On a September afternoon, a handful of students stood behind a banner that read “TAMU ECHO” in bold, block letters. They smiled at passers-by, waving flyers that promised something simple: positive energy.
For most students rushing to a Memorial Student Center lunch between classes, it looked like just another social organization tabling on campus. But for the founding members of Texas A&M’s newest coed organization, this banner marked the start of something bigger.
Empowering Connections through Honor and Outreach, or ECHO, was founded by communication junior Roel Sauceda Jr., who now serves as president, and former student Xiomara Soto. It was born out of a simple need for more social organizations to match a growing student body.
“I thought that there were a lot of really good people getting denied from really cool organizations,” Sauceda said. “It’s not those organizations’ fault they can’t accept everyone because of space. So I thought, ‘Let’s create more space. Let’s create more positive atmospheres where people can make those connections.’”
After a summer of planning, ECHO launched this fall amid an evermore competitive student organization recruitment cycle. With some coed organizations receiving hundreds of applications for limited spots, this new organization hopes to bridge that gap.
“We’re not here because of a shortfall in any other org, but because every person at A&M should have a space,” political science junior and Co–Public Relations Chair David Taravella said. “ECHO is here to try to join the effort to give everybody a place to plug in.”
While many coed organizations pride themselves on balancing social and service missions, ECHO’s mission is to create an intentionally optimistic community designed to empower connection first — only later channeling its energies into service.
“The first semester is going to be heavy on empowering connections,” Taravella said. “And then the second semester is going to be using that cohesion we’ve created and spread that positivity to the Bryan-College Station community. What we’re about in ECHO is just trying to foster a positive environment here on campus so that we can spread that across campus and outside of campus.”
Positivity is more than a buzzword for ECHO. It’s the foundation of the organization’s identity, and what made them stand out to the Department of Student Activities.
“Our uniqueness is positive energy, which may sound a little playful,” Sauceda said. “But we’re aiming for optimism, we’re aiming for genuine people. When we decided on the words ‘positive energy,’ we knew that it would display an uplifting attitude.”
For management information systems graduate student and Social Chair Riya Macha, that focus is what drew her to join the founding leadership team.
“The other orgs that I’m a part of are more service orgs or professional orgs, so ECHO really offered that social space that I was looking for,” Macha said. “When Roel asked, he was pushing that community aspect of it, which was awesome. Having it strictly focused on building a community was something that I was looking forward to, and so that’s why I decided to join.”
After a late inaugural recruitment season, applications closed on Sept. 30. Club leaders are hoping those sentiments and the freshness of ECHO drew applicants in as well.
“Everybody who comes in this semester is going to be a founding member,” Taravella said. “That’s going to give everybody some ownership on the future of the club, the direction of the club, the identity of the club. We’ll be spending the next two weeks or so interviewing and then make final decisions, and we’re hoping to get our first meeting kicked off Oct. 15.”
Despite the excitement to get rolling, the small team has been stretched between seeking university recognition and completing mandatory trainings.
“We found bannering to be super difficult,” Sauceda said. “Trying to schedule all of us with our busy schedules to banner from like 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. has been difficult. Those other organizations that are out there, they’ve [been] bannering tons because they have all of those members, and they’re already established, but we’ve been working really hard.”
With recruitment hurdles behind them, focus is turning to the future of ECHO.
“There’s been challenges as we’ve gotten off the ground, but it’s given us a lot of pride,” Taravella said. “And it’s all really shaped our mission. We’re all excited for the coming semester.”
As for Sauceda and Taravella, the rest of the school year is a step toward a broader legacy that goes beyond their time at A&M.
“I want it to be where, if somebody tells another Aggie that they’re in TAMU ECHO, that clicks,” Taravella said. “They know that means they’re a positive person, they’re a person they want to be around. While we might be new now, hopefully in five or 10 years, when people say they’re a part of ECHO, that’s something people have nothing but excitement about.”
