Aggies vs. Longhorns: Lone Star Showdown
First rivalry game since 2011 has major SEC, Playo implications
By Mathias Cubillan Sports Writer
With the eyes of the college football world gazing upon Kyle Field, Texas A&M is preparing for one of its most anticipated battles in a decade. For the first time since 2011, the Longhorns and Aggies will meet on the gridiron. This is not just a battle for pride — a spot in the SEC Championship is on the line.
“What makes college athletics is rivalries, and it was really sad that Texas-Texas A&M rivalry didn’t happen for this long,” A&M director of athletics Trev Alberts said in August. “I think that this game has a chance to be the best rivalry football game in all of college football. I really believe that.”
A win for either side means getting their ticket punched for a trip to Atlanta for the SEC Championship. This showdown marks the 119th clash between the two sides, with the Longhorns holding a 76–37–5 advantage. Both programs seek bids in the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff.
“It’s important that we don’t lose
sight of where we’ve come from, what we’ve accomplished [and] the fact that this is the first time in our SEC history that we’re in this position,” coach Mike Elko said. “… So from that perspective, there has to be some understanding of the direction we’re going and that it’s a good direction for Year 1 and where we’re at.”
Powered by a pair of coaches that have reawoken dormant programs, the Lone Star Showdown features two teams on positive trajectories. Elko’s return to Aggieland has been fruitful thus far, with two wins against thentop-10 ranked opponents. Texas coach Steve Sarkisian has had the Longhorns on a rocket ship since he took the reins in 2021, amassing a 34-15 record that culminated in a College Football Playoff appearance in 2023. Sarkisian brings an offensive ingenuity that has the Longhorns boasting one of the most productive in the country. As one of San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan’s disciples, Sarkisian uses pre-snap motion and misdirection to
PREVIEW ON A7
Farmers vs. cattle: historic state rivalry
Over a century of hardcore passion binds instate rivals together
By Noah Ruiz Sports Writer
With the cool air of late November drifting into College Station, Aggieland readies itself for a final autumn clash on the gridiron. As anticipation grows, the Texas A&M faithful pace back and forth, dreaming of crushing their bitter rivals and having the last say to family and friends alike. The pregame jitters are in full swing, with the most dedicated fans relishing the moments before Kyle Field goes dormant for another long and grueling offseason. For over a decade, this unrest — which spread from classroom to household — meant that the LSU Tigers were coming to town for rivalry weekend. But not this year. A 38-23 thrashing in October seemingly eons ago already took care of the Bayou Bengals. No, this
year, for the first time in 13 years, an old face will return to meet the Fightin’ Farmers to close another historic fall campaign: the Texas Longhorns.
It is no longer a battle to end the regular season. This will be a war. War, however, is an Aggie specialty. A&M was founded as an allmale military school in 1876, with a graduate serving in every American major armed conflict since the Spanish-American War in 1898. Texas was not founded until 1883 — seven years after the Maroon and White — making A&M the first public institution of higher learning in the state of Texas.
Though already rivals by blue- or white-collar identity, the two teams would not meet on the football field until 1894. That year ushered in a period of Longhorn dominance, highlighted by a combined record against the Aggies of 15-4-2 that stretched to 1911 as both teams remained without a conference.
As founding members of the Southwest Conference in 1914, new stakes would be introduced, putting conference titles in the mix for the first time. Additionally, this would start a trend of A&M and UT enduring a changing world in college athletics, locked together as part of
Graphics by Pranay Dhoopar — THE BATTALION
By DJ Burton Sports Writer
No. 15 Texas A&M football controls its own destiny heading into the nal stretch of the season.
Coming o a decisive victory against New Mexico State, the Maroon and White will head to Alabama to face the Auburn Tigers and try to earn their last road win of the season. The Aggies are tied with the Texas Longhorns for top of the SEC. A win versus Auburn would raise the stakes for the Lone Star Showdown.
“Obviously a game with a lot on the line,” coach Mike Elko said during his Monday press conference. “We’re excited for this opportunity. Excited to get out there and put our best foot forward.”
The Aggies have historically played well in front of the fans at Jordan-Hare Stadium. The Fightin’ Farmers hold a 4-2 record when on the road against Auburn and are 7-6 against the squad all-time.
The Tigers have struggled in conference play on their way to a 4-6 overall record. Auburn has one SEC victory on the season, coming over Kentucky on the road. The Tigers nd themselves among the bottom four teams in the conference.
“We understand that people are going to play really well against us right now,” Elko said. “We’re rst place in the SEC, we’re top 15 in the country. We’re in the playo hunt. That creates something, when you go into another team’s stadium, that we haven’t dealt with in a while. And so kind of understanding what all that means and what all that entails, I think is as important as paying attention to them and what they’re playing for.”
On its way to rst place in the SEC, A&M dropped its last away game in a 44-20 loss to No. 19 South Carolina. The Aggies went into halftime tied at 20, but the of-
fense could not gain any traction in the second half. The Gamecocks’ ground game took advantage of the stagnant A&M o ense and ran away with the game.
The di erence maker in that game was the injury to junior running back Le’Veon Moss, who had 765 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns on the season before going down.
In its matchup with New Mexico State, junior RB Amari Daniels reassured A&M that the ground game was still alive and well, recording ve carries for 84 yards and a touchdown.
The Tigers have allowed 104.5 rushing yards per game and three yards per attempt in 2024. Through 10 games, the Aggies average 212.5 yards on the ground per game and 5.2 yards per carry. Redshirt freshman quarterback Marcel Reed accounts for 46.9 of those yards per game.
“They’re very balanced,” Auburn coach Hugh Freeze said during his Monday press conference. “Great running attack, and obviously passing. And then the mobility of Marcel makes it even more di cult, but we’ve faced some like that, so we’ll certainly draw upon those experiences.”
Freeze is on track to have his worst season as a head coach. The former Ole Miss and Liberty coach has won less than six games only once in his career: when Ole Miss went 5-7 in 2016. Unless Auburn can upset A&M or Alabama, Freeze’s job could be on thin ice.
Despite the implications of the next game, Elko said the Aggies are taking things one game at a time as they look to cap o their best start in SEC play.
“I think when you’re in the situation we’re in, it’s easy to focus on the task at hand,” Elko, who was added to the Paul “Bear” Bryant College Football Coach of the Year Award watch list in October, said. “ … I think our focus is single-handedly on Auburn right now and locked in on what we’ve got to get done.” Saturday’s kicko is set for 6:30 p.m. at Jordan-Hare Stadium ESPN.
Players to watch at Auburn
Keep an eye on key Aggies as they make the trip to Jordan-Hare
By Youngchan Kang Sports Writer
After a Senior Night win versus New Mexico State, No. 15 Texas A&M football travels to Auburn, Alabama to match up against the Tigers. Here are a few key players that can impact the game at Jordan-Hare Stadium at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.
BJ Mayes, senior cornerback, Texas A&M
After senior defensive back Tyreek Chappell went down with a season-ending leg injury in September, the Aggies looked into the depth chart to see who could replace him in the secondary. One name stood out: Mayes. The UAB transfer has been a key piece in the Aggies’ secondary in his rst year dawning Maroon and White, helping out tremendously in the slot. Mayes lls Chappell’s spot as he continues to make big plays, including two interceptions from LSU redshirt junior quarterback Garrett Nussmeier. Although Mayes hasn’t had the same recognition as Chappell or junior Kansas State transfer CB Will Lee III, Mayes has been contributing in the secondary for the Maroon and White whenever he steps onto the eld.
Jarquez Hunter, senior running back, Auburn
Although Auburn hasn’t been impressive in the SEC, Hunter has solidi ed himself as one of the SEC’s best running backs this season with 1,015 rushing yards with ve touchdowns. He is the second-leading rusher in the conference, only trailing Tennessee junior RB Dylan Sampson’s 1,230. Hunter’s best game came against
Kentucky in a 24-10 win on Oct. 26. The 5-foot-10, Mississippi native cruised through the Wildcats’ defense for 278 yards and two touchdowns.
Slowing down Hunter will be the biggest challenge for an A&M defense that has remained in the middle of the pack in the SEC. KeAndre Lambert-Smith, senior wide receiver, Auburn
The wide receiver corps for Auburn has been one of the underrated units in the SEC this season. The Tigers have the sixth-best pass o ense in the conference with 256.5 yards per game. A big part of that is Lambert-Smith, who has been impactful in his rst season with the Tigers.
