The Battalion - February 28, 2019

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28 | SERVING TEXAS A&M SINCE 1893 | © 2019 STUDENT MEDIA

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Turning the page Lessons from Texas A&M’s racist yearbook images

TOP LEFT: 1927 Longhorn, Pg. 109: This caricature appeared as part of a page introducing the religious activities section of the yearbook. TOP RIGHT: 1966 Aggieland, Pg. 36: The yearbook’s original caption reads “Dressed for the occasion, the band leads the Corps at midnight yell practice.” BOTTOM LEFT: 1912 Longhorn, Pg. 374: This photo of a minstrel performer in blackface was printed alongside a program for a show by the A&M Minstrels. BOTTOM RIGHT: 1970 Aggieland, Pg. 56: Students march past the Aggie Bonfire site with confederate flags. This image appeared as part of a section on Elephant Walk.

Courtesy of Cushing Memorial Library Archives

Facing A&M’s past University history of blackface, other racist displays highlighted in yearbook’s archives

By Jordan Burnham @RJordanBurnham Blackface pictures and other racist images from University yearbooks have surfaced across the country, reminding the nation of its notably recent past. Texas A&M is not exempt from this history, and the university’s own yearbooks contain numerous racist images.

The Aggieland, formerly known as The Olio and then The Longhorn, was founded in 1895 during a period of racial segregation. Blackface had been popular since the 1830s, when an actor named Thomas D. Rice created a character called Jim Crow, which essentially mocked and denigrated African-Americans, according to associate professor of English and coordinator for the Africana Studies Program Michael Collins.

“It helped to create these horrible stereotypes that blacks were foolish and irresponsible and not really capable of complete citizenship,” Collins said.

Collins said that while looking through yearbooks, he discovered that E.J. Kyle — for whom A&M’s football stadium is named — suggested in 1910 that the school form a minstrel troupe.

“As a result of that, the A&M Minstrels were created, and some of the blackface images in the yearbooks are of this A&M Minstrels troupe,” Collins said.

Instructional assistant professor of political science Brittany Perry, who specializes in race and ethnicity, said thinking of blackface as harmless, or just an art form

or performance overlooks the danger that it has caused.

“Up until today, we can often think that this is not deliberate and people don’t know about the history or the legacy of blackface,” Perry said. “But when you look at something like Ralph Northam’s yearbook and the man in blackface standing next to the man in KKK uniform, you know that they understand that connection, and that is a connection not to be overlooked or to be brushed away.”

Images of A&M students in blackface are not limited to the early 1900s, and instances of the racist practice have been documented as recently as 2006, when a video was published on YouTube showing an A&M student in blackface being whipped by another student.

Other instances of students dressed in blackface include the “jungle fever” party in 1992, which was hosted by the fraternity Sigma Alpha Epsilon. The party included both blackface and “slave huts,” according to Cushing Library’s archival project “In Fulfillment of a Dream.” The Interfraternity Council, backed by A&M administration, imposed sanctions on the fraternity for the racist actions, according to a Battalion article from then.

“The key to all this is education; the sanctions are only a part of the solution,” then-Vice President of Student Affairs John Koldus said. “A lot of the responsibility rests with the leaders of the institution. We simply have to do more things to make people aware.”

A&M’s yearbook is not the only student publication that has printed racially charged images. A 2002 Battalion cartoon published by anonymous student “The Uncartoonist” faced criticism for its portrayal HISTORY ON PG. 4

Courtesy of Cushing Memorial Library Archives

1949 Longhorn, Pg. 15: A couple in blackface photographed at the costumed Architectural Ball.

Undoctored history Archivists discuss decision to fully represent A&M history in yearbook digitization process

By Savannah Mehrtens @SJMehrtens

FILE

The Cushing Memorial Library and Archives created a digitized yearbook collection including every edition up to 2010.

As historical and modern photos of blackface make headlines — sparked by the discovery of a racist photo of Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam in his college yearbook — racism in college yearbooks has become a significant topic of discussion.

A university-wide email was sent on Feb. 14 by Texas A&M President Michael Young with the subject line “Acknowledging Parts of Our Past.” The message addressed the fact that A&M’s yearbook has, throughout its history, published photos of “blackface, misogyny, and other shocking content,” which Young said the university disavows. His email followed reporting by multiple news outlets covering

a series of tweets by Rice University student Charlie Paul on his own school’s history of blackface and racist cartoons.

