Table of Contents. Howdy. SEC Network. 29 Year Reunion. Recruiting to A&M

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1 Table of Contents 2013 was a great year for The Association of Former Students. We have well exceeded our 2013 Annual Fund goal of $7.9 million by raising over $8.9 million from more than 49,800 donors-making this the largest Annual Fund and largest number of donors in The Association of Former Students 135-year history! University President R. Bowen Loftin '71 officially stepped down effective January 13, Thanks for your service and support and good luck with your next challenge as the 22nd Chancellor of the University of Missouri System at its flagship campus in Columbia, Missouri. Well, the construction is well underway on the Kyle Field makeover. They are on schedule and on budget! If you get a chance to visit the campus while this is going on, go see the transformation for yourself! You can also go to kylefield.com to see the virtual tour of the Home of the 12th Man and what the finished stadium will look like. You can also visit kylefield.com/constructioncams to see a live feed of the construction process. Howdy SEC Network 29 Year Reunion Recruiting to A&M Admissions & Enrollment Class Updates Classmate News Class Stats Silver Taps Please visit the Leadership Council link to see the news from the council meetings for the winter of 2014 or the fall of For those of you who are unfamiliar with this page, the Leadership Council is 1

2 the governing body of The Association of Former Students and the representative body of our worldwide Aggie Network. On the main page you can see who comprises the council and then go to the past Leadership Council minutes to see the business discussed. Gig 'em! Keith Carmichael - kcarmichael@second.org Amy Kardell - amykardell@hotmail.com Dennis Kaspar - dgkaspar@gmail.com Scott Windrow - scott.windrow@ericsson.com ACT NOW TO ENSURE YOU GET THE SEC NETWORK! In August 2014, the SEC Network will launch on television, featuring 24/7 coverage of SEC Sports. Texas A&M will take center stage on August 28 as the Ags play the very first football game to be televised on the SEC Network. If you want to watch Aggie sports, specifically when the Aggies BTHO South Carolina on Aug. 28, visit GetSECNetwork.com. The site allows friends of Texas A&M to request the SEC Network from their cable or satellite provider. 29 YEAR WARM UP REUNION How about a 29 Year "warm-up" Reunion as a prelude to our 30 Year Reunion next year? The Class of 84 has asked us to join them in a Block Reunion this fall. Please reserve the weekend of November 7-9, the AWAY game against Auburn. Among other activities, we will have a giant game watching party! The Class of 84 is having their 30 Year Reunion and wants to have it as a Block Reunion including the two classes on either side of them Classes 82-86! We want to be very intentional about tracking down our friends! For example: if 2

3 you were in the Aggie Band then we want your help hunting down your buddies Classes and getting them to the reunion! Or whatever group you participated in or friends you spent your time with. Aggie Ring Day is Friday, Nov. 7, come see how things have changed since our day! More information will follow in hopes that you can see who will attend and decide to join us as well! As plans are developed, they will be available at RECRUITING FRIENDS AND FAMILY TO A&M! So, how many of you have friends and family that we are trying to bring into the Aggie Family? The following information is being released month after month about Texas A&M and the value of the Aggie education. Here are a few excerpts from press releases from the past year that you can read to point out why A&M is a great place to get a quality education! The university ranks first among Texas public colleges and universities in highest return on investment (ROI) according to Affordable Colleges Online which factor in tuition and fee costs and lifetime earnings for graduates. The ROI attributed to Texas A&M is $1,057,000, only $12,000 below what the online organization attributes to Rice University, the overall leader in Texas. In a similar report released last May, Texas A&M ranked fourth in the nation among the most affordable colleges with a high ROI, outranked only by Georgia Tech, State University in New York (SUNY) at New Paltz and the University of Virginia. These rankings come on the heels of Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine release of the "top 100 best values" in public schools, which ranked Texas A&M 18th in the nation and tops in Texas. See this link for US News & World Report for Texas A&M No. 2 Nationally Among Public Schools In U.S. News Great Schools, Great Prices Rankings Texas A&M University is the only public university in Texas to rank among the top 50 national universities in the Great Schools, Great Prices category of the 2014 ratings by U.S. News & World Report and it maintained its second-place ranking overall in that key assessment of national public institutions. Texas A&M Ranks First Among Public U. S. Universities In New Global CEO Alma Mater Index Texas A&M University ranks first among all public universities in the United States in a new international survey citing the 100 higher education institutions that produced the most current chief executives of the world s largest companies. 3

