The LCpl. Benjamin W. Schmidt Symposium Endowment Campaign
Endowment Campaign
The LCpl. Benjamin W. Schmidt Symposium on War, Conflict, and Society
Most Americans do not have a direct, personal understanding of war or military service.
Less than one half of one percent of the population serves in the armed forces, few Americans know anyone who has served, and recent wars have failed to sustain public attention for very long.
Founded in 2016 through the generosity of Dr. David and Teresa Schmidt, the LCpl. Benjamin W. Schmidt Symposium on War, Conflict, and Society seeks to bridge this widening gap between civilians and the military.
Featuring the world’s leading scholars, journalists, policymakers, and veterans, the symposium offers TCU students and the larger community unique opportunities to understand the costs of war.
This Endowment Campaign will fund the symposium in perpetuity, allowing us to continue and expand our important work.
Your Donation Will Allow Us to Continue to Honor a Legacy
Highlights of the LCpl. Benjamin W. Schmidt Symposium on War, Conflict, and Society:
- Seeks to bridge the widening gap between civilians and the military through focused conversations with world-renowned experts
- Creates unique learning opportunities for students to engage with leading scholars, journalists, policymakers, and veterans
- Previous participants include National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize finalists, Carnegie Fellow, National Endowment for the Humanities Fellows, and a recipient of the Secretary of the Army Public Service Award.
- Free and open to the public, accessible to teachers and the broader public through CSPAN coverage.
Previous Symposia Topics:
- 2016 - The US Army and the "Problem" of Race
- 2017 - World War I: Was it a Great War?
- 2018 - Suffering the Horrors of War
- 2019 - The Vietnam War
- 2022 - The Afghanistan Wars
- 2023 - Division: Race and Racism in World War II
- 2024 - Korea: The First Forever War
For more information on the endowment campaign, contact Kenton Watt, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Development, Major Gifts at 817-257-6703 or k.watt@tcu.edu.
This symposium is named in memory of Lance Corporal Benjamin Whetstone Schmidt and generously funded by his parents, Dr. David and Teresa Schmidt. A native of San
Antonio, Benjamin came to TCU in the fall of 2006. By all accounts, he loved being
a Horned Frog, but after three semesters he returned home and joined the Marine Corps.
Benjamin excelled as a Marine and became a scout sniper, but after a sea deployment
and a tour in Afghanistan, he decided to complete his enlistment and return to TCU.
He wanted to finish his degree in History, then pursue a PhD in military history so
that he could become a professor. Before he could do so, however, he learned that
the none of the snipers in his battalion who were about to deploy to Afghanistan had
combat experience, and he volunteered to go with them. On October 6, 2011, the eve
of the 10th anniversary of the beginning of the American War in Afghanistan, he was killed in
a friendly fire accident while on duty in Helmand Province.
The Schmidts created the LCpl. Benjamin W. Schmidt Professorship in War, Conflict, and Society in Twentieth-Century America at Texas Christian University in 2012 to honor their son’s legacy and his passion for history. They have continued to support the History Department in many ways since then, including by funding this annual symposium.
We are immensely grateful to Dr. David and Teresa Schmidt for providing us with the opportunity to consider the relationships among war, conflict, and society. We hope that our efforts will shine a light on the costs of war, while honoring the legacy of one who knew them well.