From faculty insight on the future of religion to the growing number of college-aged
virgins, Horned Frogs are in the news.
INSTITUTIONAL
Jan. 30, 2025
Fort Worth Report
TCU鈥檚 strategic plan for the next 10 years means growth in every direction. Total enrollment
will grow by around 5,000 students. More buildings will be built, and the amount spent
on research funding will grow, too. And athletics? Expectations are for an 鈥渦nmatched鈥
student-athlete experience, according to the university鈥檚 strategic plan executive
summary. 鈥淚t is the vision of our board to grow the campus in a student-centered way,
while investing and increasing the academic rigor, the research activity, the prominence
of our athletics programs and the way we work with Fort Worth and the broader region
to build a university at the intersection of academics and the community,鈥 said TCU
President Daniel Pullin.
Jan. 28, 2025
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
After months of planning with feedback from more than 10,000 community members, TCU unveiled details about a strategic plan that charts the Fort Worth university鈥檚 course
for the next decade. The plan touches on every aspect of the university, from what
the campus will look like in the coming years, to how TCU intends to extend its influence
well beyond University Drive. 罢颁鲍鈥檚 president and soon-to-be chancellor, Daniel Pullin, said that the ambitious goals won鈥檛 be met overnight. But the university is already
working toward them, including updating some curricula and opening new facilities.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not a 90-day plan, it鈥檚 a 3,700-day plan if you really think about it, and it鈥檚
organic, and it鈥檒l evolve,鈥 Pullin said. 鈥淣othing can be, you know, set in stone as
you look 10 years out in a crystal ball, but I do believe that there are many near-term
opportunities to accelerate the execution of that plan.鈥
Jan. 17, 2025
Forbes
According to a 2025 report by the American Veterinary Medical Association, animal-assisted
intervention is an umbrella term describing the utilization of animals to benefit
the human experience. 罢颁鲍鈥檚 Counseling & Mental Health Center offers an equine therapy program for students.
The center provides transportation to an off-campus site at Freedom Reigns Counseling,
where students interact with horses.
FACULTY
Jan. 30, 2025
Texas Observer
Last week, the federal Department of Homeland Security reversed longtime policies
restricting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection
arrests in certain locations including churches, schools and hospitals. David Brockman, an adjunct professor at TCU, is worried by the federal policy change. 鈥淔or Christianity,
I think that this policy means the end, at least for now, of any kind of separate
sacred space, a kind of religious realm that鈥檚 off-limits to the government and enshrined
by the First Amendment. The implications of that also are troubling,鈥 he said. 鈥淚f
the government can invade sacred space and seize worshipers, what鈥檚 to keep it from
dictating what can and cannot be preached, what people should or shouldn鈥檛 believe
and so on?
Jan. 30, 2025
The Dallas Morning News
In an op-ed by Mike Slattery and Nikki Morris of the Ralph Lowe Energy Institute, the duo writes, 鈥On the first day of his second term, President Donald Trump wasted no time reshaping
U.S. energy policy, declaring a 鈥榥ational energy emergency鈥 with a focus on expanding
domestic fossil fuel production. Trump also signed an executive order withdrawing
the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement, as he did in his first term. Conventional
wisdom might suggest that this aggressive focus on fossil fuels signals a major setback
for the clean energy transition, particularly given Trump鈥檚 history of deriding renewable
energy sources like wind and solar.鈥
Jan. 29, 2025
Associated Press/The Miami Times
From federal agencies to stakeholders who get federal dollars for special training,
many are trying to process how President Donald Trump鈥檚 sweeping executive order putting
a stop to diversity, equity and inclusion programs across the U.S. government will
upend their work. DEI laws and programs have been under attack for years by Republicans
who contend that the measures threaten merit-based hiring, promotion and educational
opportunities of white people, specifically white men. It may be easy for Trump to
sign such an order but more difficult to carry out, said Frederick Gooding Jr., associate professor of African American Studies and Dr. Ronald E. Moore Professor
in Humanities in the Honors College at TCU. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not going to be as easy to execute.
It鈥檚 going to be more of a fantasy. There are no quick fixes for these issues that
took years, if not centuries, to develop,鈥 Gooding said.
Jan. 28, 2025
Newsweek
The number of young adult virgins in America hit an all-time high in 2023, as a record
number of both men and women between 22 and 34 reported they had never had sex. Sarah Hill, psychology professor, spoke with Diary of a CEO podcaster Stephen Bartlett about
the rise in college graduates who are still virgins. She pointed to how many universities
now have a gender imbalance, where there are more women attendees than men, which
may make it more difficult for people to couple up in university.
Jan. 23, 2025
Houston Chronicle
For the Houston region鈥檚 conservative sheriffs who built their careers talking tough
on immigration, President Donald Trump鈥檚 pledge to launch the 鈥渓argest deportation
operation鈥 in American history could be their chance to turn words into action. 鈥淚CE
simply doesn鈥檛 have the capacity to do what Trump says he wants to do, so they鈥檙e
going to need these local sheriffs,鈥 said Emily Farris, political science associate professor. Many sheriffs will feel motivated to cooperate,
she said, either to score political points with their conservative-leaning constituency
or to benefit from potential federal funding.
