From our readers

Remembering the Student Center

I graduated in 1965 and some of my fondest memories have to do with the Student Center. I lived off campus at home so any spare time I had I spent at the Student Center. The game of bridge was all the rage and that's where I learned to play. Whenever we had time between classes, we would run to the Student Center and play a few hands. You didn't have to know the other players, you just sat down at any empty table. I don't remember anyone being really serious about the game, it was just fun to play.

Sharon Roach '65

I well remember when the Student Lounge was in the basement of the Ad Building. It was a good place to relax and meet friends. And one friend was a nice white dog that inhabited the Lounge. It would wander around among the students, sniffing at them as dogs are wont to do. One year an election was held for Evening College Student Body President (or some such title). I don't remember the names of the students that came in first and second, but White Collie Dog came in third with two or three hundred votes. Many of us were delighted and petted the dog's head as it came by us the next day.

James H. Holden '51 (MA '53)

Like most alumni, I still remember the first time I walked into the student center. It certainly was not the most attractive building on campus, but it didn't matter. It was the place to be, where all the action happened. If you needed anything, it most likely could be found in the student center: friends, Pizza Hut, a copy of The Daily Skiff, a comfortable place to study, computer access, or even just a cool place to walk through on your way to class on those scorching, hot days. Honestly, I was devastated when I saw the pictures of the demolished student center. How could TCU just tear it down like it didn't mean anything? Think of all the memories and the great things that happened in that building. Then I started thinking: It is up to me to cherish and keep my memories alive. Building or not, no one can take away the history or the experiences I had. The heart of the TCU campus has not been destroyed, just the old building. In a way, TCU received a heart transplant. A new shiny heart now replaces the old one. The new heart isn't necessarily better than the old, but it will bring fresh life to the campus. Now a beautiful new student center stands proudly welcoming every student. Together, the new light yellow bricks and the upcoming students will create a new history and new memories allowing the heartbeat to continue.

Ashley Garousi '06

Spring photo

I believe that the two girls in the middle of the picture sharing a table under the running men are me on the left, and on the right, with her left arm raised, Cindy Warren Beall. We were freshmen roommates in 1965. Thanks for the memories.

Joyce Wikander Parker '69

Concerning the picture of the cafeteria in the Spring issue: The male in the center of the picture facing right is Fred Banda '67 (MDiv '71) and he is opposite his longtime friend, Roger Vazquez '68 (face not visible).

Karen Alexander Vazquez '67

Jarvis Broads

After 30 years since graduating from TCU, it was a pleasant surprise to see three of those still smiling 'Jarvis Broad' faces I have the pleasure of remembering as a Tom Brown resident! I'll always cherish those enjoyable and productive activities of the TB-J Experience we all participated in. So here's a 'RAH! RAH! TCU...and RAH! RAH! to the Jarvis Broads too!

Peter C. Poss II '77

War stories

I read with remembrance the article "War Stories" in the Spring issue. As a reporter in Iraq, I always asked the Iraqis two questions: "Do you want the Americans here? Do you want them to leave?" The responses I mostly got were, "Yes, we want the Americans to leave." And, "Please, you can't leave." This seems a contradiction. But it's not. The Iraqis don't want the military in their front yards. But they also don't want the police to leave the neighborhood. I was told repeatedly that if the Coalition Forces leave, al-Qaida will move in. The Iraqis call al-Qaida "animals." These innocent, delightful people are jammed between a jagged rock and a hard place - with only a ray of hope in sight. That is part of the intractable situation. And after a month, I came home with no easy answers. But I can't get that ray of hope out of my mind.

Wayne Anderson '84

I am all for supporting our troops and my heart goes out to all of them and their families, but I can't believe that you would run a letter from a soldier in Iraq that shows how horribly brainwashed she is along with millions of Americans. She mentions that the reason she is there is the "war on terror." I find it pathetic that our country's own infantry don't know why we are there. The World Trade Center's destruction was not and never will be why we are in Iraq. We went to war because somebody (nobody's taking responsibility) said that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. As a journalistic publication, please don't encourage lies of this magnitude.