“I think [he’s] really talented,” coach Mike Elko said in a press conference. “You know KeAndre Lambert-Smith obviously played a lot of college football, been very successful, highly productive player.”
The Penn State transfer has racked up an impressive 761 receiving yards and eight touchdowns this season, including 156 yards and two scores in a loss to Arkansas on Sept. 21.
Randy Bond, graduate kicker, Texas A&M
Special teams typically don’t get the same love from fans compared to o ense and defense, but Bond has been one of A&M’s most consistent players and contributed greatly to A&M’s success this season.
Bond is having a career year as A&M’s place kicker. The Plano native has made 17 out of 19 eld goal attempts, including a career-long 55-yard kick against South Carolina.
Bond also has not missed a eld goal after missing twice against Florida on Sept. 14. If A&M’s o ense continues to show some concern on missed opportunities in opponent territory, look for
Bond on the sideline.
Senior defensive back BJ Mayes (20) during Texas A&M’s Spring Game at Kyle Field on Saturday, April 20, 2024.
Adriano Espinosa — THE BATTALION
Sophomore defensive back Jacoby Mathews (2) tackles Auburn running back Jarquez Hunter (27) during Texas A&M’s game against Auburn at Kyle Field on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023.
File photo by Ishika Samant — THE BATTALION
Unproven against battle-tested A&M
horns in Week 10 and Arkansas’ performance last week are two case examples to look at when evaluating how good the Texas defense really is.
By Braxton Dore’ Asst. Sports Editor
While coach Mike Elko’s focus may be only on the “task at hand” in No. 15 Texas A&M’s game at Auburn, everyone’s mind has already shifted to Saturday, Nov. 30, when the 109-year rivalry against the University of Texas finally brews to a boil.
While the pair has yet to meet on the field in 13 years, the rivalry still feels alive and well. With huge implications for the Southeastern Conference Championship and College Football Playoff, all the expectation rides on the Aggies’ offense against the No. 1 total defense in the country, the Longhorns.
Looking at the ranks of the previous offenses Texas has faced so far, the only notable teams were Arkansas at 11th and UTSA at 19th competing in Conference USA. No offense to those at the sister school in San Antonio, but a weak non-power five conference offense cannot be compared to the likes of an SEC school like Arkansas.
For due diligence, Vanderbilt’s 27-24 showing against the Long-
Defense:
Despite eventually winning by double digits against the Razorbacks, the defense looked lacking in the second half, giving up 10 points while letting the Hogs back in the game heading into the fourth, down by only a field goal.
While the Longhorns only allowed 231 yards of total offense, the real difference maker in their bout with the Razorbacks was the two turnovers. The first was an interception early in the game that led to a six play, 60-yard drive to the house while the second was a forced fumble in the final drive of Arkansas’ hopeful comeback attempt. Both helped change the momentum for Texas.
The closest margin for the Longhorns so far has come at the hands of the once-hot Commodores. In its 27-24 win, Texas allowed 269 yards of total offense but also gave away multiple high-potential plays which allowed Vanderbilt to stay in the game. The Longhorns also depended on their defense heavily in the last two quarters, only scoring off of two field goals while attempting to stall the Commodores. If it weren’t for Vanderbilt’s three turnovers, Texas could have easily suffered its
second Top 25 loss against the team who is now eighth in the SEC.
Playing a clean game free of mistakes will be key for offensive coordinator Collin Klein’s game plan against the team tied for ninth in the country with 22 turnovers gained.
On the other side of the ball is the battle-worn and tested Aggie defense.
Starting off with a season-ending injury to projected starting sophomore running back Rueben Owens, A&M’s coaching staff quickly transitioned to the next man up in junior RB Le’Veon Moss.
The Louisiana native quickly shined in his new role, amounting for 765 yards with 6.3 yards per carry en route to 10 touchdown rushes before suffering from the Aggie injury bug in the loss to South Carolina.
Now once again looking for the next backup, junior RB Amari Daniels has taken his nod of approval from Klein and ran with it — quite literally. The back has failed to total less than 83 yards in each of the last three games entering Nov. 23, adding a pair of scores as well.
Another possible rushing element lies dormant in redshirt freshman quarterback Marcel Reed. The dual threat has been a reliable option, but not dominant — averaging 6.7 yards a carry in his 29 rushing attempts against LSU, South Carolina and
New Mexico State. Since Klein’s offensive scheme depends on the ability to move the ball on the ground, expect either Reed or Daniels to get the bulk of the action against a Longhorn defense that allows roughly 112 yards per game, good for 23rd in the country by Week 13. With the Longhorns tied for 25th in the country with 27 sacks, Reed and the offensive line need to be wary of the young and hungry linebacker duo of freshman Colin Simmons and sophomore Anthony Hill Jr., who have combined for 11.5 sacks and 97 tackles. Playing
‘The Eyes of Texas’ are upon you
Aggie
defense takes on Longhorn o ense after an 11-year intermission
By Matthew Seaver Asst.Sports Editor
Texas A&M football takes on 4-6 Auburn in Jordan-Hare Stadium on Nov. 23 in Week 13. The following weekend, there will be more than just postseason dreams on the line when the Aggies renew their rivalry with the Texas Longhorns on Saturday, Nov. 30.
These two programs have been waiting to meet on the gridiron for 13 years and now find the matchup holding more implications than ever before. Whichever team wins in the regular season finale guarantees itself a spot in the SEC Championship — while the other team will have to watch from the couch, surely hoping the worst for its rival.
The last time A&M played Texas was in 2011 before the Aggies ditched the Big 12 for the SEC. That rendition of the Lone Star Showdown came down to one matchup: Burnt Orange offense and Maroon and White defense.
A late passing touchdown and failed two-point conversion by then-starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill gave the Aggies a onepoint lead over the Longhorns, 2524.
Texas QB Case McCoy led the Longhorns down the field, in part thanks to a 15-yard penalty committed by A&M. With over 100 years of hatred on the line, nowNFL legend Justin Tucker kicked a 40-yard field goal as the clock struck 0:00, winning the game for Texas, 27-25.
Now, in 2024, this matchup again comes down to how well the Fightin’ Farmer defense can handle the Longhorn offense. With SEC Championship and College Football Playoff implications on the line, both sides will need to prepare for what each will bring to the 119th rendition of the Lone Star Showdown.
The Wrecking Crew has had a very up and down season in 2024. In its only two losses to Notre Dame and South Carolina, A&M was dominated on the ground, giving up 198 and 286 yards, respectively.
With only one healthy scholarship player in junior RB Jaydon Blue, the Longhorns running back committee ranks 89th in rushes for 10+ yards. Coach Steve Sarkisian’s team averages only 161.6 rushing yards per game, which ranks 65th in the nation, going into Week 13.
When A&M managed to shut down the run against Florida, Missouri and LSU, it forced the other teams to become one-dimensional in their playcalling. Replicating the same performance versus the boys from Austin will be key for A&M.
If the Aggies’ heralded 2025 NFL Draft prospects in junior defensive ends Shemar Stewart and Nic Scourton are able to pressure redshirt junior QB Quinn Ewers early, A&M defensive coordinator Jay Bateman will have a shot at slowing Texas’ 12th-ranked passing offense.
The Longhorns’ studs on the offensive line will be looking to slow down the Aggies’ pass rushers. The duo of juniors Kelvin Banks Jr. and Cameron Williams, look to both be picked in the first round of this upcoming draft.
Ewers has been feeding his receivers well this season, with seven of them hauling in over 200 yards
and three of those bringing in over 400. Senior tight end Gunnar Helm leads the Longhorns in receiving yards and receptions with 493 yards and 37 catches.
Wrasslin’ the receiving cattle will be up to a handful of Aggie defenders. Sophomore linebacker and defensive captain Taurean York leads the team in tackles with 55 and has also managed to secure himself 1.5 sacks so far, this season.
The other two most important defenders for the Fightin’ Farmers will be senior UAB transfer cornerback BJ Mayes and junior Kansas State transfer CB Will Lee III. Mayes earned a bigger role in coach Mike Elko’s defense after injuries to starting senior nickel-corner Tyreek Chappell.
Meanwhile, the man referred to as “The Blanket,” Lee, has led the Aggies on the defensive boundary all season. Right now he leads the team in passes defended with nine to his name, so his hands are sure to be full dealing with the Longhorns’ high-profile pass catchers.
For A&M to succeed on Nov. 30, it will need to handicap the Texas offense early, forcing it into obvious passing downs. Staying penalty free will also help the Aggie defense get off the field fast versus a lethal Longhorn attack.
