Weekend set for senior reunions
Older graduates to revisit Fort Worth and campus

By Julie Ann Matonis
Staff Reporter

Fadie Beckham, Jarvis Hall residence hall mother in the 1930s, used to tell women that they shouldn’t wear red because it made them look like ladies of the night.

Beckham’s advice will be resurrected Friday in a monologue at the “Nostalgia at Noon” luncheon by theater students taking part in Alumni Weekend. The theme for the weekend is “Reflections and Expectations.”

Close to a dozen events are scheduled Friday and Saturday for alumni returning to TCU for 40-, 45- and 50-year reunions. Events include a bus tour of the campus, lunch with the chancellor and a tour of Fort Worth and Bass Performance Hall. Alumni will also be able to interact with current TCU students at the “Nostalgia at Noon” luncheon and dinner at “Cafe du Mond.”

This is the fourth year of spring scheduled 40-, 45- and 50-year reunions, which are separate from the reunions that take place during Homecoming.

Merry Roberts, an administrative assistant for Alumni Relations, said the overall attendance estimate for the weekend is 550. Eighty-two members of the class of 1951 are expected, 80 members of the class of 1956, and 86 members of the class of 1961. Each class will host its own party Saturday night.

Kristi Hoban, director of Alumni Relations, said less recent graduates have different interests than more recent graduates when it comes to reunions.

“We used to do all reunions at Homecoming,” Hoban said. “It’s hard to plan the reunions for 1 to 50 years all at once. Our less recent graduates want to hear faculty and tour facilities.”

Hoban said she wants alumni to see their old friends and get an update on TCU.

“Most (alumni) are thrilled that although TCU looks different physically, it’s still the same atmosphere and same type of university as 40 years ago,” Hoban said.

She said one of the highlights of the weekend for some alumni will be induction into the Quinq Club. Quinq is the Latin word for 50. The club is for alumni that graduated 50 or more years ago.

TCU alumnus and author B. Bryce Davis will be at the TCU Bookstore Saturday from 2 to 4 p.m. signing copies of his book “A Texas Past Revisited.” Davis’ grandfather was a fellow minister and friend of Joseph Addison Clark, a founder of TCU.

Julie Ann Matonis
j.a.matonis@student.tcu.edu