Grace Conley has been named the 2025 recipient of the The Sandra Brown Excellence in Literary Fiction Scholarship (ELF). The full-tuition scholarship is given to a rising junior who demonstrates academic excellence and significant potential for writing fiction. Congratulations Grace!

On January 29th, 2026, the Chancellor's office hosted a luncheon in honor of Grace's achievement with the Dean of the AddRan College of Liberal Arts, Dr. Sonja Watson, TCU Chancellor Daniel W. Pullin, and Sandra Brown.

Grace is from San Antonio, Texas. An English major with a minor in Business, Grace has demonstrated a wide range of talents, tenacity, and generosity. One of her many gifts as a writer is her natural ear for dialogue with a strong understanding of tone, diction, and idiom, creating characters that the readers can relate to. These vivid and dynamic characters allow for strong connections, both within the literary world and with the readers who interact with them. This can be seen in her story titled “Long Way to the Sun,” which explores metaphor and family struggle. In the future, Grace hopes to continue creative writing as she pursues a higher education in law.