Dialogue about race, racism, and the Confederacy is uncomfortable, but meaningful; it can foster true understanding and healing. This book addresses the race and reconciliation efforts of Texas Christian University through the Race & Reconciliation Initiative (RRI): a five-year academically based, historically focused initiative designed to investigate and document TCU's relationship with slavery, racism, and the Confederacy. This academic endeavor draws upon the talents and experiences of faculty, staff, students, and alumni to research and raise awareness of racism and inequality at TCU, helping us work toward a campus culture where everyone is respected and valued. Part one provides a new narrative of TCUs first 150 years with special attention to race and racism. Part two includes essays from faculty, students, and community members who explore a variety of topics related to the race and reconciliation work at TCU. The book not only serves as a catalyst for future scholarly investigations of these important issues in the understudied areas of TCUs history,but also equips campus leaders, faculty, and staff with strategies to expand students experiences and understanding of TCUs history. The collection, in sum, offers one institutions road map to thinking about racial diversity in the history and current practices of higher education. This book is an invitation to explore these difficult landscapes together, to learn from our past, and to imagine a future unburdened by the ashes and fears of old.
Amiso George, APR, Fellow PRSA,is professor of strategic communication and chair of theRace & Reconciliation Initiativeat Texas Christian University. She was a former chair of the Strategic Communication Department. She was a 2020 Fulbright Fellow in Kyrgyzstan, a visiting professor at Swinburne University in Australia, a Carnegie African Diaspora Fellow, and a consultant for universities in Asia and Africa. She is the coeditor of three books, including Race, Gender and Other Minorities: Readings for Professional Communicators(2012). George teaches diversity (in the media), global communication, and studies the role of culture in risk and crisis communication nationally and internationally. Karen Steele, professor of English, previously served as founding dean of the TCU School of Interdisciplinary Studies; special assistant to the provost focusing on justice and inclusion; cochair of TCUs Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee; chair of the English department; and director of Women & Gender Studies. She is a founding member of TCUs Race & Reconciliation Initiative. She writes for general audiences, both locally and nationally, about RRIs research processes and findings, as well as its efforts to spotlight organizations and individuals who shaped TCU to become a more diverse and inclusive campus.
Jenay F.E. Willis is assistant professor of higher education at the University of Mississippi. A former postdoctoral fellow for TCUs Race & Reconciliation Initiative, she led efforts to address the necessity of illuminating and centering students voices and experiences pertaining to reconciliation in conjunction with faculty, staff, and administrators across TCU and the broader Fort Worth community. She was director of the RRIs Oral History Project, which offered her the opportunity to be in conversation with individuals and communities from historically marginalized backgrounds who are affiliated with TCU. A native of the Deep South, she centers those experiences of locality in her research and highlights rurality, spatial equity, access, and opportunity in her scholarship.
