Mickey Coe, Class of 1966, is a veteran of the United States Marines Corps.
Recently, a classmate of 1966 sent me a petition for removing the Sully statue. Either someone at Texas A&M is not teaching history and tradition anymore or the students just aren’t learning.
I am going to put in my two cents to whomever came up with this hairbrained idea.
First, the petition mentions that “t.u. removed statues of four confederate generals back in 2017.” I couldn’t care less what t.u. does with its statues.
Second, our students are different from any university in the world. Texas Aggies don’t have African American, Mexican, Asian or “other” students. Not short, tall, fat, skinny, with or without glasses. We only have Aggies. Just ol’ Aggies. It’s been like that forever and will continue forever if students are taught to understand that.
Third, the petition says “it is time to take down this statue and show our Black community and the world that Texas A&M is ready to move on from the past, and look towards a more inclusive future.” We don’t need some left wing definition of being “inclusive” or what black students think. We also don’t need a revision of our great history as a university to show inclusiveness.
Look up who Sul Ross was: There would be no Texas A&M without him.
Sul Ross was a great general for which high schools and universities have been named who revere his leadership and stature. His beliefs were of the times. Even though times change, that doesn’t mean we hide from our great history. We can look at him as a man of honor who fought for his beliefs just like we have through history. We recognize times change as we go forward but we see no need to hide our statues remembering those who served honorably as Americans, regardless whether they served the North, South, Black or White. All people should be honored, regardless of who you agree with.
As a former commander of Marines, I always knew I only had Marines — not African-Americans, Asians, Mexicans, or something else. They were Marines, just like Aggies. There is no color nor separation of people. We are one nation and one school under God who does not separate us. Do not let this petition separate Aggies like so many others attempt to do in other places. This is Aggieland, our home for everyone.
