liquids and refined
products. It is a necessary step, not only to be free from future reliance on Russian
imports, but also to force Europe’s hand to secure resources elsewhere.”
Universities Studying Slavery Consortium Carries On
June 13, 2022
Diverse Issues in Higher Education
As this year’s Juneteenth celebrations near amid mounting backlash to teaching about
the history of slavery in K-12 schools let alone colleges, scholars reflect on why
continuing to unearth higher education institutions’ ties to slavery matters now more
than ever. In August 2020, Texas Christian University signed on to join the Universities Studying Slavery Consortium. “We often get in the
way of the truth,” Frederick Gooding Jr., the Dr. Ronald E. Moore Professor in Humanities, said. “But I think that me telling
you about the lawsuit, for example, is foundational to move the conversation forward.
And if anything, it makes our story all the more important. We started in a period
of angst, but I would be hot-dang if in two years we did not take steps toward healing.”
STUDENTS
Announcing the 2022 Pulitzer Center Reporting Fellows
June 16, 2002
Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting
The Pulitzer Center is pleased to announce our 2022 cohort of 53 Reporting Fellows.
Their projects address some of the most critical, and underreported, stories in today’s
world. JD Pells, our Fellow from Texas Christian University, will report on the environmental and
health impacts of gold mining in Ghana. He will be exploring the presence and damage
that Western mining companies have had on communities over a ten-year period. Pells
is the executive editor of TCU 360, a student-run media organization.
ALUMNI
#VeteranOfTheDay Army Veteran Nicole Kerkenbush
June 27, 2022
VAntage Point
Army Veteran Nicole Kerkenbush ’92 joined the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps at Texas Christian University to earn
a physical fitness credit, which the university required. However, she completed the
program and eventually earned an officer’s commission. Kerkenbush retired in September
2016 after 24 years of service. She also earned two master’s degrees and currently
works as chief nursing and performance officer at Monument Health in Rapid City, South
Dakota.
Guide to Fort Worth, Texas, via Black Women-owned Businesses
June 15, 2022
The Charlotte Observer
A journey of Fort Worth is seen through the presence and contributions of Black women
– one location being at the Mount Zion Baptist Church. Vada P. Felder M.Div. ’54 was a church mother, the compiler of history for Mount Zion, and the editor of its
historical journals. She was the first Black student to earn a master of religious
education from Brite College of the Bible — now Brite Divinity School — at Texas Christian University, and the woman who brought Martin Luther King Jr. to Fort
Worth.
ATHLETICS
TCU baseball has found its associate head coach to replace Bill Mosiello, per report
June 24, 2022
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
T.J. Bruce has been hired to be TCU baseball’s associate head coach, according to a report. Bruce
has been the head coach at Nevada the past seven seasons. Before that, he was an assistant
coach at UCLA the previous five seasons. Bruce, 40, replaces Bill Mosiello, who took
the head job at Ohio State last week. TCU has yet to confirm that Bruce has been hired.
Mapaya smashes Zimbabwe record as he qualifies for World Champs
June 12, 2022
The Chronicle (Zimbabwe)
TCU’S Chengetayi Mapaya leapt to a new country record and personal best at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field
Championships. He broke the longstanding leap and set a new record that also won him
qualifications for next month’s World Championships. “The feeling is amazing. Last
year I tore my hamstring at the same competition so this was a comeback season,” Mapaya
said.