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		Dr. James Conrad
	Archivist, Texas A&M University-Commerce

Through the years, Alumni have had occasion to sing hail to thee, our future chief

Over the past 115 years, politicians have found A&M-Commerce a popular place to visit and even hold campaign rallies.

The flood of visiting political leaders started early in the history of the institution. Founder William L. Mayo conducted daily chapel services that were famous for bringing state and national government officials and even Civil War generals to campus to speak to the students.

After the school became part of the state education system, Governors Jim and Miriam “Ma” Ferguson, Beau Ford Jester, and later John Connally, came to campus to dedicate new campus buildings or for inaugural ceremonies of new A&M-Commerce presidents. Other notable individuals also attended functions on campus and sometimes spoke to the student body in the Social Sciences Auditorium.

Among the regulars was our most honored graduate, Mr. Sam Rayburn, longtime speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. Rayburn spoke at the memorial service for William L. Mayo in 1917, attended Homecoming events, and spoke to the student body on many occasions.

Rayburn’s colleague and friend Lyndon B. Johnson visited Commerce in 1948 (at the urging of Commerce Journal newspaper publisher Sterling Price Hart) during his famous helicopter campaign for the U.S. Senate against Gov. Coke Stevenson. The helicopter landed in the city’s market square, and LBJ gave a brief speech to town folks and students from East Texas State Teacher College.

In 1960, during his bid for the Democratic nomination, he spoke in the Social Sciences Auditorium to an overflowing crowd. The future president never came back to Commerce, but his wife, Lady Bird Johnson, spoke at the first Sam Rayburn Public Affairs Symposium in 1975.

The wife of former President Jimmy Carter, Roselyn, was part of the Five Star Series on campus in 1980s, the second first lady to grace the University.

It is not a well-known fact that Bill Clinton was on campus in the summer of 1963 for a band camp. About to enter his senior year in high school in Arkansas, he and some of his fellow band members attended a three-day band camp at A&M-Commerce.

Because of the large number of band members from Clinton’s high school and elsewhere, he and a friend stayed in the Sage Motel across the street from the Performing Arts Center.

Finally, Michael Dukakis, at the urging of an A&M-Commerce graduate, brought his campaign to campus on Sept. 7, 1988, before a large crowd assembled on the East Lawn.

Motel gives Alumni new overnight option

A new motel located just across Highway 50 from the campus is now open. Holiday Inn Express opened last month and has 59 rooms, including 20 “executive suites,” four jacuzzi suites, and five handicap-accessible rooms.

Senior named to All-American Judging Team

By the time Rowdy Akins reached the stage to receive a national livestock judging award for being named to the All-American Team, more than 700 people were on their feet cheering him on. Rowdy is a senior at A&M-Commerce, and he has cerebral
palsy. He walks a little slower and has to work a little harder than most people, but that didn’t stop him from recently being named one of the top 11 collegiate livestock judging students in the country.

Dr. Byron Housewright, assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural Sciences, says that livestock judging is extremely competitive. Students are nominated based on their grades, extracurricular activities and their competitiveness.

Rowdy was one of more than 200 students nominated from 58 universities, including some of the biggest schools in the nation such as Colorado State and Texas A&M at College Station.

“And Rowdy won,” Dr. Housewright said. “He was the only one to get a standing ovation. It was beyond anything we could ever hope for. It is the biggest honor someone in animal science can receive as an undergraduate.”

Although Rowdy raised and showed hogs when he was growing up in Aubrey, Texas, he didn’t know what he wanted to do for a career. He came to A&M-Commerce for its agricultural sciences program four years ago, and in his freshman year, Dr. Housewright asked him to join the University’s livestock judging team.

The team traveled nationwide to participate in judging competitions, including the National Barrow Show and American Royal in Kansas City, Mo.

The hours the students put in are phenomenal, Dr. Housewright says. Despite the miles and travel time, however, Rowdy has taken 17 to 18 hours a semester. Even with the heavy load, he’s maintained a 3.1 GPA.

Being part of an exclusive team has its rewards in the job market, and the All-Americans have had 15 job offers so far. “These kids are very sought after in the arena, and they are in high demand in the Midwest,” Dr. Housewright said. “They look for kids like Rowdy.”

Rowdy in fact was offered a job with a cattle breed association, but he decided to turn it down to continue his education at A&M-Commerce. He graduates next month.

Dr. Housewright said,“Rowdy is just one of those kids who refuses to be limited.”

Notice to 1954, ‘55 graduates and members of the Fifty-Year Club

The always-anticipated annual Fifty-Year Club Reunion is Friday, May 7. If you graduated 50 or more years ago, you are automatically a member of the Fifty-Year Club.

Spotlighted this year will be graduates of the Class of ’54. Their golden anniversary celebration promises to be filled with nostalgia and will be capped by their formal induction into the Fifty-Year Club.

Graduates of the Class of ’55 are extended a special invitation to join other Alumni at the reunion to get sneak preview of what they may expect at their own induction next year.

For more information, call Alumni Relations at 903-886-5765.

Murder and Mayhem from Alumnus Smallwood

Another Alumnus can be counted among the authors for the Sam Rayburn Series on Rural Life at A&M-Commerce.

James A. Smallwood (BS ’67, MA ’69) wrote Murder and Mayhem: The War of Reconstruction in Texas with Barry Crouch and Larry Peacock.

Murder and Mayhem tells the story of the Lee-Peacock Feud, which took place after the Civil War in northeast Texas. The feud centered on who would control northeast Texas during Reconstruction.