4 The listing, first of its type, is titled Alma Mater Index: Global Executives. It was published by London-based Times Higher Education. While topping all public U.S. universities, Texas A&M placed 34th overall and 13th among U.S institutions. U.S. representation is dominated by private universities, headed by Harvard and Stanford. The article accompanying the listings has a headline stating, Alma maters are key to alpha jobs, with a subhead explaining that the index shows the link between a university s reputation and successful business careers. The index lists the number of current CEOs for each institution and the combined revenues for the firms they head. Texas A&M is credited with having produced three current CEOs heading firms with combined revenue of $237.8 billion. That revenue total tops that of seven of the institutions ranked higher in the overall listings. In compiling their list, Times Higher Education editors say they factored in the CEOs in the Fortune Global 500 list. Their 100-university list includes 38 U.S. institutions, the most for any nation. China ranks second, with 15. ADMISSIONS AND ENROLLMENT The last two Class Newsletters mentioned the fact that enrollment was just over 50,000. Well, now we are quickly getting close to breaking 60,000! See the link below! A&M Enrollment Reaches Record 58,809, Tops In Texas And Among Top 5 Nationally Texas A&M University enrollment stands at a record 58,809, which ranks it first in Texas, according to informal tabulations, and likely is among the five largest and most diversified institutions of higher education in the nation. University officials note part of the large overall 4

5 increase this fall is the result of the acquisition of the School of Law located in Fort Worth, formerly Texas Wesleyan University School of Law, and the addition of the Texas A&M Health Science Center (TAMHSC) to the university's administrative structure. CLASS UPDATES Thanks to those of you who responded to the Class update requests. It is always great to hear about our fellow Classmates and where they are! We are always asking for your support and response on our Class Page. We really need you to send us updates of your accomplishments and any other news that we can add to future Class Newsletters. Please go to and add any and all updates. We want to know if you have moved, had children (or sending them to A&M), changed jobs, etc. Please send your updates so we can share those or if you know a Classmate you would like to submit for the Aggie spotlight section please do so. We know your Classmates would love to hear about you! CLASSMATE NEWS Danny Hill: Elizabeth '86 and I, after getting our daughter through OU this year and seeing her walk across the stage to employment with Devon Energy in Oklahoma City, saw our son Benjamin '17 enter FOW as a fish in C-Battery of the Aggie Band on August 14, He is a mechanical engineering major, and we have every confidence he will complete a degree in that discipline finding gainful employment in four years. It is a strange and somewhat surreal feeling finding ourselves in the same position our parents were in a mere 32 years ago...we can't be THAT old! Now if I can just get my knees to cooperate, it is time to get back to work! ;-) Tracy Turner: My oldest daughter, Kirsten Kloeppel 13, just graduated in May 2013, and is teaching kindergarten at Pattison Elementary in Katy. My other daughter, Tori Kloeppel 17, graduated from The Woodlands High School and is a freshman in the Mays Business School at Texas A&M. We hope to go to several games and see other Class of 85 friends! Sylvia Davis: Our oldest, Becca, finally made her choice and will start at A&M this fall in the College of Biomedical Science & Veterinary Medicine studying pre-vet medicine. So excited and couldn't be happier! Bill Dempsey: Finally married my sweetheart, Andriana, after years of bachelorhood. Feels like I am just starting life all over again. We have settled in Dallas 5

6 and plan to be here a while. Roman F. Reed was re-elected to City of Bellaire City Council Position 1 on November 5 for a four-year term. Roman works at Merrill Lynch, where he is a senior vice president - Investments in Global Wealth Management. Roman and Sally have been married for 26 years, and have lived in Bellaire, Texas for 21 years. They have three children, twins Suzanna Kay, graduate of Baylor in May 2013 in finance currently working at Transwestern in Dallas, and Travis '13, graduate of Texas A&M in May 2013 in history currently attending University of Houston Law School. Also, their son, Forrest '15, is an accounting major and member of Phi Gamma Delta at Texas A&M. CLASS STATS We do not have contact with nearly 50 percent of our Classmates since the primary means of communication at this point is . In order to save money, we are sending most all communications via and many people are missing out. Help us find them! If you are not sure whether or not their address is registered with The Association, forward this to them. Then they can give us their information by ing a Class Agent or by visiting AggieNetwork.com/profile. Total Classmates 7,370 Living 7,226 Mailable 6,792 able 3, Donors* Total Gifts* $56,803 Average Gift* $ * Totals are as of April They are updated daily to include up-to-date donations. 6

7 Listed below are Classmates that we have recently lost. Please keep the families in your thoughts and prayers. Click on a name for the full Silver Taps listing online. Visit our Class Page for updates on Silver Taps. David A. Spilo - August 15, 2013 Melanie B. McMurry - October 24, 2013 Leigh F. Campbell - January 13, 2014 Javier Sanchez - January 17, 2014 Glena S. (West) Reel - January 20, 2014 The Association of Former Students 505 George Bush Drive College Station, TX (979) Unsubscribe click here Update your address 7