Paul’s tweets also included a 1922 photo labelled “The Ku Klux Klan of Rice Institute,” showing around 20 people in white hoods and robes.

A&M’s yearbooks — accessible online after a two-year digitization process completed in 2015 by Cushing Memorial Library archivists — show similar content.

During the digitization project, a brief task force comprised of Bruce Herbert, Stephanie Elmquist, Carmelita Pickett, Rebecca Hankins and Julie Mosbo made the collective decision to publish the full yearbooks and made suggestions for staff to respond to any questions or concerns about the books’ contents.

“The conversation started because there was an observation of what we were scanning in some of the images and they were concerning,” said Mosbo, the clinical associate professor and interim director of Cushing Library.

LIBRARY ON PG. 2

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Courtesy of Cushing Memorial Library Archives

1918 Longhorn, Pg. 250: A minstrel group called the “End Men” are featured in a program for a campus music show.

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THE TEXAS A&M STUDENT MEDIA BOARD INVITES APPLICATIONS FOR

Editor

Aggieland 2020

Qualifications for editor-in-chief of the Aggieland yearbook are:

REQUIRED • Be a Texas A&M student in good standing with the University and enrolled in at least six credit hours (4 if a graduate student) during the term of office (unless fewer credits are required to graduate); • Have at least a 2.25 cumulative grade point ratio (3.25 if a graduate student) and at least a 2.25 grade point ratio (3.25 if a graduate student) in the semester immediately prior to the appointment, the semester of appointment and semester during the term of office. In order for this provision to be met, at least six hours (4 if a graduate student) must have been taken for that semester; PREFERRED • Have completed JOUR 301 or COMM 307 (Mass Communication, Law, and Society); • Have demonstrated ability in writing, editing and graphic design through university coursework or equivalent experience; • Have at least one year experience in a responsible position on the Aggieland or comparable college yearbook.

By Sanna Bhai @BhaiSanna Performances featuring actors in blackface were prevalent throughout the U.S. for much of its history, and though it is not nearly as common today, its effects remain pervasive.

Blackface is a style of theatrical makeup in which people paint their faces in burnt cork, greasepaint or shoe polish. Often accompanied by enlarged, painted-on lips and ripped clothing, the practice was especially popular before the Civil War and the emancipation of slaves. It was used in minstrel shows, similar to comedic musicals, to mock African-Americans by stereotyping their appearance, way of speaking and type of work.

The first minstrel shows were performed in the 1830s in the Northeast and later spread to border states and other regions. One of the most popular character names was Jim Crow, which became a pejorative term for African-Americans. The popularity of minstrel shows continued to grow throughout the century until the early 1900s, attracting high profile individuals, from U.S. presidents like Abraham Lincoln to prominent authors like Mark Twain, according to Joe Feagin, distinguished professor in the department of sociology.

“It was about a lot more than stereotypes because they’re visual images and our whites are enjoying it and laughing,” Feagin said.

These skits used stereotypes to mock, racialize and attack African-Americans. Showcased in these performances were stereotypical characters such as the “mammy” — represented as loud, asexual black women happily working for a rich white family. Over the decades, these caricatures would become a part of the nation’s larger media landscape.

Minstrel shows became a way to justify segregation, said Brittany Perry, instructional assistant professor of po-

litical science.

“This was before the Civil War and the emancipation of slaves, so most of these portrayals were used to justify slavery and then later after the emancipation, after the civil war, you see them being used to justify segregation,” Perry said.

Following the Civil War, racist and condemning views toward African-Americans continued to influence American society and policy. “Black codes” were created in southern states to restrict behavior of African-Americans and were called “Jim Crow” laws.

At the turn of the 20th century, radio and television provided a new avenue for minstrel shows to be available to the public. This expansion created room for controversial cinema, a prime example being D.W. Griffith’s 1915 film “The Birth of a Nation.”

Perry said she shows the movie in her race and politics class because it exemplifies the stereotypes of African-Americans that were used mock, demean and incite violence. Many of the characters were white performers playing in blackface and the Klu Klux Klan was portrayed as heroic.

“One of the main threads of that film was to recruit for the KKK,” Perry said.

“To think that this is just harmless or that it is just for an artform or performance is very much overlooking the danger that this has caused, historically and today — thinking about how those stereotypes have perpetuated and how they feed or excite negative reaction from the rest of the population.”

After the 1930s and into the Civil Rights movement, the popularity of blackface diminished. However, the stereotypes surrounding African-Americans have been prevalent throughout society from cinema to politics.

