Registration is now open for the 2024 Class of ’69 Muster using the link shown below.  Please use this link to tell us you are coming and who is coming with you.  But payment should be made by check payable to “Class of ’69 Fund” and mailed to Bill Youngkin, P.O. Box 553, Bryan, TX  77806. If necessary, payment can be made upon arrival, but registration is still necessary by the deadline.

Deadline for registration:  April 7.  Please register online as soon as you can so we can alert the caterer.  We’d also appreciate receiving your check as soon as you can send it as well, but we’ll take it when we get it.

TO: Class of ’69

On June 17 we sent out a message to this list announcing our upcoming induction into the Sul Ross Group during the annual Sul Ross Reunion, March 5-7, 2024. In that message, we also mentioned that a committee had been formed to plan for a one-day Class of 1969 reunion beginning a day earlier, Monday, March 4. The purpose of this email is to provide you an update on our planning, but particularly to ask you for your feedback through an anonymous online survey at tx.ag/69reunion55. Even if you know you are not able to attend this reunion, we would like to know that as well through your response.

This committee has been meeting, and has developed a general schedule of activities for the one-day class reunion portion of that week. The schedule for the Sul Ross Reunion, itself, is planned by the Association of Former Students together with the current leadership of the Sul Ross Group.       That schedule has not been determined or released, but has normally consisted of the induction dinner on Tuesday evening, breakfast and business meeting Wednesday morning, luncheon Wednesday noon, banquet Wednesday evening, and breakfast Thursday morning. Registration for the Sul Ross Reunion is handled totally separately from anything we do for our class reunion. We will have a separate registration process.

For the reunion, the below are the key activities we are now planning. We do not yet have a handle on actual costs involved, as some of that is dependent on level of participation. And the level of participation is a primary purpose of the online anonymous survey mentioned above. However, we will do all we can to hold costs to a minimum. Further, a key guideline for our planning is that we want to maximize opportunity to visit and socialize with classmates while providing everyone an opportunity to see some sites you may not have visited before. The emphasis is on “reunion.”

Here are the activities currently being planned:

• Re-dedication of Spirit Plaza (Monday afternoon): On April 23, 2019, as part of our 50 year reunion, we dedicated the Spirit Plaza between the Coke Building and the YMCA. At that dedication, we turned long term care of the plaza over to the Class of 2019. This event will be an opportunity for you to revisit–or visit for the first time–the Spirit Plaza. And, representatives of the Class of 2019 will be present so we can reconfirm their role in the plaza for the next 45 years. You can refresh your memory about this project at https://classof1969.aggienetwork.com/spirit-plaza/.
• Reception/Tour of Regents Meeting Rooms & Quarters (about 5pm Monday): As we hope you know, Bill Mahomes ’69 currently serves as the chair of the TAMU Board of Regents. Bill will host us for a reception and tour of those facilities that exist within the physical structure of the MSC.
• Dinner & Networking (about 6pm Monday): Following the reception, we will walk to the Bethancourt Ballroom in the MSC where we will hold a free-flowing time with heavy hors d’oeuvres (enough to make a meal) and cash bar. No formal program is planned.
• Brazos Valley Veterans Memorial (Tuesday latter morning/noon): We will start about 9:30am at the American Pavilion in College Station’s Veterans Park with pastries/coffee/juice. Members of the Brazos Valley Veterans Memorial Board will then conduct tours of the Veterans Memorial itself with particular emphasis on the monuments and statues on the Lynn Stuart Pathway. We will then return to the American Pavilion for lunch.
• Aggie Park (early Tuesday afternoon): Aggie Park opened in September 2022, and has become one of the most highly visited sites on the campus. Built by the Association of Former Students, but then given in its entirety to Texas A&M University, the park has greatly enhanced the quality of life for current students, not to mention residents of College Station and surrounding community. Aggie Park sits between the MSC, the Sanders Corps Center, the Clayton Williams Alumni Center, and Kyle Field. Both guided and self-guided tours will be available, after which you are free to visit other campus sites of interest to you.

This marks the end of the “class reunion” portion of our time together. The Sul Ross Reunion begins that evening.

So if you have actually read this far, we again ask that you PLEASE respond to the anonymous survey at tx.ag/69reunion55. Your responses will help us considerably in planning a remarkable reunion for us all. Even if you cannot attend or do not wish to attend, we would like to know that as well. The survey should take you no more than 5 minutes to complete and requires no personal identification.

Thank you.

Reunion Planning Committee:
Bob/Suzanne Segner
Harvey/Tommie Schulz
Bill/Cindy Howell
Bill/Marilyn Youngkin
Bob Nida
Elaine Rayburn
Larry/Sharon Lippke

Next year (2024) will be 55 years since we were seniors at TAMU, meaning we are becoming eligible for the Sul Ross Group within the Association of Former Students.  Our class will be officially inducted into the Sul Ross Group on the evening of March 5, 2024, as well as participate in the overall Sul Ross Reunion activities March 5-7.

As this would also coincide with an every 5-year reunion schedule for our class, a committee has been created (see names below) to begin developing plans for what we might do for a one-day, 55 Year Class of ’69 Reunion prior to the Sul Ross Reunion. We believe it important to gather as a class to celebrate these 55 years; to enjoy our fellowship and remember our times together.  The class will then be inducted into the Sul Ross Group where we can learn and observe how to continue as part of the Sul Ross Group while supporting the values we cherish and the school we love.  We will share details as plans are developed, but we ask that you set aside March 4-7, 2024 on your calendars and begin to make plans to come to College Station to participate.

The Sul Ross Reunion is an annual reunion of all classes for whom it has been more than 55 years since their designated class year.  As you might expect, some of the older classes do not have sufficient living members to have a reunion of their own, nor do they want to wait 5 years for a way to reconnect with their classmates.  The Sul Ross Group and its annual reunion are an answer to those issues.  If you want to learn more about the Sul Ross Group, I refer you to a couple of websites.  A general description of the group is available at https://www.aggienetwork.com/class/srg.aspx.  But if you wish to see more of the details of its structure and how it is governed, its Constitution and Bylaws are available at https://www.aggienetwork.com/media/guides/class resources/sul ross/sul_ross_group_bylaws_update%203-8-21_edited.pdf.

We will share more information as it becomes available, but for now, put this on your calendars and begin making plans to be here.  And if you have ideas about what you’d like to see and/or do during our Class of ’69 reunion day, please send them by email to classagents@listserv.tamu.edu.

Gig’em,

Bill & Cindy Howell
Larry & Sharon Lippke
Harvey & Tommie Schulz
Bob & Suzanne Segner
Bill & Marilyn Youngkin