Success for the Texas offense means establishing an effective passing game complemented by an efficient rushing attack. If Ewers brings his best, then the Longhorns might just send the Wrecking Crew to the unemployment line.
They say defense wins championships, and for A&M, it means everything — playing for the SEC Championship, a bid for the CFP and silencing the t-sippers in Austin.
Texas A&M tight end Theo Melin Öhrström (17) makes a catch during Texas A&M’s game against
Texas A&M quarterback Marcel Reed (10) makes a throw during Texas A&M’s game against New Mexico State at Kyle Field on Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024.
New Mexico State running back Seth McGowan (1) absorbs a tackle made by the Texas A&M Wrecking Crew during Texas A&M’s game against New Mexico State at Kyle Field on Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024.
Texas A&M defensive back Dalton Brooks (25) sacks New Mexico State quarterback Santino Marucci (18) during Texas A&M’s game against New Mexico State at Kyle Field on Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024.
Hannah Harrison — THE BATTALION
Army’s fight: old rival, fresh Ags
Return of rivalry
By Ian Curtis Features Editor
Like most current Texas A&M students, my memories of the last A&M-Texas football game are fuzzy.
A vague image of Justin Tucker’s game-winning eld goal on a television somewhere in Texas, a reaction from my family that 6-year-old me didn’t fully understand followed by years and years of wondering when the Aggies and Longhorns will meet again.
Feel old yet, Ags?
Thirteen long years later, which I’ve spent in Aggieland searching for something to ll that void, and the game has nally returned. Now it’s time for a new generation of students to make the rivalry their own.
Mind the generation gap
For the rst time in the histo-
ry of the Lone Star Showdown, there’s a clear generation gap between Aggies that experienced the A&M-Texas football rivalry and those that haven’t.
There have been two four-year gaps in the rivalry, from 1894–-98 and from 1911–--1915. But nothing comes close to the 13 years since the titans of Texas have faced each other on the gridiron — and that’s created an interesting vibe amongst players and fans alike.
“When I was younger, I didn’t really watch it or pay too much attention to it,” senior defensive lineman Shemar Turner said at the 2024 SEC Media Days. “I didn’t know about the rivalry actually until I started getting recruited more to A&M. But the rivalry is going to be fun.”
While Old Army may nd themselves shocked and appalled that someone from DeSoto, Texas, didn’t know much about the A&M-Texas rivalry, it’s to be expected given the age gap.
But there’s another side of the story on this year’s Aggie team — and one a lot of students may nd themselves relating to. Never fear, Old Army, the ame still burns.
“I was born and raised an Aggie,” junior o ensive lineman Trey Zuhn III said at the 2024 SEC Media Days. “I’ve heard about the tradition from my parents and my grandparents. So I’m excited for it. I actually have a longhorn hanging in my room — it happens to be upside down.”
Life in the void
Growing up in College Station in the wake of the Aggies’ move to the Southeastern Conference was like growing up reaching for something that had just slipped beyond your grasp.
Similar to how most of Kevin Sumlin’s tenure at the helm of A&M was spent searching for the next Johnny Manziel, we — the next generation of Aggies-to-be — searched for what the next rivalry might be.
Would it be Arkansas, with the annual chaotic trips to AT&T Stadium? Or perhaps LSU, the annual Thanksgiving game that replaced Texas on the calendar? Could it be Alabama, the juggernaut of the 2010s under former coach Nick Saban that everyone in the country was gunning for?
This wasn’t entirely unsuccessful, mind you. I still can’t stand LSU football fans. And I hate hearing Woo Pig Sooie. Plus seeing Vanderbilt upset Alabama this season was cathartic.
But even back then, we knew: Nothing could replace Texas. The stories we heard only made us crave the return of the rivalry even more.
Sure, we lled the void. We scoured bowl projections hoping 8-4 A&M would meet 6-6 Texas in the AdvoCare Texas Bowl. We grew up wearing “You call it a mascot, we call it a hamburger” shirts from Aggieland Out tters. And we did what we could to keep the feel of the rivalry alive — including a classmate of mine in elementary school dumping all of his school “points” into winning a Longhorn poster for the sole purpose of ripping it in half in front of the class.
But now, the game is back. And it’s a chance for the New Army to make those memories of their own. The same kind of stories some of us heard repeated from our parents, relatives and family friends growing up — the kind we all
hear from Old Ags now that we’ve found ourselves in Aggieland, regardless of where we started.
Bring it on
On Nov. 30, the West Side of Kyle Field will be full of Aggies ful lling a dream they’ve had since Tucker’s kick sailed through the uprights as the clock struck 0:00 in 2011. They’re the ones who said “Goodbye to Texas University,” — and they’ll be the ones in the cushy seats as the Aggies and the Longhorns take the eld again. But the East Side will be full of fresh faces.
Students who have only heard of what the game is like, and have never experienced it rsthand. We’ve heard the boasts of prowess bold from Texas fans — and the folks we grew up with who wound up at that school in Austin — but haven’t had the chance to join the ght ourselves. So listen up, New Army. On Nov. 30, we make a name for ourselves. We ght for the Maroon and White, and we yell for every single one of the 13 years we’ve been yearning for the chance to experience this game.
Week 10 staff picks: Aggies vs. Longhorns
Lozano
During Texas A&M’s game against Texas at Kyle Field on Thursday, Nov. 24, 2011.
Texas A&M running back Ben Malens (23) gets tackled by Emmanuel Acho (18) during Texas A&M’s game against Texas at Kyle Field on Thursday, Nov. 24, 2011.
Photo Chief Chris Swann
stress the defense horizontally. With an average depth of target for redshirt junior quarterback Quinn Ewers of under seven yards, Sarkisian doesn’t ask his quarterback to push the ball down the field but instead opts for a death-by-a-thousand-paper-cuts style of offense.
Senior tight end Gunnar Helm and junior Alabama transfer wide receiver Isaiah Bond have provided the reliable options for Ewers this season, combining for over 900 receiving yards and finding the end zone nearly 10 times.
Similar to the Aggies’ losses of junior running back Le’Veon Moss and sophomore RB Rueben Owens, Texas’ running game has been handicapped by a season-ending injury for sophomore RB CJ Baxter. The Longhorns have a middle-ofthe-road rushing attack and consequently have an inefficient firstdown offense.
A&M’s blueprint for defensive success should be modeled after how Georgia stymied the Texas offense in a 30-15 win for the Bulldogs in Week 8. Georgia used creative pressure schemes to harass Ewers into three turnovers that led to a brief benching. The Bulldogs also managed to disrupt the quick-hitting passing game of the Longhorns by the defensive line deflecting multiple passes.
Junior Purdue transfer defensive end Nic Scourton and junior DE Shemar Stewart will draw the eyes of the 12th Man as they attempt to fluster Ewers, a quarterback who has a tendency to get skittish once the pocket collapses. Junior Florida transfer linebacker Scooby Williams
will also be critical to limiting the run-after-catch opportunities for the Longhorns in the quick passing game with his long speed.
Despite Sarkisian seemingly spending most of his time in the lab cooking up hot new offensive schemes like a mad scientist, it’s been the defense for Texas that has elevated itself to one of college football’s highest-rated units.
Senior DL Alfred Collins, sophomore LB Anthony Hill Jr. and senior cornerback Jahdae Barron give the Longhorns a difference-maker at all three levels of their match quarters defense. Texas has the country’s best first-down defense and second-best defense against the pass, meaning they are experts at getting their opponents out of rhythm.
Redshirt freshman QB Marcel Reed nabbed the starting job from redshirt sophomore QB Conner Weigman after his second-half comeback against LSU and is now the man the 12th Man will look for to lead them past Texas. The offense has been most effective with Reed under center when he can use his legs to be efficient on money downs so that the quarterback is protected from third-and-long situations.
“If you look at us on offense, we are middle of the road [in] yards but upper echelon [in] points,” Elko said. “That’s because of the red zone success that we’re having. The running factor of Marcel plays a role. I think that added element, certainly in the games that he’s played, helps.”
If Texas’ first down defense can slow A&M offensive coordinator Collin Klein’s rushing attack and throw the Aggies off schedule, then the Maroon and White may find of-
fense hard to come by if Reed has to do too much heavy lifting on third down.
Junior RB Amari Daniels’ ability to find creases in the stout Longhorn front and keep the momentum of the Aggies’ powerful rushing offense will be imperative to keeping the chains moving. Keeping the score low with ball-control football and allowing the home crowd to function as an equalizer is likely the recipe for success for A&M.
