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TCU 360

TCU 360

All TCU. All the time.

TCU 360

Students discuss religious topics in a small group. (Photo courtesy of tcuwesley.org)
Wednesday nights at TCU’s Methodist campus ministry provide religious exploration and fellowship
By Boots Giblin, Staff Writer
Published Mar 27, 2024
Students at the Wesley said they found community on Wednesday nights.

Westphal hoping to build new tradition

Westphal hoping to build new tradition

Student Body President Cody Westphal said at a Student Government Association meeting Tuesday that he wants to start a new tradition at TCU similar to Texas A&M’s “Midnight Yell.”

The Midnight Yell is a pep rally held at Texas A&M University at midnight a day or two before football games. Students learn new chants and practice them before using them during a game.

“I really look up to the yell leader model at A&M,” Westphal said. 

Westphal said if TCU could replicate a pep rally similar to the Midnight Yell, it would increase school spirit.

“In the way of a Horned Frog, [those leaders] would lead chants the night before, lead pep rallies on the field and really be ambassadors for the university,” he said.

Westphal said he wants to create an atmosphere that encourages both support for the team and also allows students to build community.

“It’s really something to be proud of on a lot of levels. That’s the kind of model I want, something to showcase school spirit,” he said. “It’s also more than just supporting our team; it’s also wanting to hang out with each other.”

Ideally, there would be a pep rally the night before a home game as well as an event on game day, Westphal said. As for complications, engaging upperclassmen and those who don’t live on campus could be the biggest obstacle.

Senior history major Chris Bushman said it would be a good idea to have a pep rally before game days.

“I think it would be pretty cool to display more school spirit,” he said. “And a lot of students meeting the athletes would be really cool. I’d definitely go to one.”

Chris Cochran, a junior political science major, said he shared Bushman’s enthusiasm.

“If they could pull something like that off, yeah I think that’d be great,” he said. “That would definitely help show our school spirit.”

Westphal said he doesn’t believe a school can ever have too much school spirit.

“I like the support we see now, but I’m kind of the guy that says we can do better,” he said. “I’d like to see students stay one more quarter, or go to one more basketball game.”

Westphal said he wanted to make it clear that the plans are still in the early development stages.

The idea, Westphal said, came from a conversation he had with first-year student Adam Beasley. After having that conversation, he said he spoke with Michael Drozd, the head of the Riot, a student spirit group, for additional information.

“Students have already shown interest in just preliminary talks,” Westphal said. “It’s not even really my idea. I’m just trying to put it together because that’s my job.”

 
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