A century of the Skiff
Editor’s note: The Skiff staff viewed nearly every copy of this newspaper in its 100 year history. The following is a list of some of the biggest stories the paper has covered, as they were written throughout the century.

May 7, 1948
TCU Student Body Constitution Illegal; Brothers Declares Existing Emergency
Pres. Sadler will appoint same officers
After a thorough investigation by members of the Student Council and the Skiff, it has been discovered that the student body government has been operating under an illegal constitution. In fact, the students of T.C.U. have been operating under an illegal constitution for at least 16 years.

The investigation was done when the present constitution was being checked to establish the procedure for the coming elections of the yell leader and editors. It was found that this present constitution had not been legally ratified in accordance with the previous constitution.

Feb. 25, 1949
Repeal of Student Constitution Called for in Current Petition
Document has 100 signatures; would abolish Congress, set up new government
A petition now circulating on campus calls for the Student Congress to hold an election to repeal the present constitution.

When the required 10 per cent (sic) of the student body signs, the petition will be present to congress, it is reported by ... (a) spokesman for the group behind the petition.

... In a statement to the Skiff they said, “The present constitution, if we may flatter the document by calling it such, is too complicated and legally involved to meet the simple needs of our student body.”

March 11, 1949
Court Stops Unpublicized Election
Injunction Prohibits Vote on Petition Thursday
“The Student Court is deferring decision on this case until further arguments are heard and some of the issues clarified,” said Chief Justice Ben Hearn yesterday after the hearing of the student petition requesting repeal of the constitution was resumed. ...

An injunction restraining the Student Congress from holding an unpublicized election was ordered by Chief Justice Ben Hearn at a special session of the Student Association Court Tuesday.

The court action followed Monday night’s heated Congress meeting at which seeking repeal of the association’s constitution was presented.

March 13, 1963
Students Picket Theaters
20 Protest Segregated Movie House Facilities
There was a “double feature” at the Worth Theatre last Friday night, but the manager of the theatre hadn’t planned for one of the “shows.”

Inside, an all-white audience was watching Gregory Peck in “To Kill a Mockingbird,” a movie about racial prejudice in the South.

Outside, five TCU students and a Negro girl were parading up and down the street, carrying picket signs asking for integration in the Fort Worth theaters.

The situation was the same at three other theatres, all members of the large Interstate Theatres Inc. chain — the Palace, the Ridglea and the 7th Street. The picketers at each were TCU students and local Negroes.

Nov. 26, 1963
President Kennedy assassinated
University Solemn After Tragic News
When the campus learned of the death of President Kennedy Friday, it wore a long face.

The air was filled with the sound of a single church bell, tolling the tragic news. Its steady beat was almost in time with the steps of many students entering campus churches.

Professors dismissed classes. Some locked their doors and went home for the day.

The flag, flying high on its staff in front of Reed Hall, was taken in half-mast, its proud colors waving in a heavy wind.

The Student Center was filled with people listening to the voice of a news commentator, telling of the President’s death in Dallas.

Dec. 6, 1963
Ease Race Barriers, TCU Congress Asks
Academic Restriction Target of Resolution
By an overwhelming majority — unanimous except for three abstentions — Student Congress Tuesday called on the administration to open the TCU academic program to Negroes.

The sole test for qualification, Congress argued, should be scholastic qualification.

The resolution, which asks the University’s Board of Trustees “to remove any racial restriction from admission requirements to any part of our academic program and that this be done by the end of the academic year if possible,” is to be forwarded to Chancellor M. E. Sadler.

Sept. 21, 1985
Skiff Special
Dust Settles on Dismissals
As the dust begins to settle on Thursday’s announcement that six football players have been accepting cash payments from an alumnus, the strange sequence of events has become a little bit clearer.

The first official word of the dismissal came in a prepared statement read by TCU athletic director Frank Windegger shortly before midnight.

Windegger said that six players recruited prior to Wacker’s arrival at TCU had been illegally recruited and had received cash payments until recently.

Sept. 16, 1999
8 killed in local church shooting
Gunman opens fire on youth, kills self at Wedgwood Baptist
Eight people were killed at a southwest Fort Worth church after a gunman entered an area-wide youth rally and opened fire. Six people were gunned down during the attack before the gunman fatally shot himself. One person later died at a local hospital.

Shortly after 7 p.m., members of Wedgwood Baptist Church, located at 5522 Whitman Ave., heard a loud bang. Witnesses said the gunman walked into the large prayer group and began shooting. One body was found in the entryway, one was found in the foyer and the other bodies were found in the sanctuary. Seven other people were wounded in the attack.

The gunman was described as a slender, white male in his mid-30s wearing a black jacket, white shirt and blue jeans and smoking a cigarette, said Lt. David Ellis of the Fort Worth Police Department.

When police officers located his body on the last pew in the sanctuary, the gunman was armed with a 9mm handgun and had several rounds of ammunition in his pocket.

March 28, 2000
Twister rips downtown, misses campus
Students forced to take shelter during storms
A tornado that caused extensive damage in downtown Fort Worth Tuesday evening forced students on campus into basements and lower-level floors of residence halls and buildings.

Amateur radio spotters detected the tornado at 6:22 p.m. on West Seventh Street and again at 6:45 p.m. east of downtown Fort Worth, according to the National Weather Service. TCU Police reported that the powerful winds caused no damage on campus.

During the storm, police officers evacuated students and staff to the lowest level of each building, said Jon Carter, a TCU police officer.

“We sent all of the kids down to the basement of the (residence halls) and in all the buildings,” Carter said. “We just got word of the possibility of severe weather and went into action.”

Sept. 12, 2001
Students react with multitude of emotions
Terrorist attacks lead to shock, fear, disbelief among students
Students gathered from all over campus Tuesday and stared in shock at the Student Center Lounge television as events that will change the world unfolded in New York City and Washington, D.C.

At least half of the more than 100 students in the lounge had tears in their eyes as they watched hijacked planes destroy the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in possible terrorist attacks that caused numerous American fatalities.