As the game draws closer and the college football cognoscenti turns its head towards Kyle Field, Aggieland is abuzz with nervous excitement. It’s not just another rivalry game for the Aggies, it’s not just another season finale — it’s a chance to assert themselves on a national stage and push the program to new heights.
HISTORY CONTINUED
three different conferences throughout their shared existence: the Southwest Conference, the Big 12 Conference and now the Southeastern Conference.
The inaugural Southwest Conference, or SWC, contest in 1915 resulted in a 13-0 Aggie victory. By no coincidence, the Longhorn mascot was branded with the same score on its side by a group of unknown suspects following the game. Speculation says this whole altercation led to the name “Bevo” for the UT mascot in an attempt to hide the shame of the loss and the whole ordeal.
The age of the SWC was the glory days for the Aggies and Longhorns, accounting for six of seven combined national titles belonging to the two programs. A 7-0 win against UT in 1917 and 1919 kept A&M unbeaten and saw it seize its first two championships, while a 20-0 rout in 1939 made it three titles for the Fightin’ Farmers.
Those days saw the SWC sit on top of national title contention, with A&M and UT at the forefront of college football. The schools played one another all 81 years of the conference’s existence, with each racking up their share of win streaks, trophies and All-Americans.
In that time, the Maroon and White had heroes like legendary linebacker Dat Nguyen and ball-hawk defensive back Lester Hayes who awed thousands. The Burnt Orange crew saw the likes of Heisman-winning running back Earl Campbell and star quarterback James Street lead their team to the promised land. RB John David Crow left Aggieland a Heisman winner as well, taking home the trophy in 1957.
Off the field were the everyday heroes of the Corps of Cadets, who successfully apprehended Bevo on Nov. 12, 1963. Hailed as a “temporary acquisition,” the boys of Squadron 1 brought their own version of success against their Burnt Orange brothers, showing that even with “the eyes of Texas” upon them, they were still able to stir up good bull.
The famed A&M “Wrecking Crew” had its heyday in the 1980s and 1990s, going 10-1 against the Longhorns between 1984 and 1994.
The late great Aggie defensive line coach Terry Price was a major contributor to the tough and physical A&M play style in his time as a defensive end, never losing to Texas as a player from 1984 to 1988.
The success of the past would not be enough for the conference to perpetuate any further, as the Aggies’ Cotton Bowl victory in 1988 was the last of the SWC champions to win a bowl game. With the following eight conference champions going on to lose such contests, the SWC would disband in 1996 and usher in the Big 12 era for the two teams, lasting until the Aggies’ departure in 2012 to the SEC.
The Big 12 period was a briefer chapter in a long history of Maroon, Burnt Orange and White. The Longhorns had the edge on the Aggies throughout their shared conference membership, going 10-5 overall in their yearly contests. Despite losing the 1998 match, A&M rebounded the following week in the Big 12 Championship game, taking down No. 2 Kansas State with the famed slant route to Sirr Parker and winning the game in overtime, 3633.
Emotions, the lifeblood of rivalry, ran deep in the course of A&M and UT’s time as annual opponents.
No single game, however, could compare to those emotions of the 1999 Bonfire game.
On Nov. 18, 1999 at 2:42 a.m., the school-sanctioned Aggie Bonfire collapsed, taking the lives of 12 students and injuring dozens more in preparation for the Lone Star Showdown. Unity became an unlikely visitor as A&M players would help move logs and UT would cancel its Hex Rally and invite Aggies to share a time of unity and solemn remembrance together in Austin.
Eighteen days removed from the tragedy, the teams met at Kyle Field, where the Aggies were outmatched but were far more determined than their foes. A late fumble recovery and the tear-jerking words of “Aggies got the ball! Aggies got to the ball!” solidified a 20-16 A&M upset win against No. 7 Texas, which brought a mourning school solace amid unfathomable grief.
The following years of the rivalry would not be too kind to the Aggies, losing six straight times as the Longhorns continued to have their name in another conference.
A final 2011 meeting was a nail-biter yet again, with UT leaving College Station off the leg of kicker Justin Tucker slamming in the game-winning field goal as time expired to turn the Big 12 page onto a 13-year hiatus. Now conference foes, A&M and UT will rekindle the fires of a burning passion deep in the Lone Star State. In the confines of Kyle Field, students, fans and alumni will all experience the intensity of college football’s third-oldest rivalry and become a part of history. When the time comes, the War Hymn will sound, BBQ will be served and brother and brother will become opponents once more in a rivalry renewed.
Texas A&M quarterback Stephen McGee (15) dives for a touchdown in Texas A&M's game against Texas on Nov. 25, 2005.
Texas quarterback Vince Young (10) reaches for a dropped ball during Texas A&M's game against Texas on Nov. 25, 2005. Photos from Battalion Archives
Texas quarterback Chris Simms (8) drops back to pass during Texas A&M's game against Texas on Nov. 26, 1999.
Texas A&M running back Ja'Mar Toombs (5) reaches to stiff arm Texas safety Greg Brown (25) during Texas A&M's game against Texas on Nov. 26, 1999. Archive photos by JP Beato - THE BATTALION
Texas A&M linebacker Chad Frantzen (59) and defensive lineman Ron Edwards (96) tackles Texas quarterback Chris Simms (8) during Texas A&M's game against Texas on Nov. 26, 1999.
Longhorn Nation is excited to renew our storied rivalry, now in the SEC!
We look forward to a great game!
HOOK ’EM!
Community frustration builds as ‘chaos’ surrounds Texas ticket pull
Aggieland secures first nationwide lymphatic NIH grant
Funding supports new pioneering program to train Ph.D. students in underresearched topics
By Jennifer Alatuogu-Okechukwu News Writer
Texas A&M’s College of Medicine has broken new ground by securing the rst National Institutes of Health, or NIH, grant in the United States dedicated speci cally to training researchers in lymphatic biology.
The grant, awarded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, will fund A&M’s Lymphatics in Pathology and Health, or LYMPH, Training Program over the next ve years, which aims to two Ph.D. students annually and equip them with the skills necessary to advance knowledge in the lymphatic system, a vital but often overlooked area of research. Directed by Mariappan Muthuchamy, a professor with extensive experience researching cardiovascular and lymphatic issues, the program is the rst of its kind at A&M.
“This grant shows our university’s commitment to advancing medical research in areas that often don’t receive enough attention,” said David Zawieja, the chair of the Department of Medical Physiology and the executive director of A&M’s Cardiovascular Research Institute. “The lymphatic system helps with uid balance, immune responses and waste removal. This program will allow us to dive deeper into these processes and explore how they connect to various diseases.”
The NIH training grant was highly competitive, and only a handful of institutions were considered.
“This is a challenging grant to get, and A&M is honored to have been chosen,” Zawieja said. “With funding over ve years, we’re able to support two graduate students each year, giving them invaluable research opportunities in this critical area.”
Zawieja said the program’s emphasis on immersive and interdisciplinary study was key to securing the grant. The LYMPH Training Program immerses students in an interdisciplinary environment with faculty from the departments of medical physiology, microbial pathogenesis and immunology and neuroscience and experimental therapeutics. The program also includes partnerships with the College of Engineering and the College of Veterinary Medicine with the goal of providing students access to expertise across multiple elds.
Students claim rule violations, safety concerns while in line
By J.M. Wise News Editor
As Aggies gathered to enter Kyle Field on Saturday for Texas A&M football’s game against New Mexico State, more people than usual surrounded the stadium for the most anticipated game of the season. Fans began camping out for ticket pull in preparation for the Texas A&M-University of Texas football game on Nov. 30.
While new guidelines released at the beginning of the semester outlined when and where students could camp, many at the ticket pull line alleged violations of the rules as well as safety and health concerns.
Economics junior Blaise Lindsey began lining up on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. when his group noticed others waiting infor the ticket
line. He said the University Police Department o cers on site could have prevented much of the chaos but didn’t.
“They put up … barricades on the side of the line which helped the line cutting a lot,” Lindsey said. “There still was [line cutting Monday] morning, but it was more pronounced. They had to jump over a four-foot barricade to do it. Everyone was calling it out.”
According to the new rules, ticket pull lines can only begin to form at 6 a.m. on the Sunday prior to the ticket pull for that week, with the exception of the Texas game due to the Thanksgiving holiday.