Recently, a photo of Virginia Governor Ralph Northam from his 1984 medical school yearbook surfaced, featuring him and another student dressed in blackface and a Ku Klux Klan robe.

It is unclear which costume Northam was wearing.

Although he denied allegations at first, Northam recently confirmed that he is in the photo and issued an apol-

ogy, stating that the costumes were “clearly racist and offensive.” Since this has come to light, many have urged him to resign from his position, but he refuses to do so, saying he has changed since the photo was taken.

According to Feagin, a recent poll showed that about 68 percent of African-Americans didn’t want Northam to resign. Feagin said if African-Americans in the modern U.S. are willing to give him a chance, then Northam should get one.

Perry said that since the image holds symbolism that people might find threatening, Northam’s ability to govern those people can be negatively affected. Perry said that Northam needs to ask himself how his constituents view him and whether or not they trust him.

“Proposing positive changes for society that enhance the role of underrepresented groups is a very good thing, but can we find someone else who is a better representative of the population at large?” Perry said. “I have to believe that there are other options out there and there are people that exist that not only work for a community, but stand for a community.”

Many other universities, including Texas A&M, have students from the past and present who have taken part in displays of racism. However, just as the discovery of Northam’s yearbook photo launched a nation-wide discussion, the same could apply for parts of A&M’s past.

Amy Earhart, associate professor in the department of English, said it is vital to look at old documents and reflect upon them. Since the yearbooks have been digitized, they are readily available for anyone to view and analyze.

“I do think that when we look at historical documents, we can reflect on those documents, to consider present, ideas, and that’s important to have a historical record,” Earhart said. “A&M has a policy of transparency and openness with the materials that they collect, and the library understands how important these materials are for current learning moments.”

Application forms should be picked up from and returned to Douglas Pils, Student Media General Manager, in Suite L410 of the MSC. Deadline for submitting application: 5 p.m. Friday, March 22, 2018.

Meredith Seaver — THE BATTALION

Texas A&M’s yearbook began as the Olio, which was only published in 1895. In 1903, the publication changed its name to the Longhorn and began producing yearbooks annually. It became the Aggieland in 1949.

Megan Rodriguez, Editor-in-Chief Luke Henkhaus, Managing Editor Jordan Burnham, News Editor Sanna Bhai, Asst. News Editor Henry Mureithi, Asst. News Editor Kathryn Whitlock, Life & Arts Editor Hannah Falcon, Life & Arts Editor Samantha Mahler, Life & Arts Editor

Angel Franco, Sports Editor Abigail Ochoa, Sports Editor Cassie Stricker, Photo Chief Meredith Seaver, Asst. Photo Chief Daoud Qamar, Video Editor Kevin Christman, Video Editor Jane Turchi, Special Sections Editor

THE BATTALION is published Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays during the 2019 spring semester (except University holidays and exam periods) at Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843. Offices are in Suite L400 of the Memorial Student Center.

News: The Battalion news department is managed by students at Texas A&M University in Student Media,a unit of the Division of StudentAffairs.Newsroom phone: 979-845-3315; E-mail: editor@thebatt.com; website: http://www.thebatt.com.

Advertising: Publication of advertising does not imply sponsorship or endorsement by The Battalion. For campus, local, and national display advertising call 979-845-2687. For classified advertising, call 979-845-0569. Office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Email: battads@thebatt.com.

Subscriptions: A part of the University Advancement Fee entitles each Texas A&M student to pick up a single copy of The Battalion. First copy free, additional copies $1.

LIBRARY CONTINUED “We wanted to figure out a way of addressing it; we knew that we should address it in some manner.”

Additional steps taken included the disclosure on the page of the digitized yearbook website page, which states: “Through our website, the Libraries offer public access to a wide range of information, including historical materials that may contain offensive language or negative stereotypes. Such materials must be viewed in the context of the relevant time period. Texas A&M does not endorse the views expressed in such materials.”

University archivist Greg Bailey said the role of archivists is to preserve history, regardless of its content. Although Bailey was not on staff when the choice was made to digitize the full content of the yearbooks, he said he agrees with their final decision.

“The idea is to collect and preserve the university’s history — all aspects of it — and then make it available to researchers,” Bailey said. “Here at Cushing, we don’t try to close off our collec-

tions. We try to make them available to anyone. The idea is to do research on them, to learn from the past, expand your horizons, things like that, and see the good and the bad that could have gone on in the university’s history and try and strive to move forward with that.”