Doug Hopkins '92

Lasting impressions

Congratulations to Bob Frye, Honorary Alumnus Award recipient this year. He has the same friendly face and contagious smile he had back in 1971 when we worked together as a student/professor team at the summer orientation sessions for new students. What I particularly remember was the way he treated me as an equal partner in the work. He told me to call him Bob, not Dr. Frye, at a time when that was not the norm. Bob did not look down on me or indicate my contributions to the discussions were any less important than his. He often deferred to me in our sessions. So here I am 37 years later acknowledging the lasting impressions he made on me but was not aware of.

Nancy Robertson Kerstetter '73

Giving recognitions

On Page 54 in the Summer issue, you profiled Kewa and Zach Nichols. It would have been nice to mention their parents, one of whom I know personally. Their father Mark is always at all of their tennis matches and talks about their accomplishments constantly. Being a 1979 graduate of TCU, it is always fulfilling to see the accomplishments of someone's children, especially those that you know. Just a couple of sentences about a child's parents, who have sacrificed over the years would be beneficial to all. Otherwise, another example of the outstanding work that the magazine does.

Robert Koger '79

Think Green

It was with some irony that I noticed this month's cover article "Bleed Purple, Live Green" poking out at me from amidst a massive pile of junk mail. Wouldn't it be nice if The TCU Magazine would itself go green, offering an online-only subscription option for those of us who are tired of all the waste paper building up in our mailboxes? I can only guess at how many trees each year are cut down to fuel your publication run. At the least let's print the magazine on recycled paper.

Greg Friedman, Department of Mathematics

Editor's note: We launched our first Web site in 1998, and you'll find all the issues back to then on our current site.

1,759 forks

On page 79 of the Summer 2008 issue, you wrote, "1994: Two students from Milton-Daniel Hall dumped exactly 1,759 forks ..." Those guys lived down the hall from me - in Tom Brown Hall, not Milton-Daniel. The "Mike" of "Jeff and Mike" was Mike Simons; I can't remember his roommate Jeff's last name.

Mike McCaffrey '96

Editor's note: Thanks for the clarification. Apparently the Skiff got it wrong too, since that was our source for the information.

First Frog Camp

I had the great privilege of being on the Frog Camp planning team and was on staff for the first two years. I did a lot of wonderful things while at TCU but Frog Camp was by far an experience that truly taught me about myself. It was a defining experience of my college career. The staff was a wonderful group who had a passion for TCU and it was so fun to work together to welcome the incoming students. I recognize everyone in that picture but the names I remember are Erin Davis, one of the FC staffers (she and I were friends from Colby Hall) and Karyn Cook (I'm not sure of her last name but I think she works for TCU now or at least did at one point, I do remember she was from Marshall, Texas.) I think my co-facilitator my first year was Reid Shackelford and I know that Liz Spradley, Gordon Blocker, Clint Brumble and Jeff Benson were also on staff. I know there were other great people but as I rack my brain, these are the names that come to mind. When I graduated with my master's in 2002 from UNT, I sat next to a woman who had been in one of my Frog Camp groups! We were in different programs so had never run into each other until graduation!
I am now an assistant professor in the Professional Counseling Program at Texas State University. I specialize in play therapy and teach the child and adolescent counseling courses.

Mary Morrison '96

The girl, second from the left, is Andrea Small from Iowa. My Frog Camp memory from that year: I was in the band and we had rehearsals starting about a week before classes started. As I recall, there was only one Frog Camp session offered that year and it was during band rehearsal. I was so disappointed to miss something that sounded like so much fun. I sure hope that has been rectified.
Keep up the good work. I love the magazine!

Tanya Hardy Lippe '98

The male student standing fourth from the left is named Leon. Everyone from my TCU era will remember him as "the guy with the purple camo" - he wore it to every game and led the Hyperfrog section in cheers that were distinctly his. The one that I remember the most is "It's hot, it's hot, it's hot in here, there must be a frog in the atmosphere!" I attended the first Frog Camp and then was a facilitator the next three years. I have so many great memories from all of those experiences but when I think of that first year I always remember eating Cheese Nips and drinking Diet Coke after dark at the Kibbutz on the campgrounds with Malinda Mason. We would make up these really dramatic soap opera/ghost stories and crack each other up!

Molly Regal Wood '98

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