Building Citizens for Good
At Texas A&M University, each graduate is prepared to lead and to serve — driven by our Aggie Core Values and shaped by immersive learning, high impact experiences and boundless leadership opportunities. Aggies stand ready to build a brighter, safer world as civic-minded members of local communities, the state and the nation.
Foundation of Excellence
True to Texas A&M’s founding principles and land-grant history, becoming a good citizen is built upon four key pillars — character, knowledge, skills and service — that underpin the academic experience for each Aggie. By developing an informed appreciation of civic rights and responsibilities, strengthening critical skills in civil discourse and media literacy, reflecting on Aggie Core Values and practicing service, students graduate ready and willing to engage thoughtfully in their communities, across Texas and throughout the nation.
Character
Knowledge
Skills
Service
Character
Students reflect on the Aggie Core Values and personal purpose by participating in a growing list of curricular and co-curricular activities offered as part of their student experience.
- Traditions at Texas A&M
- Service-focused Recognized Student Organizations
- Hollingsworth Center for Ethical Leadership
- Flippen Leadership Institute
- Haynes Teacher Corps
Additional opportunities – that are application-based or offered in certain times of the year – also qualify and continue to expand.
- National Ethics Case Competition
- AI-Enabled Exploration of Personal Purpose
- Character-Based Citizenship courses
- TRACE Lab for Global Citizenship
- Opportunities for Reflection on Existing Aggie Traditions and Core Values
Why focus on character?
Aggies develop an understanding of citizenship through the study of government institutions and civic responsibilities and rights. Courses in civics, political science, philosophy, communications and history— along with service-learning and research opportunities — connect theory to real-world issues.
Knowledge
An informed appreciation of the responsibilities and rights of "civic friendship" and citizenship is built on understanding government institutions and processes, and Aggies build that through a host of learning opportunities.
- Political Science Introductory Courses
- Democracy, Civic Engagement and Community Leadership Course
- Social and Political Philosophy Course
- Texas Target Communities
- Massive Open Online Course Options
New opportunities are in the pipeline to further enhance the knowledge base with more on the horizon.
- Development of a Civic Engagement Minor
- Expanded Democracy, Civic Engagement and Community Leadership Course
- 3rd or 4th Year Experience: Good Citizen Knowledge
- Research Projects
- Conference Opportunities
Why focus on knowledge?
Aggies practice character-based citizenship through everyday actions — honoring traditions, supporting one another and living the Aggie Core Values. Students build personal purpose through service-oriented organizations, leadership institutes and signature experiences like The Big Event.
Skills
Across Texas A&M, critical skills of civil discourse, constructive dialogue and media literacy are facilitated to meet differing or opposing viewpoints with respect and integrity.
- The Aggie Lyceum
- Leadership of Recognized Student Organizations
- High-Impact Experiences
- Student Affairs Transformational Experiences
- Together We Dine™
Recurring events, courses and student groups to support engagement in meaningful conversations offers additional engagement opportunities and more will qualify as the program grows.
- Civil Discourse Symposium (Spring 2026)
- Expanded Aggie Lyceum Offerings
Why focus on skills?
Aggies build skills on civil discourse and media literacy through workshops, campus conversations, student organizations and high-impact experiences. They hone these skills through the practice of leadership, collaboration and public engagement.
Service
The art of actively practicing "civic friendship" and selfless contribution to communities at every level — on campus, across Texas and throughout the nation — is at the heart of service.
- Recognized Student Organizations and Get Involved
- Aggieland Serves
- Public Policy Internship Program
- Agricultural and Natural Resources Policy Internship Program
- The Big Event
- Service Learning
Conveying what this service means also has a place, elevating the importance of offering additional ways to encourage Aggies to commit to life of service and continuing to expand offerings across the university.
- New Service-focused Courses
- New Citizenship and Service-Designated Student Groups
- KAMU Programming
Why focus on service?
With “civic friendship” at the forefront, Aggies contribute to communities on campus, across Texas and nationwide. Students engage through organizations, volunteer programs, internships and experiential learning opportunities.
Civic-minded growth
Communities need and employers want evidence of our students’ efforts to become good citizens. A formal recognition system serves as a natural catalyst to enhance outcomes and positively influence our university community, one Aggie at a time. Students actively engaged in activities will soon have an opportunity to earn badges and other academic accolades that align with their career ambitions and their pursuit of becoming a “good citizen.”
Message from the Director From Brigadier General (Ret.) Kim Field
As Texas A&M approaches 150 years as a land-grant institution, we are recommitting to the mission that has set Aggies apart: educating students not only for successful careers, but for lives of service and responsible citizenship.
I am often asked, what exactly is the Citizenship and Service Program? A student on the Citizenship and Service Student Committee made a clever analogy. You want to bake a cake. So, you assemble the ingredients you have, go to the store for the ones you don’t — and you still don’t have a cake. You have to intentionally combine the ingredients. That’s what we are doing with the “good citizen” program at Texas A&M. Raising awareness of all the existing opportunities, aligning them, filling a few gaps and rewarding students for the things employers actually want to see.
My own commitment to this work was shaped by my education from West Point and more than 30 years of military service. It was also shaped by a mother and sister called to teaching, by colleagues in the Foreign Service committed to showing the goodness of America to the world and so many others. I like to think I know it when I see it — and what I see here at Texas A&M is truly extraordinary.
The Citizenship and Service Program is not a building or office. It is a shared commitment. Our intention is that every Aggie will engage with the program in meaningful ways, carrying the spirit of civic friendship from campus into Texas and beyond. Because Texas A&M is a force for good — and because now, more than ever, our country needs Aggies.
Kim Field
Director of Strategic Initiatives Office of the Provost- kcfield@tamu.edu
- 979-845-7547
Texas A&M University’s responsibility as a land-grant institution is not only to pursue knowledge that strengthens communities across Texas but to model what it means to be an engaged and respectful citizen in a free country."
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