In his university-wide email, Young also said that when discrimination is seen, people have a duty to “call it out, to refute it and to stand for respect and love for all.”

Mosbo said part of the library’s motivation for its decision was to allow Aggies to learn from their history.

“I think we just all feel it’s important to learn from the past,” Mosbo said. “It helps us better ourselves for the present and for the future. … We looked at the Library of Congress, and they also don’t try to shield their users from similar images, so we made note of that.”

Jarrett Eubanks, environmental sciences senior and president of the A&M Collegiate Chapter of the NAACP, said that although Young’s email was well done, there is still work to be completed on campus to make it fully inclusive

and welcoming to all students.

“You have groups of people that are in this university now that were victims of this type of history, these types of actions, and that type of mindset,” Eubanks said. “That history is important because this school hasn’t always been what it is today. It’s a great institution, but it still has work that needs to be done also.”

Vice president and associate provost for diversity Robin Means Coleman said in an interview in November of 2018 that there is still work to be done at A&M to make it a better place for diversity.

“So when we talk about when people say ‘I don’t know why people complain…,’ it’s not about complaints, it’s about making A&M better,” Means Coleman said. “And to think that we can change a sense of belonging in one short generation I think is foolish, and I think that that’s where the work begins. [A&M’s integration] didn’t change everything and suddenly everybody’s hearts and minds switched. No, that takes intentional work, and we’re doing that intentional work here.”

OPINION

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The Battalion | 2.28.19

Speaking on blackface and past misbehavior Assistant news editor Henry Mureithi asks if we forget about forgiveness when talking about race Henry Mureithi

@HenryMureithi5

I

have to admit that I wasn’t all that surprised when news first emerged that Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam and a friend had appeared in a racist blackface/ KKK photo from his 1984 medical school yearbook. (It’s not clear who is in which costume.) My reaction wasn’t so much a judgment on Northam’s character than a clear-eyed recognition of Virginia’s and America’s history.

The fact is, for a significant portion of its pre- and post-colonial history — starting in Virginia in 1619 — American society was structured with the legal trade and enslavement of other human beings as commonplace. Moreover, after a costly and bloody Civil War, the de jure abolition of slavery in the United States gave way to a different sort of subjugation in the dual form of Jim Crow — predominantly in the former Confederate South — and de facto racial, social engineering even in the Union North. It was not until the civil rights era of the 1950s and 1960s that many of these explicit racial constructions began to be torn down.

Think about it: when Northam was born in 1959, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 still seemed like a political impossibility and Boynton v. Virginia — the landmark civil rights decision that prohibited segregation in public transportation — had yet to be decided. By the time the somewhat more famous Loving v. Virginia case on interracial marriage reached the Supreme Court, Northam was almost eight years old, and anti-miscegenation was still the law of the land in his native Virginia.

Racism is not a light switch that snaps on and off depending on Supreme Court decisions and additions to the U.S. Code. The same prejudice that guided the people in Virginia to vote for and support politicians who vigorously opposed these and other similar efforts is kindred to the hostility that still existed in Virginia and elsewhere afterwards — no matter how meaningful the milestones outlined above were. The state that Northam grew up in was still grappling with its sordid racial history, and as a result, one has to acknowledge that Northam more than likely grew up with a less than admirable views of other races and the peoples of those races.

In one regard, it is only by sheer luck that more incidents involving prominent public figures in similarly inappropriate behavior during their earlier years have not come to prominence. Given the length and essentialism of America’s racial history, just by the

simple law of averages, one would expect Northam-like revelations to be far more ubiquitous. So you can imagine how underwhelmed I was when Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring announced that he too had donned blackface in college (after initially rebuking Northam, but more on that later).

However, I was surprised by how incredulous everyone, from Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) to Virginia Republican Chair Jack Wilson, was to the whole controversy. To be exact, I was surprised by how muted my emotional response was in comparison. It wasn’t because I didn’t understand what was objectionable or I didn’t find the photo disgusting. The problem was, in effect, being asked to judge a 59-year-old man by who he was when he was 25.

I have no hesitation saying that the 25-year-old man who appeared in that photo was an unmistakable racist who probably did so for no better reason than a cheap laugh.

However, the photo tells me nothing about the person he is today.

