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 Liberal Unfriendly Place: College Station, TX
These are comments on College Station, submitted by other Turn Left visitors. They do not necessarily represent the opinion of the webmaster. You may add a comment on College Station if you want.
 If you plan to make a list of the most liberal-unfriendly places in the
country, be sure to include Bryan-College Station, Texas. College
Station is the home of nationally infamous Texas A&M, surely the most
socially backward and anti-intellectual major university in the nation
(well, maybe not if you call Brigham Young "major"). In the '92
election, 80% of students who voted voted Republican. Most of the rest
voted for Perot. This must be the only college where you can walk around
all day and never see a ponytail or a tie-dyed shirt (unless you're with
me or my few friends). The big shots on this campus are the Corps of
Cadets, who walk around like uniformed Nazis (complete with jackboots)
and physically assault anyone whom they don't like. Example: at the
annual football game with rival UT last Fall, several hundred Corps
members pounded on a handful of Longhorn fans who dared to (gasp!) rush
out onto the football field after their team won. Of course, since the
Corps did it, no one was penalized! I could go on and on! Everything
here is a "tradition." Nobody does anything unless somebody did it at
least 40 years ago. This explains the football field riot, the fact that
no one is allowed to walk on some of the grass on campus, and the annual
Aggie Bonfire, at which approx. 70,000 people get so drunk it's a wonder
they don't run into the fire! In short, this place blows!.
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College Station is one of the most backwards part of our nation.
You are considered a Liberal in these parts, if you dont believe we
should burn homosexuals alive, deport all immigrants, and stop the
Catholic "papists" from taking over America. Texas A&M is the only
campus in the nation where hate crimes against Gay and Lesbians are
not only overlooked, but they are not even adressed. Democrat is a
swear word on this campus, and socialist is a death warrant. This
campus is made up of your typical inbred, white anglo saxon
xenophobic protestants, who hate all "unamurikun" activity. From
their Nazi like cadets, to its terrible intolerance, this College is
certainly not a haven of thought at all; it is a stagnant and
disgusting form of bigotry and hatred in the US. Avoid it.
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Another anecdote about shocking goings-on in College Station: when I was
at Texas A&M, the Corps of Cadets had a Halloween party and a whole
company dressed up as (guess what?) Ku Klux Klan members! As usual, no
one was disciplined at all. When an African-American student saw them
and wrote about the incident in the student paper, the Corps' only
response was: "We were just having a fun time. We had no idea our
actions could be perceived as racist." Yeah right, guys! I just hope
none of those people ever reproduces!
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Concerning College Station as a liberal Un-friendly city:
I have been attending Texas A&M over the past four years, and I must say
that while there is a lot of conservative support here, there is an
ever-increasing liberal minority which recently is becoming more and
more outspoken. To combat this, the Texas Aggie Democrats have
organized to be the largest organized student Democratic party in the
state of Texas. I also volunteer for KEOS 89.1 FM, a community radio
station which supports and broadcasts many liberal ideas. Don't turn
tail and run from here if you are liberal; come here and help us change
things for the better!
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College Station Texas is the proud home of one of the best balanced Universities in the world. Texas A&M University has the definition of an engineering college, which is why the Dwight Look College of Engineering at Texas A&M is ranked number one in the nation. Texas A&M also contains the most national merit scholar winners of any school in the nation. The school is also ranked number two in the nation for most efficiently run universities as well as number two for best education for the dollar*. Why in the world would an engineering major want to go anywhere else? The commentaries on College Station make the town sound like a haven for racist KKK members who want to kill anything that is not 100% American. This is the most ridiculous statement I have heard in a long time, and to be quite frank about it your published commentaries on the internet were hysterical. This campus is proud that we are one of the few conservative colleges in the nation, and that is why we are the leaders in so many different fields. Education is the top priority at Texas A&M, not alcohol (as implied by your comments on Bonfire). It is a true statement that it is a rarity to see a guy with a pony-tail around here, and that is because people around here are clean cut, God-fearing, and common sense oriented. As far as gay people go, less than 1% of this campus will even admit to making a joke about being gay. "Why is that?" you ask. Well, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 CLEARLY states, "Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor HOMOSEXUAL offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God."** There is no gray line in that statement, so God frowns upon those who think they can love who or whatever they feel like. We Aggies feel the same way about issues such as homosexuality. If God says it is wrong, then it is wrong. That is why A&M has such a low tolerance of people who think that they are smarter than God. Does that make Texas A&M a haven for nut cases? Aggies are some of the most intelligent people around, as evidenced by the high marks recieved by various polls and surveys of universities nation wide. You can say bad things about Texas A&M all you like, but it will not change the fact that this university is a world class school and has a clear thinking student body that will lead this nation into the 21st century.
