AggieJohn
11-08-2006, 10:58 PM
A look at major events at Texas A&M University during the tenure of President Robert Gates, the former CIA director who was nominated Wednesday to be the next U.S. secretary of defense:
• Aug. 1, 2002: Gates named 22nd president of Texas A&M in College Station.
• August 2002: Gates sends a letter of apology to his counterpart at Texas Tech University for disparaging remarks about the West Texas university that made their way into A&M's football media guide. The piece called Tech fans "classless clowns."
• September 2002: Longtime Texas A&M official J. Malone Southerland, a vice president for student affairs whose office oversaw the school's traditional bonfire, announced he would retire.
• November 2002: Texas A&M alumni and students hold off-campus bonfire, reviving the traditional towering blaze that used to take place yearly on campus. It was the first bonfire since the 1999 bonfire collapsed, killing 12 people.
• December 2002: Texas A&M fires longtime football coach R.C. Slocum and announces hiring of high-profile football coach Dennis Franchione. A&M also hires Nebraska athletic director Bill Byrne.
• December 2002: Gates creates a new administrative position to help foster diversity among students, staff and faculty members.
• January 2003: A&M officials cancel students' planned "ghetto party" in a dormitory at which participants were to mimic racial stereotypes at a party observing the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
• January 2003: Former Sen. Phil Gramm, a former A&M professor, has about 1,000 boxes of correspondence, press releases, files, audio and videotapes, clippings, memorabilia and other materials stored at the school's Cushing Memorial Library and Archives.
• May 2003: A&M announces plans to open a branch campus in the Middle Eastern nation of Qatar specializing in engineering education and research.
• July 2003: Gates announces the school will lay off about 40 employees and eliminate another 211 currently unfilled jobs to meet tighter budget conditions.
• July 2003: Texas A&M System regents, after the Legislature decided to deregulate tuition, raised the rate by 20 percent on the main campus.
• July 2003: Liberal Arts Dean Charles Johnson recommends the journalism department be eliminated, saying the cost to improve outdated curriculum or correct a faculty shortage is too high.
• July 2003: Gates announces plans to hire more than 400 new professors over the next five years at a cost at least $40 million.
• December 2003: Texas A&M System regents approve admissions plan that will not consider race as a factor in accepting students. The school's new plan will continue to make attracting minorities a top priority through increased outreach efforts in predominantly minority areas.
• January 2004: Gates announces the school will no longer give preference to applicants whose parents or grandparents were graduates. The move came days after lawmakers criticized the legacy program and a state civil rights groups indicated it would sue the school if the policy didn't change.
• March 2004: Gates lifts a moratorium on the sale of university-licensed bonfire memorabilia, but vendors must include a memorial ribbon on items in remembrance of the victims of the deadly 1999 bonfire collapse.
• March 2004: A&M hires Billy Gillispie as basketball coach.
• March 2004: Texas A&M regents approve a 21 percent tuition increase for the next fall.
• April 2004: A&M, among the four universities forming a federally funded research center created to study the spread of disease in livestock. A&M was the lead school of those forming the center, which is part of a Department of Homeland Security way to keep bioterrorists from harming the nation's food supply.
• September 2004: A&M announces minority recruitment efforts result in more black, Hispanic, Asian American and American Indian freshmen for the fall semester, reversing a seven-year trend at the predominantly white campus.
• November 2004: A granite and bronze memorial dedicated on campus to honor the 12 people killed and the 27 injured in the 1999 deadly collapse of a Texas A&M bonfire.
• January 2005: Gates announces sweeping organizational and procedural changes dealing with health and safety issues related to a campus fire and explosion that left two people dead.
• June 2005: Gates announces plan to raise tuition by 12 percent at A&M.
• July 2005: Texas A&M exceeds its $1 billion fundraising goal to improve teaching and research. The seven-year plan was designed to quadruple the school's endowment from $700 million to $3 billion.
• February 2006: A&M announces it will resume offering a journalism major in the next few years.
• March 2006: Gates appointed to bipartisan group charged with assessing the situation in Iraq.
• July 2006: Tito Guerrero III, a 1970 A&M graduate, named as president and associate provost for diversity.