This is what I know: in his time in the Virginia Legislature and subsequently, as Lieutenant Governor, Northam earned the respect of his black colleagues. When Northam ran for governor, his running mate was Justin Fairfax, an African-American. Northam voiced his support for the relocation of Confederate public monuments during the campaign. Furthermore, he also campaigned admirably against the racist fear-mongering of his opponent during that election. I think those people accusing Northam of being racist have a higher burden of proof.

Moreover, the broader project on racial equality is premised on the notion that with time and perseverance, it is possible to fundamentally reorient the views and ideas that undergird racism and discrimination. Central to this is the ability to change people’s minds.

To reject this is to dismiss the enduring hope of the entire civil rights movement, turning it all into a cynical ploy. Ultimately, if you don’t believe people can change, society can’t change. What’s the point of this whole endeavor in the first place?

You either believe that people can change, and therefore implicitly in the notion of some measure of forgiveness for past moral failings, or you don’t. Each’s situation should be dealt with on a case-by-case basis — a blanket zero tolerance response is counterproductive. People need to know there is redemption after revelation, not retribution.

Far more concerning to me than what someone did 30 or so years ago is the implicit racial attitudes that we allow to fester and spread. Apart from the hypocritical foibles of

Herring mentioned previously, it is the irony of ironies that some of the same Virginia lawmakers condemning Northam and demanding his resignation also recently paid tribute in the Virginia Senate to the Confederate general Robert E. Lee, who fought to protect the institution of slavery in the South.

These are the same racial attitudes that keep Lost Cause denialism alive and well. It has become depressingly predictable for me to have a conversation with a fellow student at A&M about racial issues and when the conservation touches on the original sin of slavery, for that student to go on some diatribe about how the Civil War was about states’ rights — regardless of what was contained in the southern states’ declarations of secession.

It is not difficult to estimate why. Aggies, both past and present, who rain holy hell on the A&M campus at even the slightest suggestion of relocating the statue of Sul Ross — who was a Confederate general — seem oddly indifferent to the stalled effort to honor Matthew Gaines, the former slave and Texas state senator who was instrumental in the establishment of A&M. Unfortunately, A&M also has not been immune to some of the more egregious racial incidents.

I realize that Northam’s subsequent denials and the withdrawal of support from some of the black legislators referenced above shifts this analysis considerably, but not on the central question: is Ralph Northam a racist?

For me, the answer is still no. Nothing that I have seen reported since the first week has changed this.

I’m not a mind-reader, and I can’t read what’s in his heart. I am sure this will act as fodder for those who have utterly convinced themselves of Northam’s prejudice. What I do believe is that Northam was able to overcome the racist indoctrination that he had grown up with and subsequently became a genteel and honorable man who became an ally in the sometimes uneven path toward racial equity.

I don’t know if Northam should resign or not, but I do know that he represents a small bending of the moral arc. The Northam of today is a good man, and this country and the State of Virginia are better for it.

For me, the story in Virginia isn’t about a political scandal around racist behavior, but more about the necessity of forgiveness and how we sometimes inadvertently ignore much more problematic behavior.

Henry Mureithi is a computer science senior and news editor for The Battalion.

Creative Commons

Luke Henkhaus — THE BATTALION

TOP: Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam has been under fire after a photo of him from his 1984 medical school yearbook resurfaced. The photo shows one student in blackface and another in a Ku Klux Klan robe, though it’s unclear which one is Northam. BOTTOM: In addition to serving as governor of Texas and A&M’s president, Lawrence Sullivan Ross was a Confederate general during the U.S. Civil War.

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The Battalion | 2.28.19

THE TEXAS A&M STUDENT MEDIA BOARD INVITES APPLICATIONS FOR

Editor-in-Chief

BATTALION THE

The IndependenT STudenT VoIce of TexaS a&M SInce 1893

Summer 2019 & Fall 2019 –Spring 2020 Summer editor oversees print, digital and special editions from May 13, 2019, to Aug. 11, 2019.

Fall editor oversees print, digital and special editions from Aug. 12, 2019, to Dec. 15, 2019.

Fall and spring editor oversees print, digital and special editions from Aug. 12, 2019, to May 17, 2020.

Qualifications for editor-in-chief of The Battalion are: REQUIRED • Be a Texas A&M student in good standing with the University and enrolled in at least six credit hours (4 if a graduate student) during the term of office (unless fewer credits are required to graduate); • Have at least a 2.25 cumulative grade point ratio (3.25 if a graduate student) and at least a 2.25 grade point ratio (3.25 if a graduate student) in the semester immediately prior to the appointment, the semester of appointment and semester during the term of office. In order for this provision to be met, at least six hours (4 if a graduate student) must have been taken for that semester.

