An open letter to all stakeholders of Texas A&I / TAMUK

Please let the obvious be known: Texas A&I alumni are not the enemy of their alma mater. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth.
How could the A&M System and administrators possibly think that further alienation of the overwhelming portion of its alumni family could be a good strategy for the future?

Only those who do not expect to be around to suffer the consequences in 15 to 20 years could think that picking a fight with its own alumni is a good plan. Texas A&I alumni are simply questioning the value of the fateful decision in 1993 to change the identity of our alma mater.

One would think that after sixteen years of awkwardly trying to convince us that abandoning our identity and reputation as Texas A&I was a good idea, someone would finally get the message … that dog won’t hunt.

The attempt to cajole and intimidate people into accepting the concept of TAMUK has been a failure, converting only those who receive a paycheck from TAMUK.

Why do you think you still see twenty year old “A&I TILL I DIE” shirts and caps? The earned credibility of A&I will always be superior to the adopted credibility of another.

Even A&M Chancellor McKinney stated in 2008, “We did you no favors when the System changed your name.”

The only way to resolve a mistake is to fix it. Stubbornly pushing on and ignoring the truth is not a viable strategy. Restoring Texas A&I’s rightful name is only a start to recovering the goodwill of our alumni. The more important consideration is to stop the outright looting of our campus for the benefit of other System members.

If the administration won’t stand up to the System for our alma mater, and the Javelina Alumni Association won’t stand up for us, and the TAMUK Foundation won’t stand up for us, some organized group must.

Thus, the Texas A&I Alumni Association was reborn. We refuse to roll over and go quietly into oblivion. We invite you to be a part of our movement.
Despite the defensive attitudes of those who are trying to be “good soldiers” for the A&M System propaganda, we want our university to actually get better, not just pretend to be better by slapping an A&M on it.

The following is a brief review of the various ways in which the best interests of Texas A&I have systematically been sacrificed since 1989 for the benefit of the System or the Corpus Christi campus (which, incidentally, now hails itself as the “A&M Flagship University of South Texas”).

For those who suffer under the misconception that the A&M System provides the funding for TAMUK, let us clear up that subject once and for all. This college is funded from student tuition and appropriations from the State of Texas, just like every public college in Texas (just the same way it was done for A&I).

Formula funding based primarily on enrollment determines our budget. Fortunately for higher education, the various state formulas have improved for every school over the years.

The A&M System is just a bureaucratic middleman, eager to take their cut like the moneychangers in the temple.

Brief Review of ‘Benefits’of 20 Years Of Being Branded Member of the Texas A&M System

(Ask the cow about the benefits of being branded)

The very first “beneficial” act of the Texas A&M University System in 1989 was to allow the Corpus and Laredo campuses to enroll freshmen and sophomore students and become full four year universities, permanently diluting the available student population by 33 percent.

As compensation, we were supposed to get a law school. We wonder what ever happened to that?

As usual, our part of the deal got left out. These four-year expansions were done despite the fact that this is the only 15 county region (Corpus MSA to Laredo MSA) in the State of Texas with three public universities serving less than 650,000 population. Who benefits? TAMU-CC and Laredo campuses, what a surprise! Who gets hurt? Texas A&I.

Then, in 1993 the TAMUS Board of Regents allowed an inconsequential state senator to extort them into breaking their promise to maintain the name of our alma mater after giving assurances in 1989 that they would not make such changes.

Who benefits? The schools in Corpus and Laredo, which had no identities or reputations to lose, were the beneficiaries.

Who gets hurt? Texas A&I loses its hard earned reputation and identity and the alumni are needlessly alienated.

No college can be truly successful without the strong support of its alumni family. Does the System care if our University is damaged? Never gave it a second thought.

After all, it doesn’t affect College Station, so it can’t be too important.

Then, the A&M System co-opted our Ed.D. degree after we had spent several years developing a new doctoral degree in Educational Leadership to obtain the exclusive role in South Texas for the degree sought after by school superintendents and administrators.

Who benefits? TAMU-CC … what a surprise! Who gets hurt? Texas A&I, again.

Then, TAMUS began to carelessly fire and hire administrators, causing continual turnover of University Presidents (four in ten years), VPs, and Deans. This System failure has resulted in lack of continuity and leadership and continual understaffing due to extended interim assignments.