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The previous post unfortunately reflects some of the many things that
are wrong with College Station and Texas A&M. Texas A&M, although not a
bad technical school, is the Christian fundamentalist equivalent to the
"Amir Kabir University of Technology of Teheran." That would probably
give you an idea of how radical things are there.
His constant references to College Station students as"clean-cut, God
fearing and common sense oriented", his references to the bible to
condemn homosexuality, and making it equal to theft, greed, alcoholism,
or slander, and (I quote) his explanation of "why A&M has such a low
tolerance of people who think that they are smarter than God," give us a
complete and acurate description of what College Station is all about.
PS: Regarding the previous posting, I'd just like to add that A&M is not
the best university in the country as the previous poster claims. Thank
goodness there's better and more open-minded oriented colleges than
that. Scarry if these nut cases had to "lead this nation into the 21st
century."
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Your first comment on College Station sounds like the KKK was born and
raised here. Actually, in 1993 the KKK tried to have a rally here in town,
and the students responded with something we call Whoopstock. It is a
cultural festival celebrating diversity. Also, we do celebrate events such
as Gay awareness week, and Gay pride week, which is not something I can say
for many other schools in Texas. As for the Corps of Cadets, yes, many are
Rupublican and backwoods, but they are NOT the heart of the school. They
represent 5% of the student body, hardly a majority. Actually, we have the
largest College Democrat organization in the state...yes, even larger than
your "Liberal Friendly" Austin. Finally, after Bonfire is over, about 5
times as many trees that were burned are replanted. Aren't liberals "tree
huggers"?? I do not think College Station is unfriendly for liberals, but I
think that if more liberals got involved on campus, they would find their
own liberal outlets.
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I have just read a collection of garbage that could have only have been
written by a collection of fools and liars. I am a student at Texas
A&M, and I am proud of my school. Most of what I have read has been
either a vast exaggeration, or stories taken completely out of context.
No, this is not a liberal school. No, not many of the young men at this
school have long hair. Yes, we have many traditions which we are quite
proud of. However, if you people are so liberal and open minded, why do
you insist on ridiculing us for the way we behave? I noticed that any
mention of the more 'liberal' dance clubs and coffie shops was
conveniently left out of all of the letters I read about College
Station. Why is this? Are you people trying to give a one-sided view
of our nasty town? Yes, we like our traditions at A&M. For instance,
people are asked not to walk on the grass around the Memorial Student
Center. The building is dedicated to Aggies who have died in war, and
not walking on the grass around it keeps the place looking nice. We
consider this respectful. Does this particular tradition threaten you
in some way? I have never tried to kill a gay person. I do not belong
to the KKK. I don't hate people because they are different from me. I
like my short hair cut. I love my country. I am a Republican. I pray
to God. I try to live life without lying, cheating, or stealing. I
don't do drugs. I am an AGGIE. I am quite sorry you open minded
liberals don't seem care for my lifestyle, but I don't plan to loose too
much sleep over it.
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Texas Senator Phil Gramm was an instructor at Texas A&M. Need I say anymore
about this area?
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All of the above is very typical of life at A&M. Very heated debates
about what the bible says and why Aggies are the best in the world. My
fun anecdote is that when I would walk through campus with my Pro-Choice
Aggies T-shirt on people would actually stop and stare, dumbfounded. My
advice to any liberal Aggie is find like minded groups like the Aggie
Democrats, Pro-Choice Aggies and the nationally famous TAMU Skydiving
Club (not all liberals but a fun crowd). Avoid the Chicken like the
plague (a bar, for those who haven't had the pleasure) and go next door
to Dudley's Draw.
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