Forensic investigative science senior Beth Ventura was in the ticket pull line for over 20 hours, she said. During her time in the line, she noticed a lack of safety for those lining up.
“I saw more ambulances — because people kept passing out — than actual police o cers,”Ventura said. “Everybody was pushing,
and it felt dangerous. There was no respect, no integrity, no excellence. It was a total violation of the Aggie values.”
Ventura’s group mainly consisted of women, and their primary concern was the lack of security around the line.When Ventura saw others around Kyle Field standing on the Reveille Memorialgraves, she tried to speak up but was shouted out by others around her.
She said the Corps of Cadets’ Company E-2 — Reveille’s handlers — arrived to protect the memorial grave.
“People started booing and hissing at E-2 because they were standing on Rev’s grave, but they’re allowed to stand on the graves because they’re Rev’s handlers,” Ventura said. “So E-2 was like, ‘Get the fuck o these graves or we will get you arrested,’ and at some point, people were standing on the grass and calling them names.”
‘We just don’t have help’: Contract employees allege labor violations
Custodian, service, maintenance workers claim “toxic” culture under SSC, Chartwells
By J.M. Wise News Editor
In the aftermath of the 2008 nancial crisis, John Sharp, the newly appointed chancellor of the Texas A&M System, authorized a third-party company to run food service, ground maintenance and janitorial services in College Station.
But the cost-saving measure has seen workplaces across campus change into a “toxic” culture where sexual abuse and labor law violations allegedly run rampant, according to current and former employees working under Compass Group North America and its two subsidiaries, SSC and Chartwells.
“It was three years of the most toxic environment I had ever worked in,” an upper-level managerial employee for Chartwells said. “There was zero accountability in terms of sta violating rules. My rst semester up there, I had conducted 13 investigations into sta members at The Commons dining hall.”
The employee asked to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation, having recalled several instances of her supervisors refusing to discipline high-ranking em-
ployees after instances of sexual assault.
SSC was charged with overseeing campus custodial services, and Chartwells runs every dining location on campus.
As a former student, she was excited to return to A&M to work with Chartwells in human resources. But settling into the role, she began to notice discrepancies in how employees were treated.
“What I saw was the worst workplace harassment and bullying I had ever seen in my career,” the managerial employee said. “Typically in those processes, as I start to investigate, I take a look at what notes, what documentation, prior write-ups, things like that, what do you have that can assist in the investigation. They had nothing.”
Roughly a dozen employees working at on-campus Chartwells locations told The Battalion they rarely reported harassment to HR because documentation was not kept and rules were seldom enforced. All current employees interviewed requested anonymity for a variety of reasons, including concerns that they could lose their bene ts, direct instruction not to talk to the press or worries of general workplace retaliation. The managerial employee recalls being asked by concerned employees to look into matters, often told she was the only employee willing to investigate.
‘They don’t know our struggles’
Students, faculty face uncertain future months after regents close A&M at Qatar
By Cameron Gibson Senior News Writer
The Texas A&M System Board of Regents voted in February to close A&M’s campus in Qatar by 2028. Part of the closure involves a plan to move some sta , faculty and students to Hamad Bin Khalifa University, or HBKU, a nearby campus part of Qatar’s “Education City.”.
Brittany Bounds, a professor of history at A&M at Qatar, or TAMUQ, with a Ph.D. in history, said some faculty were given 90 days’ notice that they were not going to be brought back in August. She said that two faculty were told to vacate their o ce by August and were given nine months pay in exchange for a position not being available to them. She said faculty were o ered a position at HBKU with a start date of 1st August, which they were told was com-
pletely in exible.
“Most of our faculty were transferring over, already had summer plans,” Bounds said. “It was either take leave without pay for the time that they were absent in August, or they had to change their ights and come back early.”
The rigid start date contributed to a negative sentiment that pervaded the campus following the regents’ decision, which the board stated was taken because it allows the A&M System to put a strong focus on institutions in the U.S. Faculty in Qatar were left diminished as sta began to leave and resources dissipated, Bounds said.
“We lost half of our faculty because the faculty gured that if we don’t go now, we’re not going to have a job in the future,” Bounds said.
In February, César Malavé, TAMUQ’s dean, told employees that the Board of Regents would discuss the campus at their next meeting.
“He was going to be ying to College Station to be on hand just in case they had questions about our campus,” Bounds said. “But
Students line up for ticket pull in front of Kyle Field on the morning of Monday, Nov. 18, 2024.
Theresa Lozano - THE BATTALION
A custodial worker cleans the floors at the Memorial Student Center Chick-Fil-A on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024.
Chris Swann — THE BATTALION
The rear of Texas A&M University Qatar in Education City, Al Rayyan, Qatar.
Photo by Alex Sergeev/Wikimedia Commons
LIFE & ARTS
How to ‘build the hell outta Bonfire’
Student Bonfire’s spirit still flourishes after over a century of tradition
By Theresa Lozano Life & Arts Editor
Described as the “physical embodiment of the Aggie Spirit” by manufacturing and mechanical engineering technology senior and Senior Redpot Mason Taylor, the bright and blazing Student Bon re returns Nov. 29. For several months, students have cut, built and prepared to once again torch the colossal structure and unite Aggies.
In September, the organization had its rst Cut, where they “killed” trees to gather the necessary logs. Every weekend until late October, hundreds of students spent hours in the woods cutting down trees then constructing and working at the Stack site every night until Burn night, Nov. 29.
“It’s not some person who’s never out here putting in the work, giving the directions on it,” Taylor said. “It’s students who come out. They spend their time. They take time away from classes, time away from their families to be out here building this thing. It takes a ton of commitment. These are the best students at A&M. This is the 12th Man right here, and there’s nothing else like it.”
The only hours of the night the crews don’t build is Nov. 17, the Memorial Shift. Former Redpots guard the Stack so every participant may attend the Bon re Memorial Ceremony to re ect and remember the fallen 12 when it collapsed on Nov. 18, 1999, at 2:42 a.m.
Although September is when Cut starts, that’s not necessarily when the process begins. On top of the current training for next year, the rst step in the process for the next Bon re begins in January after the previous Burn. The upcoming chiefs are trained, clean up the cut site, burn o scraps and no-good logs and prepare for the next year.
After burying a solid log —
the center pole — 15 feet in the ground and four windle sticks 10 feet deep, the Stack is constructed of ve tiers, wedding-cake style. Because each tier is cut according to the desired length, every log touches the ground. Greenpots, the female line under the Redpots within Bon re Upper Leadership, train and decide who’s hooked up on swings to work on wiring together the logs they’ve “slammed” on that tier.
“Once we get out to these smaller tiers, it’s not so dangerous, so we start putting new chiefs and experienced people,” agricultural systems management junior and Junior Redpot Michael Branch said. “No sh or people we don’t trust go on the swings. That is a hard rule that we stick to because if you can’t get out of the way fast enough when a log’s coming up, you’re toast, like you are getting crushed by that log. So we always make sure we train these people properly before we set them up.” Branch has been involved in Bon re since his freshman year and was a chief last year. He was introduced to the organization by Taylor, who is in the same Corps of Cadets unit, Company B-2. Along with him are ve other Junior Redpots who handle the day-to-day actions of Student Bon re.
“What’s also surprised me is, as a university grows, how many people forget about it and don’t understand that this is a tradition that goes back to the beginning of our university,” Branch said. “There’s some roots there that are starting to fall, and I just like to think that we’re making a di erence bringing this tradition that’s literally centered.”
After A&M made Corps participation voluntary in 1965 and regular students — “non-regs” — were allowed to join Bon re, crews became comprised of various dorm halls and the Corps. Students from all di erent walks of life are united through the “undying ame” with this diligent project.
With the tradition being started by students, it was shocking for them to hear the discussions earlier this year about the pos-
logs and 35 feet including the structure sitting on top of the center pole, the only thing altered about the Stack this year from past builds is the “t.u. frat house” outhouse painted a gaudy burnt orange.
As the Lone Star Showdown rivalry returns this year, the Corps members in the band — Orangepots — are in charge of building and painting the outhouse and installing it a few days shy of Burn. Purely their responsibility, they’re also the only people who know where the outhouse is located while they construct it.
It’s never about the fire. It’s always about the people and the relationships you make in between.
Michael Branch Junior Redpot “ “
Also towards the end of the process, the organization has their “Dress Log Cut,” where each crew leaves their mark and has their own log slammed onto the fth tier. Along with these logs are 12 more logs with the initials of the fallen Aggies from 1999 who died in the collapse. With members perched on top of the dorm logs, students will quickly wire and stack the logs one after another to accelerate the process.
throw the torches onto the Stack.
