Standing before you is Frog Fountain, perhaps the most recognizable TCU landmark. Frog Fountain was placed on campus outside the old Brown-Lupton Student Center in 1969 as a gift of Mr. and Mrs. H.H. Phillips of San Antonio. A focal point of campus life for five decades, the Fountain features four stylized flutes topped with lotus petals, a motif chosen because of the historic association of the lotus with education. Each of the flutes symbolizes a different class of students with the shortest flute representing first-year students and the tallest flute representing the senior class. The water flowing between represents the sharing of knowledge from class to class.

The Fountain was removed in May 2006 to facilitate the construction of the Campus Commons and the building of Scharbauer Hall on the former Student Center site. The original lotus petals returned to campus in the spring of 2008 and were installed in a new base and plaza area, donated by the Roach family. The new base added the University’s name and horned frog images. The Fountain has become a TCU icon and is traditionally the site where seniors come with their families to take cap and gown pictures.