Office of the President

Speeches & Reports

Message to Texas A&M Students

Sept. 3, 2009

Howdy from your Interim President! For those of you who were not with us over the summer, I arrived in Aggieland in June, following the resignation of President Murano. As an Aggie (Class of '71), I have greatly enjoyed being back at Texas A&M University fulltime, although I have been a weekly visitor over the past four years in my role as CEO of our branch campus in Galveston.

The start of a new semester takes me back to my own days as a fish in the late 1960s. I am pleased to see that the Aggie Spirit and our storied traditions are alive and well, even as many other things have changed in recent decades.

This is the first of my regular messages to you, our students. I want everyone to be up to date on campus events and issues. If you have any questions or want me to address a particular topic in future messages, please email me at president@tamu.edu.

Once again, we have welcomed what is projected to be the largest freshman class in our university’s history (about 8,100) and the largest student body in our history (expected to near 49,000).

We apologize for the problems caused when our new Howdy! Portal failed to work as it should earlier this week. Our experts say the problems might have been caused by the heavy load of users signing on at the same time, and assure me that they are working to correct the problem as soon as possible.

As you no doubt know by now, the Memorial Student Center and Military Walk are being renovated. The MSC is expected to reopen in 2012, with Military Walk being completed by March. I hope you’ll take advantage of the new dining options that have been added around the MSC area during this time. Please also know how much we appreciate the sacrifice you have made so that Aggies in years to come can enjoy state-of-the-art facilities.

Many university campuses across the country have already been hit by the H1N1 flu. We have a team that is closely monitoring this situation and preparing our campus to respond quickly when cases of the flu emerge. I encourage you to take care of yourself and begin strong precautionary measures as outlined on our emergency preparedness website.

The 12th Man is ready to BTHO New Mexico this weekend! There are going to be a lot of activities beginning tomorrow, Sept. 4, that are guaranteed to bring out the Aggie Spirit in all of us. Aggie Colors Day and First Yell will kick things off, so don’t forget to show your colors on Friday. By the way, I will be the guy in the maroon bowtie.

If you see me on campus this weekend or any other time, please say hello. I look forward to getting to know as many of you as possible and hearing your feedback. I am also honored to serve you during this unprecedented time of growth and development for Texas A&M. Gig 'em Aggies!

Dr. R. Bowen Loftin '71
Interim President