Jan. 22, 2025
Wallethub
The easiest credit cards for you to get approved for with bad credit or no credit
are secured credit cards because they require a refundable security deposit that protects
the issuer. Paul Irvine, professor of finance and the Kleinheinz Endowed Chair in International Finance and
Investments, says you can get a secured credit card pretty easily. 鈥淲here the problem
comes in is that the banks want a 6-month payment record (may vary by card) on these
cards with no breaks or problems before they issue a user a regular credit card. Many
of the people that struggle to get on the credit ladder with a credit card have the
problem here,鈥 Irvine explains. Are the easiest credit cards to get necessarily the
worst credit cards on the market? 鈥淚n some cases, yes,鈥 says Mauricio Rodriguez, professor of finance and director, LKCM Center for Financial Studies. 鈥淭hat is due
to high interest rates and high fees. However, some credit cards that are not very
hard to get just have low credit limits, but average interest rates, which offer a
reasonable way to establish (or re-establish) good credit.鈥
Jan. 20, 2025
Fort Worth Inc.
Kay Granger retired from Congress on Jan. 3 as one of Texas鈥 most impactful stateswomen,
her reputation and legacy fully intact despite attempts by political adversaries to
tarnish it in her final days. 鈥淗er legacy is as someone who was a tireless promoter
of Fort Worth, someone who represented Fort Worth with dignity in the House of Representatives,鈥
said Jim Riddlesperger, political science professor. 鈥淪he obviously was a partisan Republican, but she had
a reputation who, behind the scenes, was always trying to figure out a way forward,
a way that she could work with people across the aisle to find solutions to problems.
She鈥檚 kind of a throwback to a different generation of members of Congress. She was
always a builder.鈥
Jan. 20, 2025
North Texas E-News
American women served World War II by the thousands. Those in Northeast Texas rose
to the occasion, working for government functions at or near Bonham, Paris, Greenville
and all the way to Texarkana and Tyler. Kara Dixon Vuic, LCpl. Benjamin W. Schmidt, Professor of War, Conflict, and Society, discussed a
few of these participants at the quarterly program of the WWII History Roundtable,
Audie Murphy Chapter. Vuic studies the vocation of women in war and their vital support
functions and has written about the wider use of women during the war.
ALUMNI
Jan. 28, 2025
Bizjournals.com
Animal Cloud Device Connectivity, a startup developing and commercializing a vital
monitoring platform to help keep law enforcement animals safe and healthy in the line
of duty, is joining the seventh cohort of the Cincinnati-based faith-focused accelerator
program. With its participation in the program, Animal Cloud will also receive a $50,000
seed investment provided by an early-stage Chicago VC fund, which focuses on 鈥減urpose-driven鈥
entrepreneurs. Animal Cloud was launched last April by Chris Matos 鈥21 (MS 鈥22), who serves as vice president, and Dylan Jones 鈥20 (MS 鈥22), who serves as president. Being military veterans themselves, the team began looking
at technology created by the U.S. Air Force Research Lab to commercialize and base
their company around.
Jan. 15, 2025
Yahoo! Sports
A year ago, none but the most ardent of tennis fans would have heard of Jacob Fearnley 鈥24, one of two British men to fight through to the third round of the Australian Open.
Having once practiced with Roger Federer as a 17-year-old at Wimbledon, Fearnley made
the unorthodox decision to attend TCU instead of turning professional. 鈥淚 went to
college because I still wanted to play professional tennis afterwards, but I just
didn鈥檛 feel ready physically, emotionally. TCU was the right place for me in order
to achieve those goals,鈥 he said. A sporting university with impressive credentials,
TCU boasts nine Paris 2024 Olympians among its current and former 鈥渉orned frogs,鈥
including Cameron Norrie as well as more than 200 professional American football players.
ATHLETICS
Jan. 29, 2025
NCWLife.com
For her efforts leading Team USA to a bronze medal at last summer鈥檚 Olympic Games,
Hailey Van Lith has been named the 2024 3x3 Female Athlete of the Year. Van Lith was the only collegian
on the four-member Team USA and led the team in scoring during the Olympics, scoring
47 points with 13 assists in nine games. Van Lith is currently a fifth-year senior
at TCU, helping the Horned Frogs to a 20-2 record, and a No. 9 national ranking while
averaging 18.3 pionts per game and 5.8 assists.
Jan. 22, 2025
USA Today
Memphis Grizzlies guard Desmond Bane 鈥20 will have his No. 1 TCU jersey retired, the school announced. Bane, who is in his fifth season with the Grizzlies,
played four years at TCU and became one of the program鈥檚 most decorated players. He
holds the program record for games played and made 3-pointers. He鈥檚 also second in
minutes played and third all-time in points scored. Bane, who was at TCU from 2016-20,
became a first-round pick and began his NBA career with the Grizzlies.

Horned Frogs in the News, Jan. 16-31, 2025
Tag IconAlumni/In The News