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Texas A&M System’s Chancellor Announces His Retirement

Texas A&M system chancellor John Sharp has announced he will retire, effective June 30, 2025. Sharp sent an e-mail stating in part that “soon it will be time for this Chancellor to disappear around the bend. I will move to Austin to spend more time with my daughter Victoria, son Spencer, and Diana’s and my grandchildren.” Sharp also said “While I am retiring from this job, I will find ways to continue to serve the great state I love.” He also said “I will never retire from work, and I look forward to telling you next year about the next phase of Diana’s and my life work. One thing is for certain, I will never be too busy or too old to help Texas A&M and the A&M System.” Sharp began his run as the A&M system’s longest serving chancellor in September 2011. The 1972 A&M graduate served as student body president. He later served in the Texas House the Texas Senate, the Texas Railroad Commission, and two terms as state comptroller. Click below to hear comments from John Sharp, visiting with WTAW’s Bill Oliver. Listen to “Texas A&M system chancellor John Sharp announces he will retire next year” on Spreaker. Statement from John Sharp: Colleagues and friends, I notified the Board of Regents several weeks ago that this coming year will be my final year as Chancellor of The Texas A&M University System. My retirement will be effective June 30, 2025. By then, I will have served almost 14 years in this position. Leading this grand enterprise has been one of the great privileges of my life, a challenge, and an honor. I feel a deep sense of gratitude to all of you who have shown confidence in me and contributed to our collective endeavor. Together we have lifted the Texas A&M System to historic heights. I thank the 21 regents who I have faithfully served, and I thank those past and present who have served with me: the presidents of 11 universities, the CEOs of eight state agencies, the members of my executive committee; our students, faculty, and staff. I thank our supporters at the Chancellor’s Century Council and in the Texas Legislature; Governors Greg Abbott and Rick Perry; Lt. Governors Dan Patrick and David Dewhurst; Texas Speakers Joe Straus, Dennis Bonnen, and Dade Phelan; and members of the Texas Congressional delegation. With your assistance, we have become one of the genuinely great university systems in the world. We have increased enrollment more than 25 percent during a time when too many people are questioning the value of a college education. We added a law school that has risen faster in the national rankings than any other in history. We consolidated the state’s disaster response and recovery by adding the Texas Division of Emergency Management as our 8th state agency. We increased our National Academy memberships five-fold, and our research expenditures now exceed $1 billion a year. And the past 13 years have seen a historic building boom with $11.4 billion for 306 projects. Texas A&M University, in particular, has become the school of choice, with one of the biggest student enrollments in the nation. Texas A&M is no longer anybody’s little brother. Despite the remarkable things we have accomplished, I am proudest of the fact that our culture, our traditions, and the patriotic fervor of our students remain intact. We reflect the great traditions and culture of the state of Texas. Best of all, the next 12 months have the potential to be the most remarkable year of all. The System is a movable feast of innovation at Texas A&M-RELLIS, the new Fort Worth campus, the McAllen Teaching Center, the Port in Brownsville, the Johnson Space Center in Houston, and elsewhere. Stay tuned. There is more innovation in the works as we continuously strive to serve Texas and the nation. Whatever I have accomplished, I owe much to the love of my family and friends. I thank you for the outpouring of support when Charlotte passed in 2020. I also thank you for extending your friendship to Diana, who has been steadfast in her support of me and the Texas A&M System. While the road goes on forever and the party never ends, soon it will be time for this Chancellor to disappear around the bend. I will move to Austin to spend more time with my daughter Victoria, son Spencer, and Diana’s and my grandchildren. While I am retiring from this job, I will find ways to continue to serve the great state I love. I will never retire from work, and I look forward to telling you next year about the next phase of Diana’s and my life work. One thing is for certain, I will never be too busy or too old to help Texas A&M and the A&M System. I have been blessed with more years as Chancellor than I had imagined back in 2011. I feel like, together, we have accomplished remarkable things and built momentum for future generations. We are blessed to have our best set of university presidents and agency CEOs ever. We are blessed to have a Board of Regents committed to thoughtfully choosing our next chancellor, and I offer them my steadfast support. As always, I thank you for your support. News release from the Texas A&M system: Porter Garner jokes that he is not sure John Sharp ever sleeps. “It’s not uncommon to get a text from John late at night, or at four in the morning,” said Garner, longtime president of The Association of Former Students at Texas A&M University. “He has some new idea or concept he’d like to discuss. Ultimately, it is about A&M, to benefit our students, our former students our university.” “He’s the best chancellor we’ve ever had,” Garner added. “No chancellor in history has ever advanced Texas A&M and the Texas A&M University System like John Sharp has.” Garner is among the Texans praising the era of the longest serving […]

College Station Council Discussion After A Member Describes The Construction Of “Horrifically Ugly” Rental Housing

Construction of new rental housing south of the Texas A&M campus was discussed at the end of the last College Station city council meeting (June 27). Councilwoman Linda Harvell described as “horrifically ugly”, three story rental structures on Highland north of Fidelity. Harvell asked if the city could create architectural standards. She was told that was not allowed by state law. Then councilman Bob Yancy brought up potential fire safety issues with the three story rentals. A council majority supported discussing a future workshop, what the city can and can not do. Click below to hear comments from the June 27, 2024 College Station city council meeting.  

Local Woman In Jail For The Eighth Time In Nine Months On A Charge Of Violating A Protection Order

A local woman is in the Brazos County jail for the tenth time in the last nine months. Arrest reports from College Station and Bryan police show the victim in all ten cases is the same person. Jail records show it is the eighth time that 43 year old Yessennia Sala is accused of violating a protection order. The eighth arrest, after midnight on Saturday (June 29), was after College Station police responded to a report that Sala and the protected person were arguing in the parking lot of the H-E-B store at Texas and Holleman. The seventh arrest, by Bryan police, took place Thursday (June 27) in response to a report that Sala and the protected person were arguing in the victim’s home. Online court records shows Sala is awaiting trials in two other cases of violating protection orders September 28, 2023 and October 2, 2023. Other arrests for violating a protection order were October 14, 2023, November 5, 2023, December 15, 2023, and February 10, 2024. Jail records show Sala was arrested September 17, 2023 for family violence assault causing bodily injury and June 1, 2024 for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Jail records show Sala, who has lived in both Bryan and College Station, has posted bonds totaling $206,000 dollars from her nine prior arrests. As of July 1, she remains held in lieu of a $30,000 dollar bond.