Who benefits? Regional competitor TAMU-CC, what a surprise! Who gets hurt? A&I, again.

Then, neglect and lack of support and leadership at the A&M System caused our College of Business to lose more than 50 percent of its overall enrollment and forced the suspension of the very valuable MBA program.

Who benefits? TAMU-CC … what a surprise! Who gets hurt? A&I, again

Then, neglect and lack of support and leadership at the A&M System caused our College of Education to lose 40 percent of its overall enrollment. Who benefits? TAMU-CC … what a surprise! Who gets hurt? A&I, again.

Then, in 2004 we finally get the first professional program in South Texas (College of Pharmacy) and before it even opens the TAMUS chancellor steals it away to put it in his TAMUS Health Science Center agency. Did he take the Vet School from A&M and put it in the HSC? Not unless he wants to become kindling for the Aggie Bonfire.

Who benefits? TAMUS … what a surprise! Who gets hurt? A&I, again.

Then, in 2009 TAMUS stole our exclusive claim to legitimate Engineering programs in South Texas by lobbying against A&I, the City of Kingsville, and Kleberg County interests and for the initiation of an unneeded mechanical engineering program at TAMU-CC. Why? The A&M chancellor’s office just happened to receive a blatant payoff from the Port of Corpus Christi of $1.3 million for “real estate development consulting” at the exact time as the new engineering program was authorized for Corpus. Who benefits? TAMU-CC and TAMUS … what a surprise! Who gets hurt? A&I, again.

For us, this was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Then, TAMUS allows A&I to spend 9 years worth of faculty time and resources in developing a satellite campus in San Antonio.
When it finally gets to an enrollment of 1400, what do you think happens? Exactly right — TAMUS steals it away and makes it a stand-alone campus so that the chancellor can puff out his chest and TAMUS can claim to have more branch campuses than UT.

They didn’t even say thanks or sorry about the enrollment and budget cuts to A&I. Who benefits? TAMUS … what a surprise! Who gets hurt? A&I, again.

Then, with a name change bill proceeding through the Texas Legislature, TAMUS fraudulently claims it would cost $1.9 million to restore the name of the school back to A&I (even though it is verified that a much larger campus, SWT/Texas State, changed in 2004 for less than $240,000).
At the same time, the System makes it known that they wanted a student referendum conducted on the campus and the outcome would be in favor of TAMUK.

Surprise, the VP for Student Affairs took charge of counting the votes and the results were exactly what the boss asked for. And then they let students testify before the Legislature, under oath, that the 60 percent turnout was a legitimate number.

Seriously, you couldn’t get a 60 percent turnout if you were giving away $20 bills.

Finally, did you know that A&I has to pay a $4 million tribute each and every year to TAMUS for the “privilege” of being in the System? The System charges a 10 percent levy on all auxiliary enterprises (dorm fees, bookstore sales, SUB and food services receipts, concessions, ticket sales, and research contracts) as though the System had anything at all to do with them. Of course, the System must find a way to pay for the $16 million deficit in Aggie Football (to make it the perennially mediocre program that it is) and the defective $36 Million indoor football practice tent. Of course, those are necessities to the advancement of Higher Ed!

Imagine what could be done for Texas A&I if even half of that $4 million per year went for academic scholarships to attract more top notch students to our school. Instead, we are forced to subsidize the vastly overpaid chancellor, assistant chancellors, vice chancellors, and deputy chancellors, multiple lawyers, and lobbyists at the System offices.

The A&M System Office budget is $100 million-plus (almost the size of the A&I budget) and they don’t even teach a single student.
How many times must we hit ourselves on the head with a hammer before we realize that maybe this A&M system experiment has not been good for us? Are the eleven instances just mentioned not enough?

In fact, joining the A&M system has turned out to be the worst thing that ever happened to us.

The “prestige” of the “A&M brand” has brought us the following (according to the TAMUK Factbook 2008):

1) Enrollment has been stagnant at the Kingsville campus (under 6500) for the entire 20 years we have been in the System (that “prestigious A&M brand” is really drawing them in).