Around midnight, there will be a twist in the Stack due to how the superset cables and windles are set up, with airline cables keeping it from falling over.
Before dousing the Stack, they’ll dig a trench at the base that catches any runo diesel. Considered an Old Army tradition, some members still throw their unwashed work clothes — called “grodes” — into the re. After they “burn to build another,” it’ll burn down after about three days. They’ll then completely put it out, spread the embers out and let it cool down for a couple of weeks. In the spring, it’s another group e ort from upper leadership and next season’s leadership prospects to clean it up.
“I loved it,” Branch said. “ … I was actually in charge of the B-2 crew last year. And then they picked me up for Redpot, and I was like, ‘Heck yeah.’ I love this re. And it’s never about the re. It’s always about the people and the relationships you make in between.”
Bon re is a labor of love for students involved, like Branch. From hearing a tree crack on the way down after swinging on a wedge to sleeping under the stars at Stack Site, tired from the lengthy workday, he said the commitment is rewarding — knowing at the end of the day, it’s for a cause.
sibility of Bon re returning to campus — except this time to be built by contractors and engineers instead of Aggies. Another reason there was backlash to the proposal is Bon re being an outlet for students to get hands-on experience, managing and leading the whole operation.
“That Stack, the trees, all the ropes, the logs, that’s only half of it,” Branch said. “The rest of it is getting out here, doing everything by hand, holding everyone just together. It’s the relationships that we’ve made along the way. In the Corps, there’s this tension between Corps guys and nonregs … and here it doesn’t exist. … Honestly, it’s the people, it’s the process. Like all of that was done by hand. That was all built by people — by students.”
Standing 32 feet tall with the
“For Hell Week, that process is everything’s got to happen all at once,” civil engineering senior and Senior Redpot Jason Reynolds said. “We put our center pole in the ground. Then the very next morning we do our windles. The next day we do our dorm [dress] logs. So those will be the very last things that we stack. Those are the biggest logs that we have all season for each dorm and each crew has speci c logs. And it’s pretty much their log that they get to show people at the end of the season. ‘This is our log for Stack.’”
After the Walton Hall crew usually hands o the torches to the Redpots, they’ll do a lap around the Stack with parents and families, and then another lap with their signi cant others. Once they get spread out and set, they’ll make a speech, then the eight Junior and Senior Redpots for this year will
“The Browns and the Greens who are new will help clean up as well,” Branch said. “We’ll pick up all the wire that’s in the base, and they’ll actually dig out where these poles that burn down to the ground, they dig out about halfway down the poles, they pull those out, and that’s what we make our donor gifts out of. So the donors for the previous year, they get a piece.They get a slice of the center pole that they helped build and provide for. So they’ll pull those out, they’ll rebury the holes and then they’ll start working to organize cleanups.”
From start to end to aftercare, di erent crews and leadership are trained to continuously work on various aspects of the tradition. Working through the frigid rain to the beaming Texas heat, all hours of the night into the day, thousands upon thousands of pounds of logs are slammed during this grueling but persevering process by determined Aggies.
“At the end of the day, as long as students are building it, it will always be Aggie Bon re,” Reynolds said.
Bon re is scheduled to burn Nov. 29, the night before the historic Texas game. Gates open at noon, and the torches will be lit at 8:40 p.m. With thousands expected, it’s encouraged to carpool. Food trucks and merchandise will be available.
Senior Redpot Jason Raynolds closes out the Bonfire Cut Class in Rudder Auditorium on Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024.
Abdurahman Azeez — THE BATTALION
Senior Redpot Mason Taylor speaks to Life & Arts editor Theresa Lozano as members of Student Bonfire construct the second tier on Friday, Nov. 8, 2024.
“There was a culture in which what mattered most was bodies,” she said. ‘Just having bodies in these positions. Standards of behavior were overlooked. We had a director who had physically grabbed a female associate who worked at the Chick- l-A down in Sbisa … I knew I would never be allowed to terminate a director. I told the young lady to call the police.”
When provided a list of questions about the allegations, Regan Lyrek, a communications manager at SSC responded with a statement that reads “SSC takes any issue that arises very seriously and fosters a positive work environment supported by regular training, policy reviews, and swift action on reported incidents.”
“Even in senior management, sexual harassment was a major problem,” the managerial employee said. “We had a very senior operations person who was written up and got a slap on the hand … for going up to a female manager who was making fresh-squeezed orange juice and said, ‘I always knew you were a squirter.’ … We had a senior-level executive chef accused of sexually assaulting a female manager. All of these things were swept under a rug.”
A common experience among employees interviewed was the lack of sta working critical areas around campus, such as dorm cleaning and dining halls. When interviewing new applicants, the managerial employee said the wages Chartwells o ered were so low it posed an ethical issue for her.
“Chartwells addressed it by shoving money up against it to hide it,” the managerial employee said. “The account at A&M makes a tremendous amount of money. I believe it’s 72 million dollars. So everything was colored by that.”
I asked him, ‘Can you gauge the mood of this conversation? And he said, ‘They’re not going to shut it down.’ ... I think that what he said was that he thought that publicly the administration was under pressure to do something to make a public statement or just to discuss it publicly about our being in the Middle East.”
Then, Bounds woke up that Friday to a urry of messages and a shock: The Board of Regents shut down TAMUQ.
“I was stunned,” Bounds said. “Absolutely stunned to discover that they had voted and there was no discussion about it. It was a premeditated decision that seemed directed and it sent us into a whole semester of mourning … We set aside listening sessions with our students for their rst weeks after the decision. Students felt demotivated, and they didn’t want to come to class.”
Bounds said that the student body is concerned about the decision.
“They are hardcore Aggies,” Bounds said. “Like, they wear their ring on campus, they say howdy, I start every class with howdy. And they’re just, they’re really disappointed. They feel like the campus turned their back on them. And
For both students, the conduct of others in line was their main concern, with dozens of reports from social media and emails reporting ghts breaking out and crowds rushing towards the front of the line in the early hours of the morning.
“The only big thing that happened was somebody yelling ‘Charge’ at 2 a.m. and causing a stampede,” Lindsay said. “It got shut down pretty quick because UPD was out here the whole time. They tried to line it up with [Bon re Memorial] because of the amount of people that left to
The di erence in the experience of working under Compass and A&M was night and day. Molly Henderson, a former janitor and food service employee, said her days working under SSC were some of her worst.
“My rst day, they told everybody in our crew that we no longer worked for A&M University, we had been outsourced to a contractor, which is SSC,” Henderson said. “There were middle-aged women there crying, older people that were getting ready to retire that would be losing their pensions, their retirement, their everything.”
To the employees, A&M abandoned them after decades of employment. The shift to SSC was unexpected, and the changes, Henderson said, forced some employees into poverty and homelessness.
After the transition was nalized in 2011, multiple employees’ salaries were lowered, and the bene ts that were originally available — which was similar to what professors were o ered — were degraded, according to documents reviewed and veri ed by The Battalion.
“Many people don’t even have [health insurance],” Henderson said. “It’s expensive. The deductibles are high. A lot of people, it’s not even in their budget to even have this insurance … a lot of people had two jobs or a spouse with a job. Frequently, they would go to the 12th Can for food.”
Now working as a building access technician for A&M, Henderson retires next month. But her concern for her fellow employees lives on, especially for those unable to regain employment at the university.
“It was very heartbreaking because everybody had been an employee of Texas A&M University, part of the Aggie family,” Henderson said. “Well paid, well treated,
they don’t understand how Texan politics can make a decision like closing a campus on the other side of the world.”
A transition team formed soon after has faced di culties with communication between A&M and HBKU, Bounds said. She claims to have been told that the team was no longer needed despite over half of sta not yet being transitioned.
“What about everyone else?” Bounds said. “What about everyone who has stayed loyal to the university instead of jumping ship to make sure that the students have the classes that they need, that the sta can provide the services that both the students and the faculty and the other sta need?”
Some sta , especially those in HR and IT, have remained behind to keep the university functional, especially because many current students plan to stay enrolled until the closure is nalized in 2028.
TAMUQ did not bring on a new class this academic year.
“We can’t just fold everything because the students need that support in order to remain credible as a credible program,” Bounds said. “You have to have A&M faculty teach A&M students.”
As co-chair of the sta transition advocacy committee, Bounds advocates for employees in Qatar, as most of the transition team
go there.”
