The LCpl. Benjamin W. Schmidt Symposium Endowment Campaign
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 winners, 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
- 2025 - “This is a True War Story”
- 2026 - America’s Revolutionary War
For more information on the endowment campaign contact:
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.This symposium is named in memory of LCpl. 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.