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Students gathered around a video monitor during a zoom meeting in the rhetoric of gratitude honors class.
Students watch Diane Nguyen from the Taste Project as she reacts to the news that a $10,000 donation is being made in her honor. (photo Lance Sanders)

First year students taking The Rhetoric of Gratitude course in the John V. Roach Honors College experienced a final examination unlike any other. Their first task was to express gratitude to community heroes — people who use their time, talent, and treasure to improve the lives of people living in Fort Worth and Tarrant County. Their second task was to give away $70,000 to local nonprofits in honor of community heroes.

The Rhetoric of Gratitude is a new interdisciplinary course offered to first-year students in the Roach Honors College. Throughout the semester, students delve into the meaning and expressions of gratitude, examining how it shapes lives and communities. Their journey includes researching non-profit organizations and building connections with leaders, who, in turn, nominate volunteers they feel embody the spirit of initiating transformative change. The ultimate goal? To surprise these remarkable individuals with a heartfelt expression of gratitude. 

The 2024 Community Hero Award along with the monetary donation to local non-profits was made possible by Kelly and Jeff Dillard. They hoped their support of the course would inspire first-year students to become involved in the local community during their time at TCU. This project has done just that, driving students in the course to learn about the Fort Worth community and to explore how their gratitude and recognition can shape the future of those around them.

“All semester long we’ve been exploring various ways to deepen our understanding of gratitude. We’ve kept journals, wrote papers, listened to Ted Talks, and had classroom discussions,” said Jaxon Foster, an engineering major, and student in the Rhetoric of Gratitude class.

For their final examination period, students gathered to host zoom sessions with the non-profits and their unsuspecting community heroes. One by one, these groups met with their unsuspecting nominees — individuals who had no idea they were about to be honored as a 2024 Community Hero or that their non-profit would receive a $10,000 donation in their honor. Ron Pitcock, Ph.D., professor of the class and the Wassenich Family Dean of the John V. Roach Honors College, opened each session with a warm introduction, briefly explaining the students' involvement, and the purpose of the class. Students then took charge in announcing the award and explaining the reasons they were grateful for both thevolunteer and the nonprofit.

“We did this project hoping that we could let these people know that they’re really making a difference. They do not expect anything in return for the work that they do, and we wanted to let them know that they’re seen and heard. We greatly appreciate the work they’re doing for our community,” said Tess Beathard, a nursing major and Roach Honors College Student.

Between calls, students shared their highlights: recipients were often shocked, some speechless and moved to tears. Many admired the honorees’ humility, as they credited teammates and emphasized the award reflected team effort. The gratitude displayed not was not just for the students’ work, but for the donation’s potential to transform lives in the community. Reflecting on the honor, John Halvey of DASH Network noted, “We get way more out of our volunteer opportunities than we give.”

The true final exam for the class was not a test, but a deeper lesson in gratitude’s transformative power on both the individual and the collective – an understanding that will stay with the students long after their time with the John V. Roach Honors College and TCU comes to an end.