I decided to look up a topic that recently put TCU in the spotlight, most would argue in a negative way. Most remember last year the uproar that happened when it came out that TCU was planning to open a GLBT (Gay-Lesbian-Bisexual-Transexual) LLC (Living Learning Community). During one of my media classes at the time, my professor made a remark that he believed TCU's journalism department handled the topic superbly, in terms of telling what the LLC what about, peoples' reactions, the thought process in the agreement, etc. He then said that TCU's PR department did not do a good job on the other hand.
I found several blogs on the topic, most that were similar to this:
As you can see, TCU and its administration are taking some pretty negative feedback. In addition, there were claims that alumni would retract their donations to the schools, which would make students who might have not had a problem with the LLC unhappy because it would affect their scholarship amounts. There were also rumors of students changing their minds about attending TCU or dropping out because of the lack of C in TCU, etc. According to the above blog, this is a statement released by TCU about the LLC. I couldn't find it on any TCU website; thus, the source is not solid.
"This living learning community was recommended by students because they identified it as an important topic. Students can choose to live in this community or other living learning communities at TCU such as Green House, Health and Wellness, Honors House, Language and International House, and Leadership and Strengths. Other new living learning communities scheduled for next year include, patriotism and its impact on different cultures, fine arts, marine biology, and two Christian communities. Ultimately, these living learning communities prepare students to better understand the various diverse topics they will encounter once they leave TCU."
Here is the story the TCU Daily Skiff wrote to report the planned LLC. As you can see, the story was already receiving feedback, mostly negative.
In chronological order, here are other news stories the Skiff provided.
April 3 - this regards possible resources the future LLC might have.
April 14th - this regards the decision not to launch any new LLCs.
Here is the statement released by TCU in response to the negative feedback. They decided to retract their support and not only cancel the planned GLBT LCC, but the other new LLC's such as Marine Biology, Patriotism and a two Christian LLC's.
After completing multiple searches, I found it difficult to find any official statement released by TCU about this topic. Not to mention, the people I saw getting involved with the blogs were TCU students who mostly supported or at least defended the LLC programs. I didn't see any official TCU statement issued to the blogs. It seemed that the Skiff was much more in tune with what was going on, and at least was open to discuss and acknowledge the issue. The question: who did a better job of Public Relations: the PR people, or the Skiff staff?
