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Related Articles:
Muddle
in the Middle: The "C" in TCU
| C is
for Choice | C
is for Challenging Perceptions | C
is for Community | C
is for Christian Beliefs | C
is for Critical Thinking
C is for church affiliation
By Laura Miller '79
Alumni Association President
 C
= The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). A simple equation, but one
that meant everything to me 30 years ago as a 14-year-old freshman from
Houston. I descended on the TCU campus with about 700 other high schoolers
from Texas and New Mexico for a 4-day conference for Christian Youth Fellowship,
the Disciples' version of a high school youth group. It was my first taste
of college life -- living in the dorms, eating at the Main and having our
big meetings in Ed Landreth. I went to this conference every August for
four summers and it had a profound impact on my life.
This is the
experience that sold me on TCU and saved me from being an Aggie, like
most of my close high school friends! In my teen-age mind, TCU was my
school -- just as Notre Dame belonged to Catholics and Baylor to the Baptists.
I was even naive enough to believe that every TCU student was going to
be just like me -- a fourth-generation Disciples of Christ who came to
TCU because of the church affiliation.
What a shock
it was when I arrived on campus in the fall of 1975 to find that my experience
was clearly not the norm. In fact, I quickly learned that we Disciples
were outnumbered by virtually every main-line denomination. Equally as
quickly, I learned that TCU was not a "church" school in the narrowest
sense of the word but that it was a "church" school in the broadest sense
of the word.
My pride
in the inclusive, ecumenical history of TCU and my denomination grew as
I realized how much this tradition affected my college experience. For
me, things haven't changed that much in 30 years. The "C" in
TCU still means the Christian Church -- my church. My school. Intertwined
historically since 1873 and for me since 1975. Still relevant. Still meaningful
and still shaping the lives of students in a unique and positive way.
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