Members of the Texas A&M class of ’51 will be gathering in College Station this weekend for the first ever 65 year class reunion in the history of the university.
The reunion will begin Friday October 14 and will continue until Sunday morning, after which the 54 class members, most of them decorated veterans of World War II or the Korean War, will return to locations all over the world.
This reunion will begin Friday evening, with many events planned to follow, said Alicia Capell of the Association of Former Students.
“Friday night there will be a class dinner,” Capell said. “On Saturday they will, as a class, tour a number of locations. In the morning they’ll tour the quad, followed by a tour of Kyle Field and lunch at the MSC. They’ll later visit the Riverside Campus and have a class dinner. They’ll finish everything off with a farewell breakfast on Sunday morning.”
The class reunion will include a speech given by the CEO of the Association of Former Students, according to Kathryn Greenwade, Vice President of the Association.
“Porter Garner, the President and CEO of the Alumni Association, will speak at the dinner on Friday,” Greenwade said. “He is going to express his appreciation for them and what they do for Texas A&M. He’ll also update them on what’s happening with the Alumni and what’s going on at the university.”
According to Dick Tumlinson, Class Agent and member of the class of ’51, events like this should serve as reminders to current students of the rich history that the student body of Texas A&M has.
“The Aggie heritage really is a tremendous one,” Tumlinson said. “It has a great history, with a lot of remarkable people that have served our country in many ways. Aggies have been serving our country in the military going all the way back to the Spanish-American war. My grandfather, an Aggie, fought in World War I and my older brother served in World War II. I served, along with almost my entire class, in Korea after graduation.”
However, this isn’t to say that A&M’s best days are behind it, according to Tumlinson.
“In the same way that Aggies have had great accomplishments in the past, the history goes on,” Tumlinson said. “With the current student body that A&M has today, many historical accomplishments will be made.”
