TCU News: Top 25 of '25

From a newsworthy year in TCU Athletics to developments in university leadership, and from TCU's role in Landman to heartwarming Horned Frog tales, TCU News takes a look at its top stories of the year.

TCU for Texans Expands Access to a Horned Frog Education
An ambitious aid initiative is removing financial barriers to obtaining a TCU degree by providing tuition - as well as assistance for food and housing - for qualifying residents. Beginning with the fall 2026 class, TCU for Texans will be available to incoming first-year students whose families earn $70,000 or less in adjusted gross income and meet other eligibility criteria through the financial aid application process.
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Taylor Sheridan to Receive Honorary Degree at TCU Spring 2025 Commencement
Texas Christian University recognized acclaimed filmmaker, writer and producer Taylor Sheridan with an honorary Doctor of Letters degree during its spring commencement, acknowledging his significant contributions to the arts, the Texas film industry, the greater Fort Worth community and TCU.Read more.

Daniel W. Pullin Becomes 11th Chancellor of Texas Christian University
Daniel W. Pullin began his tenure as the 11th Chancellor of TCU, signaling a bold new chapter in the university's 152-year evolution - one defined by strategic growth, academic distinction, competitive excellence and a commitment to shaping the future of higher education.
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TCU's $40 Million Alumni Naming Gift 'Sends a Powerful Message'
Texas Christian University's second biggest college has a new name: the Louise Dilworth Davis College of Science & Engineering. A $40 million gift from the 1977 alumna will support the college's strategic plan and operations in perpetuity and will also endow the college's deanship, the Louise Dilworth Davis Dean.
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TCU Names Mike Buddie Director of Intercollegiate Athletics
TCU has named Mike Buddie its ninth athletic director in TCU history. Following a nationwide search, Buddie joins TCU from the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he served as director of athletics since 2019. During his tenure, he led Army's athletics programs to new heights.
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Two Major Residence Life Developments to Expand TCU Student Experience
The TCU Board of Trustees approved two residence life developments: Morado on Berry, located along Berry Street near the campus's southern edge, will deliver 780 luxury apartment-style beds for upper-division and graduate students, while TCU plans to develop 2,450 beds across four on-campus sites. At its spring 2025 meeting, the Board also approved a comprehensive renovation of Ed Landreth Hall and Auditorium.
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TCU Ranks Top 100 in U.S. News & World Report for 15th Year
U.S. News & World Report ranked Texas Christian University as a Top 100 National University and placed TCU at the top in six other categories, including business and health care. TCU saw notable gains in entrepreneurship, undergraduate business and nursing - areas that align with workforce demand and institutional investment.
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Horned Frogs Lead On: New National Spot Showcases Alumni Leaders
TCU has always been known for creating leaders, but its newest national broadcast commercial tells that story in a bold new way. The 30-second spot, which debuted nationally Sept. 20 on ESPN2 during the TCU rivalry game against SMU, breaks from the traditional formula of higher education ads filled with classroom scenes and campus beauty shots. Instead, it focuses on a single theme: alumni outcomes. The commercial features five Horned Frogs whose careers embody momentum and purpose.
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Smile! The Princeton Review Ranks TCU at the Top for Happiest Students
Cue the smiley face emojis. TCU is home once again to a joy-filled student body. TCU appeared in several top rankings by The Princeton Review, including placing No. 1 for "happiest students." TCU achieved the same status in 2024. TCU received several top-10 rankings, including Best-Run Colleges and Best Quality of Life, among others.
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TCU Women's Basketball: Cinderella Goes to the Dance
The Sweet 16 appearance is just one in a long line of firsts, mosts and bests achieved by women's basketball head coach Mark Campbell and the Horned Frogs this season.A March win over Notre Dame sent the team to the Elite Eight where they faced No. Texas. "I think it's the greatest story going on in college basketball - men or women," Campbell said.
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Filming 'Landman' Provides TCU Students Experiential Learning
Hollywood's spotlight is shining directly on Texas Christian University students. As viewers turn to the anticipated second season of the hit TV show Landman, know that Horned Frogs had a hand in its success. In addition to working as extras on the Taylor Sheridan production, as hundreds had in brief on-campus filming in the first season, students this time had a larger role. For Season 2 of the anticipated Paramount+ series, Horned Frogs worked as extras and behind the scenes, getting real-world, hands-on experience in areas such as camera and wardrobe.Read more.

