Brooks to serve as first openly gay SBP
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Economics junior to take over as the 74th Student Body President at Muster Ceremony April 21 By Josh McCormack @_JoshMcCormack
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conomics junior Bobby Brooks will serve as the first openly gay student body president after the end of the latest Student Government Association elections, setting a hallmark for the university and
its culture. The official confirmation of Brooks’ victory came weeks after the polls closed due to the disqualification of candidate Robert McIntosh, who filed two different appeals attempting to overturn his disqualification. “I would like it to echo the sentiment that I’ve always had, that I am just ready to get to work here, get things done,” Brooks said. “Someone had do it at some point. I think it’s less about me, Bobby, and more about a person that filled that role is now here and that is what’s really exciting for me.” MSC President Brian O’Hara has worked with Brooks as the MSC Executive Vice President of Diversity over the last year to bring about changes like creating diversity dialogue for students to participate in. While Brooks being elected is exciting, O’Hara said, this is just one step toward inclusion in the university. “I think it’s easy for us to say that we have made progress,” O’Hara said. “We have as a university to a certain degree, but what’s more important is that our student leaders are continually more and more representative, and more and more true to they are as the student body. I think Bobby Brooks is an amazing Aggie, he loves Texas A&M and he happens to be gay.” Current senior class president Claire Wimberly, who was also Brooks’ campaign manager, is looking forward to having Brooks in office and seeing what he will bring to the table. “I hope to see him accomplish all that he set out to do during campaign. His goals — keeping student fees low, making student services meet real student needs, increasing feedback regarding academics and making our campus more inclusive — are all attainable,” Wimberly said. “I know he’s going to surround himself with an amazing team, and I am looking forward to the progress they are going to make on our campus.” Bobby’s life and struggles with sexuality Before he had any question of who he was, who he was attracted to or what he wanted to do, Bobby Brooks knew he wanted to be an Aggie. “I was an Aggie from the first day that I was born, there was no choice about it,” Brooks said. “My sexuality was a non-issue in terms of selecting Texas A&M as a university because I knew what this university could offer.” Despite the easy choice of attending Texas A&M, Brooks said his sexuality wasn’t something that came easy. “My sexuality was something that I never wanted to particularly address growing up,” Brooks said. “I had a strong history of suppression with my own feelings toward that. I had known for a very long time but I didn’t want to accept that and thought it would just get better.” In high school, Brooks began his career in student leadership
Junior Bobby Brooks is the 2016-2017 MSC executive vice president of diversity and will serve as next school year’s student body president. Hanna Hausman — THE BATTALION
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A&M brings chemistry road show, virtual reality to SXSW By Josh Hopkins @TexasJoshua1 Among the dozens of displays, interactive events and panels available to participants of South by Southwest last week, the Aggies stole the show with seven activations highlighting work from across the university. South by Southwest is a globally recognized festival which draws together interactive, film and music industries, attracting tens of thousands each year. This year Texas A&M took over the Hotel Van Zandt, filling it with displays such as a chemistry road show, a virtual reality display combining art with technology and an Aggies Invent competition. Amy B. Smith, senior vice president and chief marketing and communications officer at Texas A&M, said she felt A&M’s mission at South By Southwest was successful. “A definite yes on building awareness and enhancing reputation by showcasing student and faculty work in a very futuristic manner,” Smith said. “Time will tell on our third goal: To grow the number of Fortune 500 companies hiring our students. There were many companies present who saw our exhibits and feedback was tremendous.” Marco Palma, associate professor and SXSW ON PG. X
Via GoFundMe
A GoFundMe has been started to help pay junior Kenneth Belden’s hospital bills that has already raised more than $6,000.
Senior Yell Leader Belden hospitalized after accident By Megan Rodriguez @MeganLRodriguez
VIA TEXAS A&M
At SXSW, Texas A&M Invents for an Intelligent Future allowed attendees to operate robots through a course with a video feed to their goggles.
Kenneth Belden, newly elected Senior Yell Leader for 2017-2018 and agricultural economics junior, was severely injured in an all-terrain vehicle accident in Colorado during spring break and has been hospitalized. According to The Eagle, Belden is currently recovering in a Colorado hospital Inten-
sive Care Unit. Bob Winckler, Class of 1955, left a message on a TexAgs forum that said Belden was air lifted from Lake George to a hospital in Colorado Springs after the incident. Winckler said Belden’s injuries include a concussion, a broken back, three broken ribs, a broken collarbone, a fractured pelvis and a collapsed lung. Belden successfully underwent surgery on March 13, according to his mother Danielle Belden’s recent BELDEN ON PG. 2