The Association of Former Students
Engaging and strengthening the Aggie Network.
Throughout the Lead by Example campaign, no single organization or entity engaged more Aggies in support of Texas A&M than The Association of Former Students , touching almost every student on the Texas A&M campus through the funding of scholarships and academic programs, traditions and student activities, and recognition of former students, current students, faculty and staff.
From 2012 through 2020, more than 140,000 members of the Aggie Network made gifts to The Association totaling $143 million. These gifts provided support for university-directed programs through the Annual Fund and also funded endowments providing perpetual Annual Fund support, as well as Endowed Aggie Ring Scholarships.
The Annual Fund, the bedrock of The Association’s support to Texas A&M, grew substantially during the campaign in both donors and dollars. In 2012, 43,341 donors contributed $7.68 million to the Annual Fund. In 2020, during a global pandemic that devastated the economy, 58,759 Aggies contributed $10.43 million. Most remarkably, the average gift in both 2019 and 2020 was only $14 per month, showcasing the incredible power small gifts can make to Texas A&M. These gifts provided scholarships; made emergency funds available to students facing unplanned financial hardship; subsidized the Aggie Band's travel to away games; supported diversity initiatives; and provided support to the Ross Volunteers, Fish Drill Team, Yell Leaders, Fish Camp, Muster Committee and many other student organizations.
A total of 422 Endowed Century Club gifts were made during the campaign, increasing the total number of endowments by 62%, while 138 Endowed Aggie Ring Scholarships were also established. These scholarships, combined with pass-through gifts, provided Aggie rings to 1,200 students who otherwise might not have been able to purchase one.
Alfredo Alvarez '21 received financial assistance from The Association after his mother passed away and his father was injured in a car accident.
In addition to direct funding, gifts to The Association also provided support to Association programs such as Ring Day, Class Reunions and Class Newsletters, A&M Club activities, Traveling Aggies and the Distinguished Alumni Gala. Considering the services, programs and funding provided by The Association, the total impact of The Association topped $15.3 million in 2019, an increase over the $10 million impact provided in 2012.
In 2019, The Association featured Alfredo Alvarez ’21 in one of its impact videos . Alfredo received financial assistance from The Association after his mother passed away and his father was injured in a car accident, greatly altering his family’s financial situation. The financial assistance provided was critical to allowing Alfredo to stay in school and remain a part of the Aggie Band, but it provided something even more important: hope.
“To The Association of Former Students, I don’t know how I can thank you enough for giving me hope that for anything that goes wrong, something good will happen out of it,” Alfredo said in a letter to The Association in 2019.
The Association thanks Aggies everywhere for their role in providing support to thousands of students like Alfredo during the Lead by Example campaign.