A&M is very much resisting the PC crowd that has infested most other places. This is where the battle is so it gets more attention.
Here is the A&M YCT response to our Athletic Director's idiotic comment:
November 30, 2003
Dear Mr. Byrne:
The statewide organization of the Young Conservatives of Texas is contacting you in regard to your ?Wednesday Weekly? of November 26, 2003, in which you suggest that the Texas A&M chapter of the Young Conservatives of Texas (A&M YCT), ?plays into the hands of those who recruit against? Texas A&M with respect to athletics and the general student population.
With all due respect, we resent your shameless and feeble attempt to shift responsibility for Texas A&M?s lackluster athletic season from yourself to A&M YCT. At the University of Texas at Austin, our chapter there held a similar bake sale and has been at least as active as the Texas A&M chapter over the last few years. Interestingly, the University of Texas athletic programs continue to excel.
Mr. Byrne, we find it ironic that you are unable to appreciate the importance of YCT's activism for equal rights given that the field of athletics in which you are ostensibly an expert provides a textbook example of the benefits that come from making decisions based entirely on merit and without regard to race. Whether it is Jim Brown, Arthur Ashe, Jackie Robinson, Dat Nguyen, Tom Flores, or Yao Ming, we have seen that racial minorities do not need special treatment to excel in sports, but simply a fair shot to compete on an even playing field. The same applies to academics.
While some of the most high profile college sports have racial demographics that do not mirror the population, we trust you would agree that the "underrepresentation" of whites, Hispanics, Asians, and other groups in sports such as football and basketball and the corresponding "overrepresentation" of blacks is solely due to merit-based criteria, not racial discrimination. If race was used as a factor in the composition of sports teams, clearly the quality of play would suffer, in addition to the unfairness that would be visited upon those athletes discriminated against on account of their skin color.
Mr. Byrne, if A&M YCT stops hosting bake sales to protest racial preferential university policies, your athletic program will not consequently improve. The only effect would be that free speech would be suppressed. However, if you will stop focusing time and effort on a political organization and an activity that you know little about and start spending more time doing your job of building A&M athletics, then they may improve.
Sincerely,
David C. Rushing
State Chairman, Young Conservatives of Texas
Texas A&M University, Class of 2002
Christopher M. Allen
State Chairman Emeritus
George Bush School of Government, Class of 2004
Matthew J. Griffing, Esq.
Executive Director
Marc Levin, Esq.
General Counsel
Steven E. Watson
Vice Chairman for Finance
Randy Samuelson
Vice Chairman for Legislative Affairs
Mark McCaig
Vice Chairman for Communications
Texas A&M University, Class of 2005
Nayeem Mohammed
Vice Chairman for Internal Affairs
Jon Gimble
Vice Chairman for Special Events
Sarah Davis
Secretary
Texas A&M, Class of 2004
Matthew Maddox
Chairman, A&M YCT
Class of 2004
We all thought Bowen was bad but Gates is far worse. He is hard left on just about every issue and now his favorite topic is diversity. Just the other day in our student e-mail boxes, we got a letter from Gates about the importance of “diversity” and how some people (Obviously the YCT) are trying to trash the University.
“One of the core values associated with the Aggie spirit and culture is our strong sense of family and community. All members of the A&M community should feel welcomed, respected and accepted. During the last few weeks important conversations about diversity have taken place throughout the university in both formal and informal settings. While everyone has the right to freely express her or his opinions, such sentiments must be presented with a genuine sense of civility. The majority of conversations and interactions about diversity have embraced this value.
During this same time the positive efforts of countless individuals were blemished by the actions of individuals such as those who made disparaging remarks about a Hispanic American graduate student, about a group of ethnically diverse prospective students who were visiting the A&M campus, and about a new vice president and faculty member.
Individuals also have attempted to distort A&M's approach to diversity by knowingly misrepresenting it as somehow involving quotas and a lowering of standards. Such is most definitely not the case. Every student at Texas A&M must meet the same standards for admission; every Aggie here is here because of his or her individual merit and achievement. This will continue to be so. Diversity is part of our rich heritage as a public land grant institution – a university that is accessible to all in the state of Texas, and from far and wide, who meet our standards.
One of the most important Aggie traditions is respect for and loyalty to one another. Aggies do not disparage one another, even when they disagree. What sets us apart from other universities is a positive sense of family. We must all work to preserve this Aggie value that is central to what we have been, are, and will become. I am confident that this goal and the importance of a welcoming campus are shared by our Board of Regents, our faculty and staff, and the vast majority of our current and former students.
Robert M. Gates
President
Texas A&M University”
Texas A&M has had a liberal faculty and administration for a long longer than Gates’ tenure. This is what one of my (conservative) history professors told me a few years ago. After the 1996 Presidential election, a survey of various colleges and universities showed that the faculty of Texas A&M voted liberal in higher proportional numbers than did the faculty of U.C. Berkley.”