Ok, when did Ben Franklin join our class? That said, if you guys remember back
to our first efforts at fund raising, the Calvin cymbals, our goal was one set
and we ended up buying every one they needed! As an aside, I wonder if they are
still using them? As to the esteemed Rev Dr COL Wright’s comments about my
guest quarters at Countermarch, BITE ME BITCH!! Seriously guys, job well done!
I miss you fuckers more then you will ever know. Love all of y’all in a
platonic, not Lasberg, kind of way! Groad
Sent from my iPhone
On Mar 5, 2021, at 9:22 PM, Edward Retta
<eretta@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I have a copy of our fish year groady pic, who remembers that one?
Edward Retta
On Mar 5, 2021 19:34, Michael Brown <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Doesn't have to be a current photo, does it?
Maybe we can use a pic of the Block T from our Zip Year.
On Friday, March 5, 2021, 04:41:20 PM CST, Stephen Wright
<dr.wilbur.wright@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Bill – thanks for the terrific recap of Lead initiative and all that our
dollars do for A&M, especially the Corps. Which brings me to a significant
issue of who’s picture gets into the Texas Aggie when they post this new
scholarship. I was initially thinking DWP, but then I thought – DAMN…he
looks as old as me. So, if we opt for the “young look” I nominate BSch.
He’s still the youngest looking person in our group at least…from the neck
up. Thoughts?
And except for the thank you shout out, I am kidding about the rest. Sort
of. Cheers, Steve
From: fighting_texas_aggie_band_class_of_1977-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<fighting_texas_aggie_band_class_of_1977-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> on behalf of
Bill Schwennsen <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Friday, March 5, 2021 at 10:42 AM
To: fighting_texas_aggie_band_class_of_1977@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<fighting_texas_aggie_band_class_of_1977@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [fighting_texas_aggie_band_class_of_1977] Re: Scholarship status
Gentlemen, since we're talking fund raising this morning I have what I think
are a couple of interesting facts about A&M fundraising and how it relates to
former cadets.
Last Saturday I attended (by Zoom) the Winter Council Meeting for the Assn of
Former Students. These meetings are held twice per year. They follow a
standard format, with reports on the health (financial and otherwise) of the
Assn, and usually have reports from individuals representing the University,
sometimes the 12th Man Fdn, and the A&M Foundation. You may be aware that,
for the 5-year period that ended on 31 December 2020, A&M has conducted a
fund raising/capital campaign called "Lead by Example". Any monies (or the
financial value of in-kind contributions) that came to A&M during that period
through whatever vehicle (AFS, 12thMan, A&M Foundation, direct to the school)
counted towards the campaign goal of $4 billion. Tyson Voelkel '96 (former
BQ), the CEO of the A&M Foundation, gave us a final report on how the
campaign did.
The goal of $4 billion was exceeded.... $4.25 billion was raised. During his
report he broke down at an executive level where the money came from, and it
was during this drilldown that he specifically called out the following:
Of the $4.25bil total, $1,909,278,554 was contributed by A&M Former Students
(44.9% of the total). Of the $1.9bil that was donated by former students,
$758,355,669 (39.7%) came from former cadets. I thought that was a pretty
impressive statistic, given the proportion of former cadets to the overall
size of the former student population (he didn't give us a figure for that
but I'm trying to find out). Tyson spent a couple of minutes talking about
this and how important the former Corps members were in supporting not only
the Lead by Example campaign but the "regular" yearly support for the
University. The former cadets are certainly "punching above their weight",
at least from the standpoint of the size of their group, when it comes to
supporting A&M financially. It was gratifying to see Tyson call out this
support publicly to the Leadership Council of the AFS, which is more and more
non-reg populated every year.
Please know that the $758mil didn't all go to the Corps.... that total was
for any and all contributions to A&M, for whatever purpose, that were made by
former cadets. Still, an impressive performance.
Another interesting statistic from the campaign was that there were a total
of 4,499 new scholarships established during the campaign period. The
largest subset of that number, 1,575, were new scholarships that are
college/department specific. The next largest subset, 627, are new Corps
scholarships.
I wanted to share this with you for a couple of reasons.... since we as a
class are now raising funds for our own Sul Ross scholarship for the benefit
of BQ's, and to let you know that we are part of a group of former cadets
that are certainly at the front of the pack when it comes to financial
support of A&M. Don't think for a moment that the financial impact of the
former cadets isn't noticed, because it sure as hell is.
The other reason I wanted to send you this info is that there's been a lot of
"sturm und drang" the last year with certain activities on campus, and the
accompanying sentiments in some quarters towards either not sending money to
A&M, or to perhaps redirect contributions to other organizations/groups. I'm
not at all trying to tell any of you where to send money, and I'm damn sure
not making any judgements about it either. I'm just as pissed as many of you
are with some of what's going on at our campus. However, what I will tell
you is that the Association directs a six-figure contribution, on an annual
basis, to the Corps and its related entities. $110,000 to the Aggie Band
travel fund annually, for one example. ROTC Cadre awards.... support for the
RVs, FDT, and PMC... the individual ROTC departments... and the Commandant's
Office. In 2019, support for the Corps from the Association was over
$192,000 (with obviously the Band getting the major portion of that number).
I suspect that most of you are like me in that you contribute to numerous A&M
organizations besides the Association... the TABA, the CCA, 12th Man
Foundation, etc. When I send in my yearly Century Club donation, I prefer to
think that my money is part of that $192,000... that my money is going toward
the Association's support of the Corps.
So, in conclusion... and as we all know at this point in our lives... "money
talks". It speaks loudly for the former cadets, and don't for a moment think
that our voice isn't being heard.
Hope all of you are well, and thanks to "the organizers" for getting the
scholarship deal rolling for us. I'll be sending a check in later this
month. Let's get over the hump so we can award a scholarship this coming
fall. Semper gigem....
BSch
-----Original Message-----
From: Dean B <canyonag77@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: fighting_texas_aggie_band_class_of_1977@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<fighting_texas_aggie_band_class_of_1977@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Fri, Mar 5, 2021 9:07 am
Subject: [fighting_texas_aggie_band_class_of_1977] Re: Scholarship status
Thanks for the update. Proud of the group for getting this far, hope the
February gifts push it over the top. If not, let us know, and I'm willing to
kick in a little more, and I bet others would, too.
To clarify for those who may not have heard the discussion before:
We have to hit $25,000 to have the fund hit endowed status, and start
throwing off a yearly scholarship of about $1,000. Due to the fees charged
by the Foundation, that will take about one year. So, our first scholarship
would be awarded in 2022.
However, if we want to award a scholarship in 2021, we can contribute another
$1,000 over the first $25,000. That extra $1,000 would not go into the
endowment, it would be a one-time gift, going directly to the recipient, not
into the endowment.
After that first year, anything over $25,000 goes into the endowment, and
grows the endowment and the yearly award.
Once we hit $25,000, we can discuss whether any additional goes into the
first-year scholarship, versus staying in the endowment.
Dean
