
Mr. Bryce Morrow (’99) graduated from ETBU with a degree in Computer Information Systems. Morrow played an integral part in the start and early success of the Tiger soccer program and is a current member of the ETBU Athletic Hall of Fame for his standout career. After a stint in professional soccer for the first few years after graduation, Morrow represented a construction and design company, The Beck Group, for 24 years. He currently serves as the Chief Corporate Officer, responsible for the majority of internal functions, and is the President of a re-insurance company. He leads a business unit focused on self-performed subcontracting. He is a proud family man, married to his wife LeAnne, and they have two teenage children, Mia and Ben, who keep them busy.
Follow along to hear about Bryce’s journey to ETBU and its impact on his life.
I initially came to ETBU to play soccer, but then the small town and small school felt even better suited to what I wanted. I wouldn't know until years later that I probably needed this environment. It was the first season for a soccer program and I wanted to be a part of something new to see what role I could play in helping to build it into something great. I wanted to do something in IT eventually, and the Computer Science program was small, and that felt safe to me at that time.
Dr. Riley, Coach Alonzo, Mrs. Wiley, and Dr. Mills each left a lasting impression on me—not so much from an academic standpoint but from a caring aspect. They took an interest in me as a young man and pushed me to be a better person. They would model this for me daily, so it was easy to understand how I should treat others and how I wanted to be. They also gave me so much confidence in myself through many fruitful conversations.
I met many people through soccer and athletics. The ETBU soccer team was such a great thing because we were all very close, and our conversations with the coach and each other covered every topic you can imagine, which allowed me to see other belief systems. This challenged me to see things from a different perspective beyond my own. Through these relationships, I developed many more relationships and friendships when I moved to Dallas and met "friends of friends." I met my wife through a friend of a friend, and it all started with a friendship with someone at ETBU, who was my best friend and roommate. We ended up as roommates for a total of 9 years before his sudden passing, but that connection helped shape me because it helped form my life and where I am today.
I believe God put me on that campus, in that environment, with people who cared for a specific reason. It wouldn't be until many years later that I really understood this and the actual reason. This was part of His plan for me, and thankfully, I made the right choices (mostly). Having my faith be a part of my education was very important and having faith all around me helped me stay on the right path. It would have been easy to lose some of my faith, but given the purpose of the University, it taught me all about servant leadership, which is the basis of my leadership in my current role. The student-athlete was evolving during my time at ETBU because we were a small school and did not have the resources I see today. I feel that so many of the student-athletes of my generation helped pave the way for what athletics are today, and I suspect this generation will pave the way for those coming behind them.
Servant Leadership, humility, hard work, and dedication were a handful of attributes my mentors modeled for me. I learned how to be resourceful at a smaller school because we didn't have all the resources like a larger school. It felt like normal, everyday life, and I was used to that as a part of my childhood. ETBU reinforced all of those attributes as keys to success. I learned how to grow up, manage time, and how to integrate my faith and spiritual life with my everyday life. Being surrounded by so many supportive people was a gift from God, and it allowed me to learn from them in a way that changed my life. I'm grateful for my time and experience at ETBU.