Were there any points from say end of war 1945 through Gen Rudder taking over in 1965 where the opportunity existed to make the changes that (non reg, women, etc) Rudder helped usher in?

I know we have a lot of class of 70s and early 80s ags here who are 2nd generation. In the spirit of the historical what if thread, did we miss any 'what if' moments in 1948 or 1951 that would have allowed us to, I dont know, keep Bear Bryant in 1957?

I'm not sure this is going to help, but about 25 years ago I worked in the summer for College Board with a professor whose husband (also a professor) had gone to A&M as an undergraduate and graduated in 1958. I asked her what outfit he had been in, and when she got back to me, she reported that he had not been in the Corps, that there had been some pilot program that had made the Corps non-compulsory while he was at A&M.

I believed her, of course, but it made no sense to me because I had never heard of this experiment.

Then recently I read the same thing in John Adams' book about the Corps, Keepers of the Spirit (2001). From Fall 1954-end of Spring 1958, the Corps was non-compulsory. (See pages 190-191 and 195-196.)

My cynical side notes that this was also when Bryant was coach. The book does not suggest that he had anything to do with this policy, but who knows?

My Dad was class of '60. He had a rip roaring good time his fish year. So much so, he wasn't invited back because of his grades. He went to junior college and was able to return his Jr year. He did not rejoin the Corps. Lived in Bizzell Hall. After graduation, he was required to join US Army Reserves as an enlisted man.

OldArmy71 said:

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I'm not sure this is going to help, but about 25 years ago I worked in the summer for College Board with a professor whose husband (also a professor) had gone to A&M as an undergraduate and graduated in 1958. I asked her what outfit he had been in, and when she got back to me, she reported that he had not been in the Corps, that there had been some pilot program that had made the Corps non-compulsory while he was at A&M.

I believed her, of course, but it made no sense to me because I had never heard of this experiment.

Then recently I read the same thing in John Adams' book about the Corps, Keepers of the Spirit (2001). From Fall 1954-end of Spring 1958, the Corps was non-compulsory. (See pages 190-191 and 195-196.)

My cynical side notes that this was also when Bryant was coach. The book does not suggest that he had anything to do with this policy, but who knows?

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I'm pre-coed days. There were cases like you mention and some civilians who had come back after serving in the military. Additionally, there were a handful of co-eds at A&M in those years. Most were daughters of A&M professors who were allowed in.

Gator92 said:

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My Dad was class of '60. He had a rip roaring good time his fish year. So much so, he wasn't invited back because of his grades. He went to junior college and was able to return his Jr year. He did not rejoin the Corps. Lived in Bizzell Hall. After graduation, he was required to join US Army Reserves as an enlisted man.

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just when you think you've heard it all.

I have a 1926 Longhorn. Lots of photos of juniors and seniors in civilian clothes. Some of them were international students. I assumed that the guys in non-regs were those who weren't able to commission, either through physical disqualification or citizenship.

I thought that immediately following WWII there was a program much like the one you're describing. I could have sworn that, with the avalanche of WWII vets looking for a degree, A&M had initiated such a program. I suppose I could be misremembering things.

Quote:

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From Fall 1954-end of Spring 1958, the Corps was non-compulsory. (See pages 190-191 and 195-196.)

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I've looked through yearbooks from those years and there were definitely nonregs. One story I've heard or read is that the corps was, for a time, optional after the first 2 years and for returning veterans. Never researched the question, though.

In response to the two thoughtful posts above:

Yes, after WWII, returning vets who had left A&M before graduating and who returned to finish their degrees did not have to rejoin the Corps. My father, Class of 1944, was one of them. A&M had gone to a trimester system shortly after the war began, and the Class of '44 was inducted into the military en masse in the spring of 1943, near the end of their junior year. My father returned from Europe in the spring of 1947 and graduated in 1948. He had been to OCS and was an officer, as were many of those who came back, so rejoining the Corps made no sense.

I am sure that with the GI Bill, others just out of the military who had NOT originally been at A&M also enrolled; they too were not forced to be in the Corps.

However, some veterans--enlisted men, I suspect--did rejoin the Corps, and the Administration was forced to separate the freshmen from the rest of the Corps. Freshmen were housed in a separate area then called the Annex, which I believe became the Riverside Campus. My father's brother, Class of 1951, was one of them. My uncle was seven years younger than my father, but they were on campus together for the academic year 1947-1948.

Body By Fisher said:

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Quote:

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From Fall 1954-end of Spring 1958, the Corps was non-compulsory. (See pages 190-191 and 195-196.)

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I've looked through yearbooks from those years and there were definitely nonregs. One story I've heard or read is that the corps was, for a time, optional after the first 2 years and for returning veterans. Never researched the question, though.

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correct - Corps only required the first 2 years.

My father is class of '59 and was not in the corps after his first semester. He said they lifted the corps requirements for a period after the Korean war, and he didn't think he would graduate had he stayed in.

I'm trying to remember if the Junction Boys touched on this topic (or Bryant's thoughts on the subject as OldArmy71 alluded to), but I read the book way back when it came out and don't have a copy handy.

CanyonAg77 said:

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I have a 1926 Longhorn. Lots of photos of juniors and seniors in civilian clothes. Some of them were international students. I assumed that the guys in non-regs were those who weren't able to commission, either through physical disqualification or citizenship.

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See page 23 of the 1926 College Regulations, which identified those who were permitted to be "civilian students"-
1) Students who completed the basic ROTC and not taking advanced;
2) Those students who had already served 6 months in the US armed forces and have been excused from further military service:
3) Students 21 years of age who were excused from military duty by Committee on Military Education
4) Grad students

Where did you find a copy of the 1926 regulations?

Alright fellas, may have found some answers.

I got curious to do a little search in some newspaper archives on these questions. Found a couple good articles that I'm still sorting through, but here are a couple screenshots of interest to this thread:

From a May 1958 article:



And this from a 1961 article on sweeping recommendations by the faculty committee (more on that later):



Still some gaps to fill in, obviously. Not sure what happened between 1953 and 58 yet.

CanyonAg77 said:

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Where did you find a copy of the 1926 regulations?

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Family files.
Fortunately somewhat organized.

I have a 1946 or so freshman handbook from Loupots. Need to digitize it and post it.