Yes, Aggies are mostly Conservatives....

[Ilsa]

But Aggies and members of the Corps of Cadets are not all "brown shirts" and "nazis". Most go on toperusee a career in the military because they love their country.

Yeah, ONE of them lost it and drew his sword on a cheerleader. Considering the number of expulsions from the Air Force Academy and Naval Academy over the last ten years, I think One bad incident since 1876 is pretty damn good. I bet other universities wish their student body behaved so well. Most Corps members I've met have been gracious, helpful people with a sense of purpose in their lives and a great deal of personal discipline. Some could be described as chivalrous.

My husband is an Aggie, and he's one of the most Liberal people I've ever met. I'm a Democrat because of him. Other members of the Corps of Cadets I've known over the years have been staunch Democratics. They love their country and have compassion for others with less. They aren't war mongers.

Maybe that's because Texas A & M College (as it formerly was named) used to be known as a "poor man's college." It is a state land grant college. Living there was cheap compared to other universities in Texas and many of the students, male, came from farms and ranches, most of which were not "wealthy". The farms and ranches were usually cash-poor with assets wrapped up in land and livestock. Some of the wealthier farms and ranches got that way because oil and gas producers leased their property and paid them royalties, but not everyone in Texas is sitting on a wealth of mineral rights.

Some of the Ag research done at TAMU has been instrumental in feeding the world. Nobel Prize winner Dr. Norman Borlaug, deceased, is credited with having saved over a billion lives.

Rick Perry is a prick, but not because he's an Aggie.

[Uben]

1. My daughter graduated from A&M

She went there because she was in the top 10% of her class and was automatically eligible and she knew some other friends that were going there. When she entered A&M in 2000, she was republican light (I don't know why, maybe a rebellious idea). After the first year, she was totally disgusted with the campus republicans. They were obnoxious and rude. I credit A&M for turning her deep blue. After a short stint of seeing the other side, she knew she didn't fit anywhere in their scheme. She married a guy who graduated from A&M (not a cadet). After graduation, he joined the AF reserve, did a tour in Iraq and re-upped for another tour in Afghanistan. When he came home, he was determined to be a helicopter pilot, something he had wanted all his life. He worked two jobs while attending classes and flying, and finally got his private license. But, he wanted a commercial license, which required 1000 hrs of flight time. At $300/HR, flight time is not cheap, so he went the route most do, he began his training to become an instructor. He accomplished that goal this summer, and already has over 400 hrs flight time, and a job flying daily! Yes, he is a democrat, too, and I could not ask for a better mate for my daughter!

[Ilsa]

5. Awesome! The place has changed, IMO. It seems like there are

a lot more well-to-do students there now.

My brother-in-law graduated from A&M as well. He also worked part-time during college, and for most of one semester, slept on the floor of his buddy's apt because he ran out of funds. I've never met an Aggie that wasn't willing to help another Aggie.

On edit: I graduated from TAMU- Corpus Christi, but had been enrolled at TAMU before that. Tell your gal "Howdy!"

[Uben]

9. Ooo-rah!

You know, I heard a lot about how Aggies take care of their own after graduation, but that's only if you are a republican, so I think it's bullshit. My opinion. My daughter got a BA in psychology, contrary to my wishes, because what are you going to do with it without a PHD? She learned quickly she had to go another rouote, so she enrolled in NTSU and got her MBA. After a year of searching for a job, she decided to take control of her life and make things happen rather than wait for them to happen. She now has her own business as a certified personal trainer, she works for Weight Watchers in some adminstrative capacity, and also has a gig with some firm screening NBA hopefuls for the draft. She and her husband are very intelligent, and they are already contributing to a retirement account! How many kids in their twenties do that?

There are a lot of good people at A&M, but personally, I think their staff of professors is/was less than adequate. Things may have changed the last few years, but with austerity measures of late, I doubt it.

[moc]

14. Ahem...be careful what you say about the professors.

My parents both taught there - in chemistry - for 30 years. I still remember my father's dedication to his organic chemistry students. For my first year or two at A&M, I used the small lab next to my dad's office to study. I remember how students would come back to his office, crowding in, for him to help them with their work. Dad was in his element, shouting things like "No! Think! Think!" as he prodded his students to work through the material. He never turned a student away, and they stayed as long as they needed to.

The faculty at A&M are excellent. The quality of faculty should be judged by their ability to secure research funding from such sources as NIH, NSF, etc, because the peer review process of these funding agencies is a marker of the quality of research being done. A&M has a very large research portfolio and also a number of Nobel prize winners.

By the way, those chemistry genes jumped right over me. I was a psych major.

[xoom]

2. +1, 000

[LiberalLoner]

3. One of the greatest military heroes I've met, came from Texas A&M. K&R n/t

[BackToThe60s]

4. Well of COURSE agoraphobics are conservative!

Hell, they never even leaves their houses, do they?

[Redford]

6. so true

not everyone who goes there is conservative. Recommend

[TwilightGardener]

7. Who gives a crap about "Aggies"?

[Ilsa]

10. I'd like to distinguish the digs at that prick, Perry, from generalizations

about the college he attended. There have been ugly comments made that I think are unwarranted.

Yes, you shouldn't give a give about Aggies unless you are one of those DUers bashing a group without cause.

[arbusto_baboso]

8. "Conservative" does NOT = "Patriotic"

And we should stop conflating the two.

[WolverineDG]

11. Has a great veterinary school too

I always make sure my vets got their degrees from A&M before I bring my pets in.

dg

[musette_sf]

13. When I lived in Texas, I did the same.

My vet in Sugar Land was also a vet to Reveille, so I REALLY trusted him. He was great, saved one of my kitties from cancer, and she went on to a ripe old age of 18+.

Now I check to see that they got their degree from UC Davis.

[moc]

15. When I was growing up in B/CS, I remember the number of people

who moved to the area who were just trying to get into A&M's vet school. It's harder to get into than most medical schools in the state and is considered one of the best vet schools in the country. I remember a bus driver I had in elementary school who was just driving the bus while she tried repeatedly to gain admittance to the vet school.

[TBF]

16. Our vet has his degree from A&M - along with tons of awards -

and he's a great guy. I've also met other progressives who have gone to school there. It's not exclusively republican, though at times it seems to be the culture here in Texas ...

The school itself is very good.

[moc]

12. Thank you. I graduated from TAMU. My parents taught there for 30 years.

It's pissing me off to see A&M referred to as a poor university. It's a very good university, in fact. Yes, many (but not all) of the students are conservative. And Rick Perry is a prick.