TCU, UT Southwestern Lead $25 Million Effort to Improve Maternal Health in North Texas
In Fort Worth's 76104 ZIP code, the infant mortality rate once reached 19 deaths per 1,000 live births, more than triple the national average. Across North Texas, maternal morbidity rates rank among the highest in the country. Now, a $25 million initiative led by the Burnett School of Medicine at TCU and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center is determined to reverse those numbers.
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'TCU and Mystic Shaped and Formed Me'
Caroline Cutrona '24 ('25 M.Ed.) was a counselor at Camp Mystic when the deadly floods devastated Central Texas this summer. This is a story about the places that shape us and the experiences that change us. Nights had been a leisurely routine for Cutrona the 14 little campers in her cabin. She read them the daily devotional. She led them in bedtime prayers. And then she tucked them into their beds. The devotional on July 3, 2025: Joy Choosers.
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Faculty Q&A: Understanding Executive Orders, Evolving Impact
As one of the most powerful tools available to a U.S. president, executive orders can shape policy and governance. Michele Meitl, associate professor of criminology and criminal justice and assistant director of the graduate program, also holds a juris doctorate and has focused research on constitutional law. She took time to explain the nature of executive orders, their legal boundaries and how their use has evolved in modern presidencies.
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A Vibrant East Campus: New TCU Dining, Residence Halls Open
For Horned Frogs taking morning classes in the Neeley School of Business, there really is only one downside: Getting across campus by 8 a.m. necessitated an early wakeup. With the opening of Hill Hall and Walsh Hall in the spring, students now have the ability to attend Neeley and any other classes on the east side of campus within minutes, with a breakfast stop at Gutierrez Hall if desired.
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New East Campus Parking Garage will also be New Home for TCU Public Safety
Critical big ideas are at the heart of the TCU Campus Master Plan. The nuts and bolts are safety and parking, which will be two of the first things to visibly take shape. The TCU Board of Trustees approved the construction of a new parking garage, which will house a new station for the TCU Police Department at the ground level at the corner of Merida Avenue and West Cantey Street. Adrian Andrews, assistant vice chancellor for public safety, and Robert Rangel, chief of police, recently spoke to TCU News about what the campus can expect.
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University Launches New Strategic Plan, LEAD ON: Values in Action
TCU officially unveiled its new Strategic Plan, marking a significant milestone in the university's commitment to shaping its future over the next decade. LEAD ON: Values in Action includes four foundational pillars that work together to support TCU's mission and vision: Student-Centered Growth; Research, Scholarship & Creative Activities; Community Engagement; and Athletics.
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Reuben Burch to Focus on Funding, Scholarly Productivity as Vice Provost for Research
Reuben F. Burch V is a dynamic and entrepreneurial-minded executive research administrator who joins TCU as vice provost for research. With extensive leadership experience in both higher education and industry, he will provide vision, direction and strategic planning to increase research funding and scholarly productivity to support TCU's national research agenda.
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TCU Goes Global: Horned Frogs to Play in Dublin, Welcome World Cup Teams to Dallas-Fort Worth
TCU will North Carolina next August in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic, once again taking the world stage in what will be the 11th Division I college football game to take place on Irish soil. Set for another international spotlight - with its world-class facilities and prime Fort Worth location - TCU is among fewer than two dozen U.S. universities up for a FIFA World Cup base-camp site in 2026.
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TCU Women's Beach Volleyball: Road to the National Championship Ends with Splash in the Ocean
TCU graduate student Daniela Alvarez's hands and the spiked volleyball met just above the tape for the briefest of moments Sunday, hovering in the in between of "almost" and "National Champions." Then: block, point, game, set and a national championship for the TCU women's beach volleyball team.Read more.

TCU Expands Educational Research with Bezos Family Foundation Gift
TCU announced a new endowed fund made possible by a $3 million investment from the Bezos Family Foundation and established in recognition of the College of Education's centennial year. The endowment will fund an expansion of the college's research initiatives, fueling the science of learning while bolstering faculty-led research and community-engaged projects that address critical education issues.Read more.

Chris Watts Sets Out to Research 'Staggering Increase' in Parkinson's
TCU Parkinson's disease researcher Chris Watts is working on yet another project to inform public health. Watts, Marilyn & Morgan Davies Dean of the Harris College of Nursing & Health Sciences, has gathered preliminary data for a new line of research on the growing disease. Watts is collaborating with Sean Young, a medical geographer from the University of Texas Southwestern.Read more.

Say Yes: FOX Sports Reporter Alexa Landestoy '18 Shares Rules for Succeeding in Sports Media
Meet Alexa Landestoy '18, the sideline reporter on one of FOX Sports' college football broadcast teams with Robert Griffin III and Jason Benetti, a proud TCU Horned Frog, and well on her way to being a household name in sports journalism. The question she gets most often: "How do I do what you are doing?"
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Full Circle Moment: Baseball Pro Returns to TCU to Finish Degree
For college athletes, the path to graduation isn't always a straight line or even always one that has a finish line. That is why former Horned Frogs catcher Evan Skoug '25 had a plan and a promise to return for his degree. Skoug fulfilled that promise this spring … after a few extra innings. Drafted in 2017 by the Chicago White Sox, Skoug played in the organization until retirement in 2023. He then returned to TCU to complete his bachelor's degree in strategic communication.
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Welcome to the Neighborhood: TCU Dedicates Gutierrez, Hill, Walsh Halls
The dining hall and two new residence halls on the east side of campus were built with TCU's next 150 years in mind. Students, TCU administrators, donors and their families and TCU Board of Trustee members were on hand April 11 to get a firsthand look at Gutierrez Hall, Hill Hall and Walsh Hall, which opened to students at the beginning of the semester.
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