Where were you on November 22, 1963?
People who were alive Nov. 22, 1963 can remember exactly where they were when President John F. Kennedy was shot in Dallas. We’ve asked some TCU community members for their stories, and how they reacted to the tragic event that was the equivalent of a modern-day Sept. 11.

Daryl Schmidt, chairman of the religion department
I was a sophomore at Bethel College in Newton, Kan. I was coming from class when the report came in that the president was shot. We all gathered around the one TV in the basement of the dorm to watch the latest reports. There was a lot of uncertainty about one individual doing this and who might be behind this. Assassinating the president was not a federal crime at this time and the Dallas police were in charge of the investigation. There was a sense of mounting tension in the country, and you could not help but sense that the world would not be the same again. It was the beginning of social awareness in the country because of watching the events on TV.

Morrison Wong, sociology professor
I just finished having lunch, and some friends and I were playing football when we heard the news on the radio. We went back to the high school to go to geometry, and we listened to the radio in the classroom for the rest of the day.

Curt Wilson, director of jazz studies
I was a graduate student at TCU, and we were in the middle of a jazz ensemble rehearsal when the secretary interrupted and told us that the president was shot. We spent the rest of the time listening to the radio. All classes were canceled, and the music department shut down. Police barricaded the exits on I-30 because they believed that the shooters had escaped down the interstate. There was a feeling of total disbelief. Everyone was numb for a few days, and we could not believe that this could happen in Dallas.

David Vanderwerken, English professor
I have a very vivid vision of it. I was in Junior American Literature in high school. Our senior English teacher came in and told us. It spread around the school like a whirlwind. It was unexpected and there was shock and fear about what was happening.

Nowell Donovan, geology department chairman
I was in England at the university. Everyone was shocked and sad, but it was probably not as intense as in America. We followed the events. It seemed very surreal.

Mary Ruth Jones, administrative assistant in Residential Services
I was teaching the second grade. We got word from the office that the president had been shot. Everyone just sat around the television for a solid week. It was scary, because he was in Fort Worth just a couple hours earlier. It was one of those things my generation remembers.

Kenneth Stevens, history professor
I remember exactly where I was. I was a junior in high school, and we lived in Alaska. We just got into our home rooms when they came over the PA system and told us what happened. They put us back on the bus and sent us home. So for me it was something that happened in the morning. It was just horrible. People were crying, and we really wondered what would happen to the country.

Mary Kirk, administrative assistant to the chancellor
I was working as a church secretary in Houston. We were just devastated, and it was so hard to believe. It was like living in a nightmare.

Jim Wright, former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives
I was riding a few cars behind President Kennedy through the streets of Dallas when he was shot. I followed the president to Parkland Hospital. Looking back, the day’s events are still tattooed on everyone who was there. They are still with me.

— compiled by Blair Busch, Meghan Youker and John Ashley Menzies