TCU celebrates ‘150 Connections’ mural honoring African American leaders

By Pilar Olivas, Staff Writer

Published Feb 20, 2025

RRI Chairwoman Dr. Amiso George (center), Claudia Tiffany Rodrigues (third from left), and the RRI team at the one-year anniversary of the “150 Connections” mural (Pilar Olivas/Staff Writer)

Earlier this year, students, faculty and alumni gathered to celebrate the “150 Connections” mural and the people who made it possible on the first anniversary of its installation.

Located in Founders Plaza on East Campus, the mural showcases notable African American alumni as well as faculty and staff who have contributed to the TCU community.

“This mural represents a vibrant and inclusive Horned Frog community,” said Dr. Amiso George, the chair of the Race and Reconciliation Initiative, who hosted the event. “A place where everyone is an important part of the family, that makes TCU a guiding light for us all.”

Students who walk past the mural on their way to class every day said it was a constant reminder of TCU’s history. Some students of color said the mural reminds them that they have a community at TCU and that they are welcome and supported.

The “150 Connections” mural. (Pilar Olivar/Staff Writer)

Ronald Hurdle J.D., a former judge and the first African American cheerleader at TCU, is among those depicted in the mural.

“I’m so proud of this school,” Hurdle said. “Not because I’m a part of this mural, but because of the stance they’ve taken to continue with the need to be diverse and include all people in this country, because that’s what’s made us great.”

Creating the mural was a major undertaking managed by Professor Adam Fung of TCU’s art department. Fung worked with several student artists who took over a year to complete.

“Visibility leads to conversation, and visibility encourages people to acknowledge, even if it’s just in that really brief moment they pass by the mural, that there’s more to the story,” Fung said.

The importance of visual representation as a means of remembering the past permeated the conversation at the event that day.

“I think the work overall of Race and Reconciliation Initiative and the work TCU is doing to highlight the contributions of all of our community, it plays a role in make sure our history isn’t erased,” Tracy Reneé Williams, the first Black president of TCU’s National Alumni Association, who is part of the mural, said.

Williams also said learning from history teaches people how to continue growing as a community and how to become the best version of themselves.