• August 2006: After two years as the head of the A&M system, Robert D. McTeer announced he would retire as chancellor by the end of the year.
• Aug. 1, 2002: Gates named 22nd president of Texas A&M in College Station.
• August 2002: Gates sends a letter of apology to his counterpart at Texas Tech University for disparaging remarks about the West Texas university that made their way into A&M's football media guide. The piece called Tech fans "classless clowns."
• September 2002: Longtime Texas A&M official J. Malone Southerland, a vice president for student affairs whose office oversaw the school's traditional bonfire, announced he would retire.
• November 2002: Texas A&M alumni and students hold off-campus bonfire, reviving the traditional towering blaze that used to take place yearly on campus. It was the first bonfire since the 1999 bonfire collapsed, killing 12 people.
• December 2002: Texas A&M fires longtime football coach R.C. Slocum and announces hiring of high-profile football coach Dennis Franchione. A&M also hires Nebraska athletic director Bill Byrne.
• December 2002: Gates creates a new administrative position to help foster diversity among students, staff and faculty members.
• January 2003: A&M officials cancel students' planned "ghetto party" in a dormitory at which participants were to mimic racial stereotypes at a party observing the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
• January 2003: Former Sen. Phil Gramm, a former A&M professor, has about 1,000 boxes of correspondence, press releases, files, audio and videotapes, clippings, memorabilia and other materials stored at the school's Cushing Memorial Library and Archives.
• May 2003: A&M announces plans to open a branch campus in the Middle Eastern nation of Qatar specializing in engineering education and research.
• July 2003: Gates announces the school will lay off about 40 employees and eliminate another 211 currently unfilled jobs to meet tighter budget conditions.
• July 2003: Texas A&M System regents, after the Legislature decided to deregulate tuition, raised the rate by 20 percent on the main campus.
• July 2003: Liberal Arts Dean Charles Johnson recommends the journalism department be eliminated, saying the cost to improve outdated curriculum or correct a faculty shortage is too high.
• July 2003: Gates announces plans to hire more than 400 new professors over the next five years at a cost at least $40 million.
• December 2003: Texas A&M System regents approve admissions plan that will not consider race as a factor in accepting students. The school's new plan will continue to make attracting minorities a top priority through increased outreach efforts in predominantly minority areas.
• January 2004: Gates announces the school will no longer give preference to applicants whose parents or grandparents were graduates. The move came days after lawmakers criticized the legacy program and a state civil rights groups indicated it would sue the school if the policy didn't change.
• March 2004: Gates lifts a moratorium on the sale of university-licensed bonfire memorabilia, but vendors must include a memorial ribbon on items in remembrance of the victims of the deadly 1999 bonfire collapse.
• March 2004: A&M hires Billy Gillispie as basketball coach.
• March 2004: Texas A&M regents approve a 21 percent tuition increase for the next fall.
• April 2004: A&M, among the four universities forming a federally funded research center created to study the spread of disease in livestock. A&M was the lead school of those forming the center, which is part of a Department of Homeland Security way to keep bioterrorists from harming the nation's food supply.
• September 2004: A&M announces minority recruitment efforts result in more black, Hispanic, Asian American and American Indian freshmen for the fall semester, reversing a seven-year trend at the predominantly white campus.
• November 2004: A granite and bronze memorial dedicated on campus to honor the 12 people killed and the 27 injured in the 1999 deadly collapse of a Texas A&M bonfire.
• January 2005: Gates announces sweeping organizational and procedural changes dealing with health and safety issues related to a campus fire and explosion that left two people dead.
• June 2005: Gates announces plan to raise tuition by 12 percent at A&M.
• July 2005: Texas A&M exceeds its $1 billion fundraising goal to improve teaching and research. The seven-year plan was designed to quadruple the school's endowment from $700 million to $3 billion.
• February 2006: A&M announces it will resume offering a journalism major in the next few years.
• March 2006: Gates appointed to bipartisan group charged with assessing the situation in Iraq.
• July 2006: Tito Guerrero III, a 1970 A&M graduate, named as president and associate provost for diversity.
• August 2006: After two years as the head of the A&M system, Robert D. McTeer announced he would retire as chancellor by the end of the year.