On Saturday, TCU bestowed degrees on 821 students at Fall Commencement, graduating students from 32 states, including Texas, and 28 foreign countries in a formal ceremony held in Daniel-Meyer Coliseum.

Chancellor Victor J. Boschini delivered the commencement address. The University also conferred an Honorary Doctor of Letters degree on Marine Lance Cpl. Benjamin Schmidt. Schmidt spent three semesters at TCU before joining the Marines in 2008.

 

On his second tour of duty in Afghanistan in 2011, Schmidt was shot and killed while patrolling with his platoon in Helmand Province. Because of his passion for the University and for history, Cpl. Schmidt requested that a portion of his military life insurance policy benefit be used for a scholarship for history graduate students. Those funds, along with contributions from family members and friends in honor of his heroic service, helped establish the Lance Cpl. Benjamin W. Schmidt Memorial Scholarship. The first award was made in 2012.

 

Additionally, Schmidt’s father and stepmother launched a funding effort that established the Lance Cpl. Benjamin W. Schmidt Professorship in history. For more information, visit http://www.heartofpurple.com.

 

Besides those receiving bachelor’s degrees, there were 160 master’s degree candidates, 39 doctoral candidates and 17 Brite Divinity School graduate candidates. One hundred fifteen graduated with Latin Honors: 45 cum laude, 46 magna cum laude and 24 summa cum laude. Four students graduated with a perfect 4.0 GPA and nine students received double degrees.