A petition circulated by the Texas A&M University Student Senate has gathered more than 7,000 signatures. What was the petition protesting? The naming of the A&M’s historic 100-year-old Academic Building for Texas?Gov. Rick Perry. To make matters worse,?the student newspaper The Battalion?wrote editorials against the plan, stating that it would?antagonize the student body.
From the Battalion Online:
The building, built in 1914 for $200,000, has weathered generations of A&M history. It’s a centerpiece of campus lore. Countless have stood in its shadow in the cold, quiet dark to bear witness to fallen Aggies for Silver Taps.
It’s not that students completely disagree with naming something after Rick Perry, but he had a?2.5 GPA. Some sources say his GPA was 2.2 — clearly academics weren’t Perry’s priority, and naming an Academic Building after him would be a mockery, students say.?From the Battalion Online:
?The absurdity of the idea goes well beyond the irony of putting Perry (and his well-documented sub-2.5 GPA) on A&M’s academic hub, which in 2014 celebrates its 100th birthday. The regents shouldn’t name the Academic Building after the governor. Not because he’s not qualified, but because no one is,? the editorial stated.
Perry was in the Corps of Cadets at A&M and was a cheerleader his senior year in 1972. At first?he?told The ?Dallas Morning News that he was elated by the honor.
?That’s a great honor to be considered, to have your name put on a building,? Perry said.
He later changed his tune, however, and urged the board of regents to not rename the building in his honor.
“Upon deep reflection, I have informed the board of regents of my decision to politely decline this great honor.?I do so because certain places on this campus, like our most sacred traditions, transcend any one individual.?They are bigger than any one of us and represent our shared heritage. And I want to keep it that way. I?want the Academic Building to be called the Academic Building in 2114, long after we are all gone.?
The Texas A&M University Board of Regents meeting to plan the renaming?was cancelled but probably NOT because of Rick Perry’s sudden “deep reflection.”
From the Dallas Morning News:
The cancellation follows days of push-back on social media by thousands of current and former students. Many have expressed anger that the proposal was not made public until the meeting agenda was posted on Tuesday and that the public and student body had no opportunity to comment.
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Tiffany Willis is a fifth-generation Texan and the founder and editor-in-chief of Liberal America. An unapologetic member of the Christian Left, she has spent most of her career actively working with ?the least of these? and disadvantaged and oppressed populations. She’s passionate about their struggles. To stay on top of topics she discusses,?like her?Facebook page,?follow her on Twitter, or?connect with her via LinkedIn. She also has?a?grossly neglected personal blog?and a?literary quotes blog that is a labor of love. Find her somewhere and join the discussion.
