Smith to become trustee
‘TCU mom’ will help balance board, some say

By Melissa Christensen
Staff Reporter

The roll call for next year’s Board of Trustees will include four new names — three business leaders and one wife and mother.

“I am not a career woman,” newly-elected trustee Sarah Smith said. “I just believe very much in family and in these young lives.”

As a parent to Rayner Smith, a senior business management major, and Rachel Smith, a sophomore psychology major, Sarah Smith has been involved with TCU for four years, including membership in the Parent’s Council, the Chancellor’s Advisory Council and the Austin Regional Council. Her name was among the nominations received from alumni, faculty, students, trustees and community members to fill vacated positions or expired terms.

Sarah Smith looks on as her husband Steve Smith shakes hands with Chancellor Michael Ferrari after the Smiths’ announcement last year of their $10.5 million donation to build a center for the Entrepreneurial Studies program. Sarah Smith was elected Friday as a TCU trustee.

Sarah Smith, a 1973 graduate of Stephens College in Missouri, and her husband, Steve Smith, donated $10.5 million in 2000 to build a center for the budding Entrepreneurial Studies program. However, Sarah Smith said that as a trustee, she will focus on the university as a whole.

“I need to be more informed of the school overall,” she said. “Knowledge of the campus is a big responsibility.”

Sarah Smith said she hopes to connect the grassroots level of the university, which is the students, to the board.

“I plan on participating as an active liaison for the students,” she said. “TCU has such a feeling of community spirit and family, I will do whatever it takes to keep that in tact.”

While the majority of the Board of Trustees are alumni, Chairman John Roach said the only requirement is a commitment to the university.

“We take a very comprehensive look at the (nominated) person,” he said. “There is no specific road map to becoming a trustee, and there is not a stereotypical trustee. A woman of her character and experience will bring strong values to TCU.”

Sarah Smith, a former teacher, is currently working on two books that focus on the value of home, family and faith.

“I feel I’ve been brought through a journey in my 27-year marriage that I want to share with others,” she said. “I want TCU to not only equip (students) for a profession, but for a personal life as well.”

Roach said Sarah Smith’s perspective as a TCU mom will be helpful in balancing discussion within the board.

“While we wouldn’t want all parents on the board, we certainly want the balanced perspective that parents can add,” he said.

The Smiths own Austin-based SRS Management and own and operate the resort town of Lajitas.

Melissa Christensen
m.s.christense@student.tcu.edu