The initiative to study TCU’s experience with racism, slavery and the Confederacy is beginning its first year of work as the school year gets underway.

The Race and Reconciliation Initiative (RRI) was commissioned in July by the Board of Trustees and Chancellor Victor Boschini in response to the movement for racial justice that took place nationwide over the summer.

“Racism has been consistently present for far too long, and many recent incidents, including the deaths of George Floyd and many others, have awakened a passion for true equity and justice,” Boschini said in the July announcement. “It is imperative that we, as stewards of TCU, do everything we can to instill, and live, very real change.”

Dr. Frederick Gooding Jr. was named the chair of the initiative earlier this month.

Gooding, an associate professor of African American Studies in the John V. Roach Honors College, said his committee’s goal is to fulfill the charge set out to them.

“We want to provide critical perspective, we want to deepen understanding so that we can really take on this idea of reconciliation and healing,” he said.