$10 Million Gift Provides Scholarships for Students From Middle-Income Families

FORT WORTH, TEXAS (Dec. 13, 2019) — Brenda and Mike Harrison ’64 of Midland, Texas, have made a $10 million gift to establish The Brenda and Mike Harrison Endowed Scholarship Program at Texas Christian University. This endowed scholarship fund will be used to provide permanent need- and merit-based financial aid to students from middle-income families.

“We are grateful to Brenda and Mike Harrison for this gift that addresses our highest priority – increasing endowed support for scholarships, which helps us make the TCU experience more available and affordable for talented, deserving students,” Chancellor Victor J. Boschini Jr. said. “What’s truly powerful about their gift is that it will support TCU students forever. As we near our sesquicentennial, we celebrate the continued legacy of this partnership between the Harrison family and TCU that will span the next 150 years and beyond.”

The Harrison family’s ties to TCU run deep and connect multiple generations. In addition to Mike Harrison, nine relatives are graduates, including his father, Dr. W.O. Harrison, who graduated with the first of his three degrees in 1932, as well as two of Mike and Brenda Harrison’s four children, Michael Harrison Jr. ’91 and Christina Pittman ’95.

The Harrisons are the owners of Anderson Ranches in Midland, and Brenda Harrison is a former speech pathologist who worked in the Pecos ISD before retiring. She is now an active volunteer in the Pecos area.

“We have a strong desire to help students whose families do not earn enough to afford a TCU education, but earn too much to qualify for meaningful scholarships and other financial aid,” Mike Harrison said. “These very qualified and deserving students should have every opportunity to become Horned Frogs.”

In recognition of the Harrisons’ generosity, TCU plans to name the new Administration Building scheduled to open in August 2020 “The Harrison.”

About Lead On: A Campaign for TCU
On Oct. 24, TCU launched the most ambitious philanthropic campaign in its nearly 150-year history. The $1 billion goal of Lead On: A Campaign for TCU will drive support for TCU’s people, programs and endowment.

 Continued fundraising efforts throughout the life of the campaign will focus on the following areas:

• Student scholarship support – to ensure that the TCU experience is affordable for every student who earns admission
• Support for endowed faculty – to support the recruitment and retention of passionate teachers and formidable scholars
• Support for academic programs – to drive innovative, cross-disciplinary opportunities that benefit both students and society
• Support for the university’s endowment – to ensure that TCU’s values and priorities, rather than external forces, are the key drivers of university decisions

Over the past several years, TCU alumni and friends have supported some 32 new endowed faculty positions, while almost $300 million in donor-funded scholarship support has allowed the most accomplished, deserving students to benefit from a TCU education.

“This level of support reflects an exceptional commitment to TCU, our mission to educate individuals to think and act as ethical leaders and responsible citizens in the global community and our vision to be a world-class, values-centered university,” Boschini said.

For more information visit Lead On: A Campaign for TCU.

About Texas Christian University
Founded in 1873, TCU is a world-class, values-centered private university based in Fort Worth, Texas. The university comprises eight schools and colleges offering 115 areas of undergraduate study, 58 master’s level programs, and 36 areas of doctoral study. Total enrollment stands at 10,918, including 9,445 undergraduates and 1,473 graduate students. The student/faculty ratio is about 13:1, and 86 percent of TCU’s 698 full-time faculty members hold the highest degree in their discipline. TCU consistently ranks among the top universities and colleges in the nation, and the Horned Frog family consists of more than 90,700 living alumni. For more information, please visit TCU’s website.