When the Class of 2024 crosses the stage of Schollmaier Arena Saturday, they will be completing a journey like no other.

They entered college in the midst of a global pandemic that reshaped their experience.

There were restrictions on how many visitors they could have in their room. They took most of their classes online, sitting at a table, mask in place, socially distanced from their classmates. Recruitment was held on Zoom.

They even faced challenges before they attended TCU.

 They missed prom.  

 If they had a high school graduation ceremony, it wasn't traditional — think Coyote Drive In in Fort Worth and Globe Life Field in Arlington.

 Their senior year of high school ended abruptly, as the COVID-19 lock down brought much of the world to a halt. When they cross the stage at the Ed and Rae Schollmaier Arena on May 11, they will cap the end of a college career like no other.  

The traditions that typically mark the beginning of college life at TCU were altered or scrapped. Recruitment was on zoom, you moved in in shifts. 

“Move in was spaced out and inconvenient" said Jackson Turriff, a senior business major. "It made it hard to be social."

TCU limited the number of guests per room as students with a double room could only have four people in their room and students in a three-person suite couldn’t have more than six. No overnight or non-TCU visitors were allowed.

Come fall, some students were on campus doing virtual classes while others were stuck at home doing virtual classes. This led to the freshmen having a tougher time getting settled and finding where they belong at TCU.  

 “I’m more of a visual learner, so it was tougher for me to adjust to college,” said Cooper Neel, a senior communications major.  

 There was a disconnect between the older students and the first-year students as social distancing limited interactions, everyone was separated and they were in their own bubbles.  

 “People prioritized what was most important to them and they pulled back from other things,” said Phillip Dodd, director of leadership and experiential learning at TCU.  

 The lack of leadership wasn’t the only issue first-years faced. There were surging cases of COVID-19 on campus, students had to wear masks and they were forced to stay away from each other.  

There was a time when COVID-19 had spread so far through TCU that there were talks about sending students home. They had been throwing parties and not following the TCU guidelines, so cases spiked. 

Alcohol violations were at an all-time high and students went to all lengths to party while also avoiding resident assistants.

TCU implemented “landing zones” shortly after classes started, allowing students to have an area to study that wasn’t a dorm room. The different zones included rooms in the King Family Commons, Brown-Lupton University Union, Mary Couts Burnett Library, Rees-Jones Hall and Smith Hall. They allowed 12-40 students inside and up to 200 students in the tents.

It was a way for students to see each other while still following the strict guidelines. 

For students that got COVID-19, TCU designed isolation rooms for them to have a space away from their roommates who hadn’t tested positive. They could leave the isolation rooms after ten days without a positive test.