PREFERRED • Have completed JOUR 301 or COMM 307 (Mass Communication, Law, and Society) or equivalent; • Have at least one year experience in a responsible editorial position on The Battalion or comparable daily college newspaper, – OR – Have at least one year editorial experience on a commercial newspaper, – OR – Have completed at least 12 hours in journalism, including JOUR 203 (Media Writing I) and JOUR 303 (Media Writing II) or JOUR 304 (Editing for the Mass Media), or equivalent.

Application forms should be picked up from and returned to Douglas Pils, Student Media General Manager, in Suite L410 of the MSC. Deadline for submitting application: 5 p.m. Friday, March 22, 2019.

Courtesy of the Cushing Memorial Library Archives

TOP: 1906 Longhorn, Pg. 198: This photo of students in Ku Klux Klan robes appeared in the clubs section of the yearbook, along with a list of group’s members. BOTTOM: 1990 Aggieland, Pg. 472: The yearbook’s original caption reads “Members of Phi Kappa Sigma display Halloween spirit at a costume party held at their house.”

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HISTORY CONTINUED of African-Americans. In an article from that time, the Houston Chronicle described both the cartoon and the ensuing backlash. “[The cartoon] depicts a black mother scolding her son for flunking a class,” the article reads. “Both the mother and the son have big eyes and frowning, large lips — caricatures historically used to denigrate blacks.

“The overweight mother — holding a spatula in her left hand and wearing an apron and curlers — points to her son with her right hand and says, ‘If you ain’t careful you gonna end up doing airport security.’”

The African-American Student Coalition demanded that The Battalion apologize, saying the cartoon was “blatantly racist.” In a letter published in The Battalion, then-University President Ray Bowen wrote that the cartoon “clearly played on stereotypes of African-Americans.”

Collins said an understanding of A&M’s past is essential for current students, especially when examining more recent displays of racial malice.

“I think it’s good to have a push for current students to understand the A&M past because otherwise, they can’t really understand why, as some people basically don’t understand what’s wrong with blackface,” Collins said.

Yearbook history is not limited to images of blackface; pictures of students dressed in Ku Klux Klan robes can be found in at least two instances — one group photo from 1906 and a lone student at Midnight Yell pictured in the 1966 Aggieland.

Additionally, a club called the Kream and Kow Klub emerged in the 1921 edition of The Longhorn. The group kept this name for almost 40 years — occasionally switching the spelling of Klub to Club — before entirely changing its name to the Dairy Science Club in 1959. University archivist Greg Bailey said that there had been speculation regarding the club’s name, but the reality is ultimately unknown to him.

“I don’t have a good answer why the Kream and Kow Klub decided to use a K for all of their things,” Bailey said. “I have not been able to find good documentation

on why they came forward and said, ‘We’re going to use this.’ People presented the obvious, but I don’t know.”

An entry on the club’s page from the 1956 Aggieland simply says “it is spelled with all K’s because it was founded in the days of the Ku Klux Klan.”

In 1993, the KKK planned to have a rally in College Station, according to an article in The Battalion. A high-ranking Klansman said members of the Klan who were enrolled at A&M suggested the rally be held at Oaks Park, though it’s unclear whether the gathering ever materialized.

“Grand Dragon Michael Lowe said the KKK will appear on behalf of requests from members who are A&M students,” the article read. “He said about a dozen A&M students are members of the KKK.” University archivists strive to preserve all records of the past, both good and bad so that individuals can see the full picture of A&M’s history, Bailey said. However, sometimes parts of collections are removed before they reach archivists for preservation.

“There’s always more of a story than it might just be in the official records,” Bailey said. “In archives, we don’t try to sanitize things. But unfortunately in the past — and it probably can still happen today — before records are transferred to the archives, people sanitize records, possibly things that might not reflect kindly on the past.”

Patrick Zinn, director of marketing and communications for the library system, said helping people understand the whole story through access to multiple sources is one of the jobs of university libraries.

“You can’t look at any one piece of information and discern everything about an institution,” Zinn said. “Although there [are] some abhorrent pictures, maybe even some other information, it’s not the whole story, and it’s never the whole story.”

According to Bill Page, library associate for the Ask Us Services, the facts of the story stay the same, but the story you choose to tell can be very different.

“You can have affection for the university,” Page said. “You can be proud of the university and still be a willing advocate to change the university.”

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