Turn back the clock: Looking at the years leading up to TCU’s sesquicentennial

TCU was founded in 1873 and then burned down in 1910. It moved from Waco to its home in Fort Worth and is poised to celebrate its sesquicentennial in the fall of 2022. As TCU’s 150th year approaches, it is clear that times have changed when looking at student life throughout the years.

Today, TCU is known for its traditions, its athletics and its Greek life population; the school looks very attractive to potential students because of these characteristics. They play a huge role in the college experience throughout students’ time at TCU. However, they have changed since their humble beginnings.

TCU has always done well in baseball. The team appeared in the College World Series in 2010, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017. These appearances led to student catchphrases like “OmaFrogs” and “Toad to Omaha.”

Students have always been enthusiastic and supportive of TCU baseball, even when the team was made up of just 12 men. The Athletic Executive Council – composed of faculty members Snow, Eskridge and Hamner and student members Gallaher, Graves, Knight and Shirley – wrote proudly of a triumphant baseball season in the 1905 issue of The Horned Frog.

“In baseball, T.C.U. has always held her own, and for the past two years she has held the college championship of the State,” wrote the Athletic Executive Council.

Student pride for TCU sports was felt even when the 1904 football season started poorly. In the issue of The Horned Frog published the following year, the Athletic Executive Council praised the athletes and their new coach for their hard work.

*A 1996 fan snapshot shows that students sections were just as spirited then as they are now. (via the TCU Digital Repository)*
*A 1996 fan snapshot shows that students sections were just as spirited then as they are now. (via the TCU Digital Repository)*

“Though defeat was often administered to the team, they at no time lost courage or for one moment gave up the struggle,” said the Athletic Executive Council.

Record-breaking school spirit has always been the Horned Frog way. Stands were packed at soccer games, baseball games, basketball games and football games throughout the 1990s. In 1996, The Horned Frog reported that TCU had set a record for college baseball attendance with 21,043 fans in the stands at one game.

“In a conference with schools nearly six times its size, TCU had always been respected for its support and pride in its athletic and academic programs,” wrote an unidentified author in the 1996 issue of The Horned Frog.

In addition to high attendance at athletic events, almost half of undergraduates at TCU participate in Greek life. In 2021, 4,747 undergraduate TCU students – 48.4% of the undergraduate population – were in a sorority or fraternity according to the 2021 TCU Fraternity and Sorority Life Guide.

*Graphic displaying 2021 TCU student involvement in Greek life. (via TCU Fraternity and Sorority Life Guide)*
*Graphic displaying 2021 TCU student involvement in Greek life. (via TCU Fraternity and Sorority Life Guide)*

In 1948, Mu Phi Epsilon and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia were the first chapters on TCU’s campus from the Multicultural Greek Council and the Independent Greek Council. Several chapters from the Panhellenic Council and Interfraternity Council joined TCU in 1955, and Alpha Phi Alpha from the National Pan-Hellenic Council joined in 1971.

The processes of rush and recruitment have changed over the years as well. The Panhellenic Council now hosts Formal Recruitment every fall, which is a week-long, mutual-selection process full of rigidly tedious steps. This process allows hopeful women to get a bid from a sorority. Outfits include fun, chic trends. In 1957, sororities dressed in ballgowns and made a production out of the recruitment process.

Although the process of sorority recruitment may have become more formal in some ways, in others they have become more relaxed. In the 1960s, Panhellenic Council sororities began wearing costumes and using props in their recruitment productions.

Like fraternity and sorority recruitment processes, TCU has many traditions that have changed over the years. While most of TCU’s students today know Frog Camp, students’ old introduction to campus was during Howdy Week. Howdy Week began in 1949 and provided first-year students with guidance as they adjusted to TCU’s campus.

A 1951 Frog Horn booklet displayed a Howdy Week schedule, including Yell Sessions, the Howdy Week Banquet, a hay ride, barbecue, a barn dance and the President’s reception. According to a 1988 copy of The Skiff, Howdy Week that year featured the Freshman Assembly, Playfair, Freshman Extravaganza, Frog Football Scrimmage and Kickoff Party. In 2008, Howdy Week included a casino night, Taco Tuesday, a comedian, Grillfest and Activities Fair, according to a copy of TCU This Week from August 2008.

Kappa Kappa Gamma and Zeta Tau Alpha at TCU in 1955. (via the TCU Digital Repository)

Zeta Tau Alpha rush 1957. (via TCU Digital Repository)

Sorority rush in 1963. (via TCU Digital Repository)

The formerly-annual Homecoming Parade is another TCU tradition that today’s students do not participate in. Student organizations constructed elaborate floats to showcase their organization’s character.

The Homecoming King and Queen rode in fancy cars, with students and citizens from Fort Worth coming out to watch the parade. Like many other traditions, the formality of the Homecoming Parade changed over the years.

Students and professors in the 1950s would watch the parade in their best dresses and suits, while students in the 1990s sported clothing representing TCU or their organization.

*1952 Homecoming parade drives around downtown Fort Worth. (via TCU Digital Repository)*
*1952 Homecoming parade drives around downtown Fort Worth. (via TCU Digital Repository)*

*The 1996 Homecoming parade Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority float. (via TCU Digital Repository)*
*The 1996 Homecoming parade Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority float. (via TCU Digital Repository)*

When many students think of the word “tradition,” however, they think about TCU’s Riff Ram chant. This is yet another tradition that has gone through many changes over the years. Today, students know the chant to be:

“Riff, Ram, Bah Zoo

Lickety, Lickety, Zoo, Zoo

Who, Wah, Wah, Who

Give ’em Hell, TCU.”

In 1905, the Riff Ram chant went:

“Rip! Ram! Bayou!

Lickety! Lickety! Zoo, Zoo, Zoo!

Who, woh! Woh, who!

Let her go! T.C.U. !!

Rackety, yacket, yackety, yack!

Hollo baloo! Hollo baloo!

Varsity! Varsity!! T.C.U. !!” according to the 1905 edition of The Horned Frog.