The Journalist’s Pearl Jam     

At the end of last month, a blockbuster event occurred at TCU that was so large even Derek and the Dominos couldn’t have been the opening act. Or Velvet Revolver. Or any hip-hop consortium starring this group and featuring that person. Five mega-stars were assembled, including front man Bob Schieffer, who took the stage at venerable Ed Landreth Auditorium. The big event, the Schieffer School Symposium, rocked the world of journalism and left the throng of, well, at least hundreds, wanting more.

Rock and roll references aside, it was one of the biggest things to happen in the history of TCU journalism.

The Symposium has become an annual event since former Skiffer Bob Schieffer lent his name and some resources to his alma mater, all in an effort to take the J-School to loftier mesas. At the inaugural Symposium in 2005, a Tom Brokaw showed up to talk media issues, along with Bob Woodward. Last year, Schieffer hosted the editor of The Washington Post, the m.e. of The New York Times, the head of CBS Interactive and a reporter from PBS.  This year, he welcomed Tim Russert from NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Earl G. Graves, founder and publisher of Black Enterprise magazine, Jan Crawford Greenburg, a legal analyst for ABC, and Bill Keller, executive editor of The New York Times.

Now, in stride with some rock references, it’s easy to see why this collection of mass communication superstars could easily go platinum. Like when Dylan played with the Dead, or when Sammy Hagar joined Van Halen, or Clapton played with anyone, some groups are just meant to rock. Fortunately, TCU students and faculty weren’t charged a Rolling Stone-price to see this collection in March. In fact, it was free for students.

Few things in life come one’s way that cool and that cheap – especially at TCU. I couldn’t help but recall how precious the time was that we had in college, and how probably not enough events like the Symposium were taken advantage of in the four or five years I had as an undergraduate. I remember in 1992 when Pearl Jam cruised through Texas after taking the world by storm with “Ten.” They had the audacity to play not only Moody Coliseum over at SMU, but also The Pit at UNT, without coming to Daniel-Meyer and gracing us with a “Vs.” tour stop. It wouldn’t have been that hard to head up to Denton, or over to Dallas, but the time seemed to merit waiting for the next tour, when surely they’d stop in Cowtown.

Right?

Well, for those of you now with toddlers and triglycerides (READ: in your mid-30s), you know that it didn’t happen again. Like an elderly lady behind a counter in a small town, that piece of life passed me by. But that was 1992, and I was determined to not suffer the same fate, even if it meant substituting Stone Gossard with Tim Russert. 

I wondered on my way to the Symposium after-party (which, oddly enough didn’t convene at The Pub) if I would have attended the Symposium had it been held in 1993, when I was an Ad/PR major. Apathy for campus events coursed through my veins, unfortunately, until I took some Skiff assignments. There was some concern that the same affliction was weighing down on today’s students. Fortunately, the house was packed, and several intelligent questions were posed to the super panel, some even coming from Frog undergrads. I was pleased to observe that many in the TCU Journalism community had made the right call, and hoped that I might have done the same years ago.

But the cool deal here is that the Schieffer Symposium has become an annual event. While the nation sees Schieffer every Sunday on his weekly show, we Horned Frog alumni have the privilege of sharing our schooling digs with one of the media world’s elite. And he shares his pals, like Brokaw and Russert, with our community on an annual basis. My advice might be to try and make it to one of these shows when you can.

Now, like our gal Ginger Richardson ‘96 in Phoenix, not everyone can make it in town for next year’s Symposium. But, lots of you in or around Tarrant County should be groupies for this gig. You should, if for no other reason than to feel pride in sharing our campus with some of the heavy-hitters among the journalistic who’s who.

Craig Martin wrote a Skiff column in 1994 about when the Grateful Dead came to TCU and played Daniel-Meyer in 1972. So my snide remark about less than a handful of rockin’ events coming to TCU is legit. Dave Matthews can put out an uber album (uber double-album, to be precise) from when he played Luther College, and other schools can try and show off their connection prowess by hosting Presidential debates next year. But TCU folk can swell up with pride in our own annual event that can really beat the band – proverbially speaking, of course.

To say Schieffer & Co. beat the band in a literal sense might imply that Bob carries more star power than Eddie Vedder … although, as I now play with my daughter more than I sing “Daughter,” I find myself thinking that might be accurate.

Guess we’ll just have to wait and see who gets a better tribute album.