2) “Prestigious A&M brand” recruitment has resulted in some of the worst retention rates in Texas (40 percent of students are flunking out or otherwise leaving as freshmen). The administration seems to think that the solution is to pressure faculty to lower their standards to retain students.

3) The “prestigious A&M brand” has produced some of the lowest 4-year (9 percent) and 6-year (29 percent) graduation rates in Texas. What would happen to a football coach who won 29 percent of his games?

Why do you think our enrollment used to include over 1700 students from Kleberg County and now that figure is down to only 850? These are the kids who grow up here and know us best. Sadly, too many are choosing to go somewhere else besides TAMUK!

Maybe they are not buying the transparent “prestigious A&M system school” marketing scheme.

Surely in another 75 or 100 years of this kind of “forward-looking progress,” TAMUK may be as “prestigious” as Tarleton State or Prairie View A&M, which have suffered, no “benefited” from being System members that long.

Arlington State (now UT-Arlington) turned out to be the smart one by getting out of the A&M System in 1965 after 40 years of neglect by the System. They have truly prospered since, doubling enrollment and academic degree offerings.

Texas A&I enjoyed a good reputation in Texas and throughout the country for 67 years. Through the years our faculty and alumni made great contributions to industry and education, despite the lack of funding advantage the land grant campuses enjoy. Dr. Frank Dotterweich’s Boys are still known throughout the engineering world as some of the best.

Our science programs were prolific at helping our students get admitted to medical and dental schools in significant numbers for a college our size. Dr. Manning and Russell graduated some premier alumni from the Business College. Our Ag alumni include people like Dick Weekley, longtime executive of the famed Houston Livestock Show.

Our Education grads were some of the most highly honored teachers and school administrators in Texas and beyond. Our Arts & Music faculty helped produce some of the leading artists and music teachers in Texas. In 1993, our research activity ranked A&I 11th out of 35 public colleges in Texas. This was well above our peer institutions. Based on our size, we should be 25th-30th. Where are we today?

Our highly productive research staff is still outperforming our peer institutions by great margins, but we are now down to 13th (no benefit from the mighty A&M System). If we think the System is working for our benefit, we are only kidding ourselves.

To make things “appear” to be better, TAMUK has adopted the tactic of adding non-research grants (for remedial student services) into the research funding total to create an inflated number they now call “external funding.” Some cite the four new buildings on campus as evidence of our “growth”.
We are merely replacing facilities that were 40-50 years old and obsolete. How can we be satisfied with that when Corpus has added 13 new structures of $5-$30 million and Laredo has added 30! Stephen F. Austin has added three new $20 million dorms and they even remembered to include a dining facility (which we forgot). Oops.

Let’s stop pretending to be something we are not. How about showing some intellectual honesty? Isn’t that important at a university anymore?

We are Texas A&I as we have been known since 1929. We are a very fine college in a rural part of the State surrounded by 825,000 acres of non-populated ranchland. Despite that fact, we have scratched and scraped and fought the rest of Texas for the funding for every building and academic offering we have. And we should be proud of those achievements.

Good and honorable people (Nierman, Howe, Turner, Jones, Poteet, Bel-lamah, Dotterweich, and Steinke) whose names adorn the buildings on campus spent their entire careers here building our programs into the most comprehensive University south of the San Antonio to Houston corridor.

Let’s get A&I out of the A&M System and get our name back before there is no school left to salvage. Piece by piece the System is squeezing the life out of our campus until it has transferred all the desirable and best funded programs to Corpus (the favored stepchild).

How long will it be before the next engineering discipline is “needed” in Corpus? How long before the research centers are targeted?

If you cannot see the handwriting on the wall, you are only choosing to ignore it. Eventually, a push will begin to merge the Texas A&I campus into the Corpus campus.

At that point it may be too late. If people are naïve enough to view this prediction as a scare tactic, they need a refresher course in Politics 101 … he who has the power will surely use it.

Unfortunately for those of us who care about our alma mater, TAMUK lives off the fading reputation of the school it used to be — Texas A&I. It is very hard for us to support those who are taking it down a dead end road. A proud Texas A&I has been reduced to a mere acronym — TAMUK, as in stuck in the TAMUK.

We can be better than that. We have been better than that in the past. We can be again.

See us at www.texasandiuniversity.com and add your name to our online petition.