The winter edition of TCU Magazine is now live, covering topics from TCU Basketball to our first-generation college students to the impact of our faculty research on urban forests. The issue’s cover story tackles the important issue of cybersecurity, from protecting TCU’s own network to preparing the future workforce to maneuver it.
“Did you know that Lincoln College, an HBCU in Illinois, closed permanently earlier this year because of a ransomware attack it could not afford to resolve? And two years ago, the University of California, San Francisco coughed up more than a million dollars to release its academic files from hackers,” said Caroline Collier, editor of TCU Magazine. “Our new cover story starts with TCU’s internet technology department’s strategy to keep tcu.edu protected. The work happens in the basement of the Sid Richardson building but requires all of us to be smart about our internet habits. We hope the narrative is chilling as well as informative.”
The story also shines a wider light across campus. TCU faculty across disciplines are thinking ahead to prepare students to be well-equipped to take the lead on cybersecurity policies and practices in their future places of employment.
“Two professors — Liran Ma in computer science and Curby Alexander in the College of Education — are co-principal investigators in a large grant project from the National Science Foundation. They have developed a series of online lessons to teach people around the world the basics of staying safe from hacking attempts.”
The winter issue also features guest authors from the class of 2026. Four first-year students — James Boyd, Hannah Helfrich, Katie Jannusch and Suzanna Tesfamicheal — kindly shared the admissions essays that gained them admittance to TCU.
“You will be blown away by all these students accomplished before they started college and inspired by who they want to become and what they want to give to the TCU and global communities,” Collier said. “I dare anyone who reads it not to shed a few tears at the power of their stories.”
Other stories include:
- A Q&A with TCU Basketball’s Mike Miles Jr., who shares his goal of taking the program to a place it has never been. The team that was seconds away from an NCAA Sweet Sixteen appearance returns all five of its starters, so it stands to be an exciting basketball season.
- A feature authored by Whitnee Boyd ’17 Ed.D. on how TCU supports first-generation student success. In 2022, almost one out of every five TCU students is first-generation, and Boyd makes a case that their success requires support from everyone in our campus community.
- A research feature on Brandan Lavy from the department of environmental and sustainability sciences. He has been studying municipal tree ordinances in hopes of protecting urban forests. Lavy explains how sustainability is a true ethic that prioritizes a respectful relationship with Earth and responsibility to future generations.
- A profile on Rumen Cvetkov ’06, a world-renowned viola performer and instructor. A music festival organizer, his MurciArt festival in Spain featured Placido Domingo as its inaugural honorary maestro. TCU awaits Cvetkov’s return to TCU to perform at the Van Cliburn Concert Hall. An infographic about why the venue sounds so beautiful is also in this magazine issue.