Office of the President

Speeches & Reports

Campus News and Updates from Interim President Loftin

October 13, 2009

Howdy from your Interim President in soggy Aggieland!

• What an honor it is for our campus to welcome our second sitting U.S. president in less than a year, as the guest of a third president! President Barack Obama's visit on Friday afternoon will commemorate 20 years of community volunteerism that President George H.W. Bush called for in his 1989 "thousand points of light" inaugural address. His visit gives us a great opportunity to show the entire world our core values of selfless service and respect.
• To all of you who have contacted me for tickets, I wish I could help, but this event is hosted by the Points of Light Institute, not the university. Given the small venue and the limited number of seats we were allotted, we simply cannot accommodate everyone. We will let you know as soon as possible how you can watch the event via KAMU-TV and the web. Also, please keep in mind that campus will be congested Friday afternoon, particularly at the end of the work day. Please be patient and prepare to make alternate travel plans — more details to come.
• Talk about selfless service! Members of our International Programs External Advisory Board come to campus twice a year from all over the United States and Austria, Chile, Germany, Mexico, Spain and Thailand — at their own expense — for the sole purpose of helping us develop opportunities for students and faculty to gain experience in other countries. I look forward to being with them on Thursday to discuss new ideas and opportunities in support of the globalization of our campus.
• I was honored to help celebrate the achievements of one of the members of the International Programs board — Pablo Marvin '66 — and five other outstanding Aggies last Friday at the Distinguished Alumni gala hosted by the Association of Former Students. In addition to Mr. Marvin, this year's recipients include Pete Aldridge '60, Frank Litterst '43, Dr. Charles Munnerlyn '62, the late Jesse Easterwood 1909 and the late Frederick Heldenfels '33. I told the audience that I see the same Aggie spirit of accomplishment and service in the students I deal with every day. Who knows what achievements the Aggie Family will be celebrating 20 or 30 years from now?
• A quick reminder that The Association of Former Students will host an open house for Texas A&M faculty tomorrow (Wednesday) from 4 to 6 p.m. in the Clayton W. Williams, Jr., Alumni Center.
• Reveille VII had a birthday party on Sunday. She turned 9… that's 63 to you and me. I'm happy to report that she is happy, healthy and living a life of luxury in retirement. She also enjoyed romping with her successor, Reveille VIII. We appreciate the selfless service of Paul and Tina Gardner for caring for the former first lady of Aggieland.
• Thanks to everyone who has emailed me. I read every message, and while I can't respond to them all, I would like to send a special "howdy" to Melinda Montalbano and her fellow Aggies at the Doulos Discovery School in Jarabacoa, Dominican Republic. The school is run by Aggies, and Melinda is doing her student teaching there before graduating in December.
• My message next week might be rather light. I'm heading to the Qatar campus on Friday, then on to Beijing for the China-U.S. Relations Conference, another legacy of President Bush "41."

Until next time, Gig 'em Aggies! As always, you can send comments or questions to president@tamu.edu.

Dr. R. Bowen Loftin '71
Interim President