According to data from a survey conducted by the Student Government Association in Fall 2024, 63% of sports pass holders prefer an online ticket pulling system instead of the current in-person system. When asked about alternatives to traditional ticket pull, Ventura did not expect the university to be able to handle the amount of trafc a large game like A&M-Texas attracts.
“If you do online ticket pull, you’re going to have the same issue you have every year, every semester for registration, Aggie Ring day, where it always crashes,”Ventura said. “You cannot have
CAMPUS
...just had a custodial wide crack down on not talking to the press and they are fearing retaliation as they still need a job!
Anonymous Custodian via text message
well loved. If a person got a job at A&M, they would stay there until they retire.”
An assistant janitorial supervisor who asked to remain anonymous due to ongoing litigation said her and other custodians would get written up for receiving food or gifts from students. In one incident, she alleged being penalized for talking to a professor about SSC employees going on break. She recalls Ted Dawson, SSC’s regional manager in College Station, “screaming and hollering” at her afterward.
“He rolled his chair over in front of me,” the assistant janitorial supervisor said. “I told him, ‘I don’t feel comfortable with you screaming right in front of me,’ and the supervisor was crying … he threatened me and asked ‘Who signs your check?’”
He made her life “hell,” she said. She was isolated at her work and feared for her job safety.
“Anything that went on, the rst thing that went on was, ‘Did [that] lady have anything to do with this?’” she said. “I’m not a troublemaker.”
She is now attempting to gain her bene ts in wrongful termination litigation against SSC.
Employees from food service to maintenance con rmed they were not allowed to discuss their wages with each other.The assistant janitorial supervisor alleges workplace harassment when trying to do so,
potentially violating federal labor laws.
“They tell us all the time, ‘Do not discuss wages. Do not do that,’” a current janitor with a decade of experience at SCC said. She requested anonymity due to fears of workplace backlash. “The bosses are telling us the supervisors … they’ll call you in the ofce and sit you down, saying, ‘This is why we don’t tell people this, because they get mad.’”
She still makes under $15 an hour after a decade of experience. For her 10-year evaluation, she received a 40-cent raise. The pay — matched with what the company asks from employees, such as poor working conditions and overworking — has led to mental strain among employees, according to those interviewed by The Battalion.
Often, the long hours spent working was not enough for supervisors.
“We were scraping oors with a razor blade from seven to seven [during summertime],” the assistant janitorial supervisor said. “And everytime they would come in, it was never good enough. It was never good enough. It was taking a mental toll on a lot of the workers because the job was never good enough.”
works from College Station.
“They don’t know our struggles,” Bounds said. “You can’t just give someone a month’s notice because that cancels their visa, and they can’t move out in a month … Where are they going to go? … We have people who have passports that cannot apply for visas to go to the U.S., and so we can’t physically just delete people in like a month. People need time to process.”
Mechanical engineering sophomore Hazem Al Aji plans to graduate in 2027 and is part of the TAMUQ’s student government. He is part of the last group to graduate from TAMUQ.
Prior to the closure announce-
the same amount of seniors on the website at the same time, it’s not going to work.”
An A&M spokesperson released a statement to The Battalion emphasizing that “this is a highly sought-after game.”
“We distributed over 30,000 tickets in the rst day — marking a record,” the statement reads. “That meant we had a large number of students at the ticket pull amid rainy weather. The health and safety of our Aggie community is paramount. Based on feedback from our students and sta , we will be taking a hard look at our ticket pull process to determine whether more changes are needed.”
“One of our cooks that had been with us forever, she left the job a few weeks ago,” the food service employee said. “She had been there ve, six years, and she was like, ‘ … I can’t just handle it anymore.’ We just don’t have help.”
The di culties involved with getting a raise have made her consider leaving her role, a thought suppressed by her love for the students — a sentiment shared by others interviewed. She began at $7.25 an hour.
After eight years, she makes $11.20.
“When I was a custodian, whether it be at Res Life or at the Memorial Student Center, the students were the best part about my job,” Henderson said. “They learn your name. They talk to you. They tell you what’s going on in their life. It’s like I had 60,000 kids.”
Henderson said other universities around the U.S. have seen success bringing sta back under the college, an idea A&M could replicate. But no action has been taken.
“I would just so love for all the kids who were put up for adoption can come home,” Henderson said. “The custodians, the food service workers, the landscape maintenance people, maintenance people too. All of them.”
Working under Chartwells has the same alleged issues as SSC, according to a current food service employee who requested anonymity due to an all-sta meeting that threatened to penalize employees that discussed working conditions with the media.
was a report from the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy that claimed A&M had entered a “con dential agreement” that grants Qatar “unprecedented control over research and standards, faculty, curriculum and budgets” at TAMUQ. The allegation received extensive pushback from A&M and the A&M System. President Mark Welsh III called the claim “false and irresponsible.”
ment, allegations swirled regarding the university, Al Aji said, including a false claim that TAMUQ was researching for the terrorist group Hamas.
“A list came out and was shared through some channels on WhatsApp to multiple students of some professors’ names highlighted in red … saying these professors are doing this research for this organization, which is completely false. All rumors, all just blatantly false … But we really don’t understand, still, why.”
Al Aji said that political discussions became more common after it was announced that the campus would close. The claim that received the most attention
Sanjukta Chakraborty, curriculum director and assistant professor in the Division of Lymphatic Biology, emphasized the potential impact on patient care.
“This grant allows us to train students who will directly contribute to new treatments and tools for lymphatic-related diseases,” Sanjukta Chakraborty, curriculum director and assistant professor in the Department of Medical Physiology, said. “By involving students in hands-on research, we’re not just educating — we’re actively shaping the future of healthcare.”
Chakraborty said one the program will o er unique collaborations di cult to nd elsewhere as the group brings “together insights from areas like engineering and veterinary sciences to study the lymphatic system as a whole.”
“Usually on campus, we do not discuss politics,” Al Aji said. “Not that it’s not allowed … we just don’t engage in the topic. We don’t nd it amusing, so when the news got announced, and we heard why and saw the papers and everything, that’s when it started getting discussed. Like, no, that’s not the case. This is not what we do. That’s completely false.”
Some professors did not accept an o er to transfer to HBKU and will either go to College Station or nd another university to teach at. Al Aji will graduate with an A&M degree and opportunities similar to College Station students.
“The students lost the opportunity to gain their degree, but A&M lost the degree to get students from di erent cultures, different mindsets, at another location,” Al Aji said. “So, yes, loss, but mostly for the campus because they’re losing bright individuals they don’t know about.”
“Our resources and knowledge put us in a strong position to lead in this area,” Zawieja said. “Our students won’t just be learning from textbooks. They’ll be conducting meaningful research that could change how we approach some of the biggest health issues of our time.”
Zawieja said allowing students to work alongside established researchers prepares them for careers in medical research and helps bridge the gap between academic study and practical application. But the program’s success will ultimately be measured by “what our students have accomplished, the studies they’ve led and the discoveries that improve patient care,” Zawieja said.
“We really hope this sets in action to draw in more trainees in this eld of research and helps to push lymphatic research even more forward, therefore bringing in the kind of information the students need to build their career in this understudied eld,” Chakraborty said.
Leading the program is a team that includes Brett Mitchell, the group’s co-director and a professor of medical physiology known for his research into cardiovascular health, and Joseph Rutkowski, an assistant professor specializing in the lymphatic system’s role in tissue health, particularly during in ammation.
Courtesy of Texas A&M at Qatar
Students line up for ticket pull in front of Kyle Field on the morning of Monday, Nov. 18, 2024.Theresa Lozano (center) & Zoe Rich - THE BATTALION professor
The Board of Regents closed A&M at Qatar last February in a 7-1 decision.
ticket pull?'
We asked four Aggies their line stories — here is what they had to say
Julian Ibarra General
“Ticket pull is probably one of the worst experiences ever. There was just a huge disrespect to the Reveille memorial, trash everywhere, such a buildup of dirty water that people were standing in, no respect for other students. It feels like A&M knew that was going to happen and they didn’t care because they wanted it to be a big deal. We need to switch to online ticket pull. Sometimes tradition is not that important.”
“It was just an entire mess. The whole student body was at Kyle Field waiting for a ticket, and originally it started with us just sitting as a group … it became who can get to the front rst. Cops were called eventually … Sunday wasn’t too bad, like the day part, but around 2 a.m. that’s when the energy came back with rushing. I think when people switched out to go to the Bon re Memorial, people rushed … I was standing by myself for four or ve hours, just standing to hold my spot in line.”
