FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Texas Christian University has changed the name of an education program because its acronym is the same as that commonly used for the terrorist group responsible for widespread violence in Iraq and Syria.
Project ISIS was the name for an education initiative offered by TCU that, according to a school official, “aims to improve the whole child by integrating more recess breaks and character-building curriculum into the school day.”
TCU professor Debbie Rhea developed the pilot program, which is currently running at two schools: Trinity Valley School and Starpoint at TCU The plan is to eventually roll out The LiiNK Project curriculum at other public and private schools.
But the student publication TCU 360 reports officials wanted to avoid any similarity to the Islamic State group.
The extremists had formerly called themselves the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, and have also been referred to as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS.
The TCU program this week was renamed The LiiNK Project.
The Islamic State is most recently responsible for the deaths of two American journalists.