Information courtesy of Texas A&M University and the Texas A&M Foundation:
Rededicated in memory of the more than 1,100 Aggies who lost their lives in military service to their country, the Memorial Student Center at Texas A&M University was reopened Saturday after having been closed for almost three years for major renovation and expansion.
The MSC was expanded to accommodate the university’s nearly 50,000 students, as well as the faculty, staff, alumni and campus visitors who use it for a variety of activities and to provide for anticipated future needs, officials note. The facility now includes about 400,000 square feet of usable floor space, including 71,000 square feet of new space.
Thousands of Aggies and others packed much of that space as soon as the doors were open after Saturday’s hour-long outdoors program ended with a moment of silence in honor of the MSC’s status as a memorial to the Aggies who have made the supreme sacrifice to their country.
Rededication of the MSC was timed to coincide with Muster, the university’s annual April 21 date for remembering Aggies who died during the past year — and in recognition that the MSC was opened on the day of Muster in 1951. The current expansion and renovation is the third such endeavor needed to accommodate the Texas A&M student body that has increased more than fourfold during that 61-year period.
Costs for the $125 million MSC renovation and expansion are largely being underwritten by student fees and gifts by former students, university officials note, with many of the donors present.
Gov. Rick Perry, a 1972 Texas A&M graduate, joined with a host of student leaders and university and Texas A&M University System officials Saturday in commemorating the MSC rededication.
Serving as keynote speaker, Governor Perry described the renovated and expanded facility as “an MSC like we’ve never had before,” adding that historically, “this is where the heart first started beating for many young Aggies and their home away from home.”
“It’s where countless friendships were started for cram sessions for example, and first dates that led to many marriages,” he noted.
He emphasized that the MSC is a memorial, underscored by the first word in its name, honoring the memories of those Aggies who have sacrificed their lives in service to their country. “It’s a reminder that the freedom we enjoy is not ‘free,'” the governor stated.
After the outdoor ceremonies at the facility’s new “Loyalty” entrance — with other new entrances named “Integrity,” “Leadership,” “Respect” and “Honor” in recognition of Texas A&M’s core values — students, faculty, staff, local residents and campus visitors had the opportunity to tour the facility at their leisure, even though in some areas they almost had to vie for walking space.
The night before, the chairman of the Texas A&M Foundation and his family announced a $2 million dollar committment to the MSC renovation and expansion project. The gift is the largest to date in a $20 million campaign, and names the grand ballroom the Debbie ’76 and John’74 Bethancourt Family Ballroom.
The Bethancourts and about 700 other members of the A&M Legacy Society were the first to experience the grand ballroom during the Foundation’s A&M Legacy Society gala Friday. The 15,300-square-foot room is the largest event venue on the Texas A&M campus and among the largest in Bryan-College Station. Located on the upper level of the MSC, its south-facing doors open to a spacious pre-event vestibule with a view of Kyle Field.
Bethancourt, a 1974 petroleum engineering graduate of Texas A&M, served as area manager for Getty Oil Co. before spending more than 15 years with Texaco and becoming Texaco Corp.’s vice president and president of worldwide productions operations. He joined Chevron Corp. in 2001, and retired as executive vice president. He is currently serving a seven-year term on the Texas A&M Foundation Board of Trustees.
His wife Debbie ’76 studied floriculture at A&M, and the Bethancourts four grown children, Justin ’98, Kyle ’00, Phillip ’04, and Christine ’06, were all involved in MSC programs during their time at A&M.
The new ballroom can be configured to accommodate up to 1,000 people for banquets or other special events or partitioned off to form as many as five smaller facilities. Another major addition is the 12th Man Hall, a glass-enclosed entryway and new leisure space, along with an enhanced Flag Room, the area that has traditionally served as the facility’s main leisure and study area.
The MSC is a formally designated memorial to Aggies who have died in military service to their country, in addition to being a major hub for a variety of campus activities. A new interior wall more prominently displays the names than ever before of all the Aggies who died in military service to their country. It also includes space for additional names — but with institutional hopes that no new inscriptions will ever be needed. Another long-standing feature of the MSC has been a display of replicas of the seven Medals of Honor presented to Aggies for above-and-beyond valor during World War II, most of them awarded posthumously. The medals, along with drawings of the recipients and written accounts of their deeds that led to presentation of the nation’s highest such honor, are even more prominently displayed than previously.
While the Saturday observance focused on the memorial aspects of the MSC, a seven-day grand opening celebration is set for September 2-8, shortly after the start of the school year and after students have had the opportunity to plan in detail for a variety of related activities.