“It was not in control at all and not regulated — there were just way too many people doing the exact same thing. The fact that most people started camping after the [New Mexico State] game and still aren’t sitting where they wanted to sit, and then some people aren’t even sitting down at all, is pretty crazy. I think part of the problem is because a lot of the fraternities will pull upwards of 800 people.”
“It was awesome. Everyone around me was so nice. I ended up getting rst deck — we were inside the barricades. We were sharing experiences, we were all staying up together at night, whenever I needed to go to the restroom they were watching my seat and vice versa. The only thing that I didn’t like is how people felt entitled to boss other students around whenever they had no sense of authority or position, but besides that, I love all the Aggies and just like how God forgives people I forgive all of them as well.”
To romanticize is to idealize; to think something is better — more exciting, interesting or meaningful — than it actually is.
We’ve become so exhausted with productivity being the center of our lives, sick of going through corporate society’s monotonies.
It’s no wonder, then, why romanticism is the natural counterpart to rationalized society, fueling our rejection of self-worth being determined by how willing we are to sacri ce those rare moments of tranquility.
And of course, we get these notions of what a romanticized life is from the media we consume.
What does real love look like? A
passionate kiss in the pouring rain like in “The Notebook.” How about a serene road trip? The quintessential dramatic gaze out the window at the passing scenery. In what way can you romanticize the crowded hassle of your daily commute to school? Just go to Oxford with Ollie in Saltburn.
Life feels most romantic when it’s a performance, when you mimic the romantic scene in the lm you saw. After all, to romanticize your life is to be the main character of your story. But does romanticizing your life really turn you into a happier person, or just a happier character?
We apathetically disrupt moments where we’re sobbing our hearts out, making sure our eyes look the right amount of red and our mascara is the right amount
of messy. Even alone, there’s still a desirable way to be sad, so who wouldn't want to emulate the soft, delicate sorrow of gorgeous Hollywood icons?
But they’re not reality.
When we lay our heads against the car window and romantically watch raindrops fall, we’re copying the movie characters who create this sentimental scene we ache for.
But who’s looking?
The inhumanly perfect characters we see in lms have been meticulously staged to portray life in just the right way. The hair, makeup, costumes, lighting and camera angles have been assembled to create arti cial reproductions of reality. The cameraman surgically stitches together the best-looking shots, not to express reality, but to mechanically assemble it.
This disconnected way of looking at your life creates an imaginary audience that constantly watches you. How we live our romanticized lives is determined by whether this imaginary audience would enjoy the show we put on. In this way, the romanticized scenes we covet are no more than an arti cial contrivance.
They aren’t real.
Don’t give in to this toxic romanticization, judging every aspect of your life by measuring how it compares to romantic delusions. Embrace the reality you’ve been given, for only then will you be able to see what you have as enough.
Isabella Garcia is an economics junior and assistant opinion editor for The Battalion.
Let’s look at the di erent options we can use to help with this.
We have marijuana, cigarettes and alcohol, hard substances like cocaine and hero-
Opinion Writer Joshua Abraham
Substance use is incredibly unhealthy for our bodies. But we are a sinful species, and we fall into the usage of things like nicotine to cope with our daily lives.
in and hallucinogens like LSD and molly. These are some of the
if you’re looking for something that’s missing from this list, I can read your mind — and it’s not on there for a purpose.
having a glass of wine is pure eye
This movie is so packed with classist ideology and logical fallacies that it’s a wonder our parents ever allowed us to watch it. I mean, this is what’s wrong with today’s America — we’re spoon-feeding our children nonsense when we should be teaching them about real-life problems and politics.
Thanks, Obama. From the very beginning, the premise is laughable. A world of sentient cars? I mean, come on. It’s so ridiculous that I can’t even cite any peer-reviewed sources proving its falsehood, because everyone already knows it: Cars aren’t sentient, and they don’t speak English. Furthermore — if we suspend reality and assume that these cars are sentient — are new cars born?
Manufactured?
If the former, I only have one question: how? And if they do have some sort of organ or appendage with which to procre-
ate, why aren’t they wearing any clothes? If it’s simply that they hide these parts on the bottom of their chassis, then was the King ashing everyone while he ipped through the air in the nal race?
If they’re manufactured, who works in the factories? Are cars assembling their brethren? Is there car child labor? At what point do they gain sentience? These are the questions the writers don’t want you to ask.
Don’t even get me started on the classist ideologies. Just because Mater is a rusty tow truck, he has to have a country hick accent. While all the other cars have personal names, Mack is called such because it’s his brand. Bessie, the tar machine, is inexplicably not sentient. At every pass, blue-collar workers and their culture are slighted in this lm.
Then there’s the snowball questions — the existence of an American ag in the movie suggests that the U.S. exists in the “Cars” universe. So, what, now I’m supposed to believe there was an Abraham
candy. Even doing a line of cocaine — which I don't condone the use of under any circumstance — is fascinating to look at. But sucking out of something that looks like a kazoo doesn’t look cool.You look dumb.
If you’re using nicotine, I want to smell the nicotine to know that you’re using it, like how one does with a cigarette or a cigar. But what I don’t want to smell is watermelon or strawberry in the air. Are you a child? Oh, let me feed you cocaine with a spoon since you're too much of a baby to take it up the nose. Do I need to cut up your edible into little pieces
Welcome to the real world!
make you any better than people who smoke cigarettes cohol. It isn't attractive — at least compared stance
that everyone will love. At the end of the day, you’re still addicted to nicotine. Smoking your Geek use — and you really need to stop.
To the people who vape, I ask you one question: Do you feel cool? Because you don’t look cool; you look very stupid when you vape.
Stop trying to mask your addictions into cute little avors
Lincoln Towncar that abolished car slavery? A PocaHondas who served as a liaison between Indigenous cars and English car settlers? A Susan BMW Anthony that fought for the women cars’ suffragist movement, all while never using her turn signals? Be so real.
A PSA: Do not allow your children to watch “Cars,” lest you want them to internalize the preposterous ideals purported in the lm and grow up believing in nude, sentient, English-speaking automobiles.
Charis Adkins is an English senior and opinion editor for The Battalion.
If you’re in college hitting a blinker, go back to middle school. Grow the hell up and move on to the greater poisons this world has to o er. Let’s leave the avored air behind.
Joshua Abraham is a kinesiology junior and opinion writer for The Battalion.
Asst. Opinion Editor Isabella Garcia
engineering sophomore
Grant Caraway Architecture freshman
Landon Burkett Architecture freshman
Elie Merhi Biomedical sciences freshman
Opinion Editor
Charis Adkins
Photos by Jackson Stanley — THE BATTALION
EVEN THE SQUIRRELS PULL SRO
This Week in History
November 22, 1963
John F. Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas and Lyndon B. Johnson assumes the presidency.
November 24, 1859
Charles Darwin publishes On the Origin of Species, introducing the theory of natural selection.
November 26, 1922
The tomb of Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamen is unsealed, revealing perfectly-preserved artifacts.
November 29, 1981
Actress Natalie Wood drowns in an unsolved incident while on her yacht with her husband.
November 30, 1876
Yales defeats Princton 2-0 in the rst college football game held on Thanksgiving.
November 30, 1954
Ann Hodges becomes the only veri ed person to be hit by a meteorite in Sylacauga, Alabama.
December 1, 1955
Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat to a white passenger on a segregated bus and is arrested.
December 2, 1804
Napoleon Bonaparte crowns himself emperor of France in Paris at 35 years
C ARMOR SIGN — BEFORE THE TEXAS GAME
The original caption reads: Following the trend of most military units on the campus, C Armor drew and erected this sign near the site of the Texas University game bon re to be burned tonight. The signs depict the spirit caused by the bon re and what the bon re symbolizes to A&M students. Sta photo by Dick Zeek.
Other quotes from the same front page include:
“Due to the crowd expected for the Turkey Day Game tomorrow, a bu et luncheon will be served in the Assembly Room of the MSC ... Tickets for the luncheon are now on sale at the main desk of the center at $1.50 each.
Miss Wanda Harris, Aggie Sweetheart, will be escorted into the A&M-TU Thanksgiving football game by the Ross Volunteers, A&M's o cial honor guard.”
“Spirit, rising steadily as gametime nears, is expected to reach a peak tonight as the ames roar skyward from the bon re ... Yell practice will be held at the Southeast corner of the drill eld immediately after the outburst of emotion simmers down.”
by Zoe Rich
