Texas A&M Hosts Aggie Former Students at the Annual MLK Breakfast

Article By: Ashely Bautista, Student Intern | BCS Chronicle

What You Need To Know:

• This is the MLK Breakfast’s 19th year as an event at Texas A&M University.

• The three panelists were all Texas A&M former students.

• Panelists discussed their experiences and gave advice to current Aggie students.

• Organizers and panelists encouraged Aggie students to attend the event to build community and discuss important issues.

On January 23rd, the Texas A&M Memorial Student Center’s (MSC) Carter G. Woodson Black Awareness Committee hosted their Annual Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast for the 19th year in a row in the MSC’s Bethancourt Ballroom. The event featured keynote speakers and Texas A&M University former students Paula Harris ‘86, Rodney Pennywell ‘86, and Kenneth Robinson ‘93.

The breakfast started with students, faculty, and visitors from the Bryan-College Station area enjoying a freshly made breakfast and mingling with each other before getting situated at their tables. Next, Physics Junior and Co-Director of MLK Holiday & Special Projects, Makayla Caesar, welcomed the audience by introducing the Vice Chair of Development & Public Relations, Faith Odele, and paid tribute to black history through songs, poems, and speeches from famous African Americans.

“Let us remember to celebrate the victories you won because of ancestors who chose courage over comfort,” Odele said. “And let us craft our verse in history, because the web they set out to do is unfinished, and the battle for justice still goes on.” 

As the event continued, the panelists joined with Dr. Frank North, Instructional Assistant Professor in the Irma Lerma Rangel School of Pharmacy and Director for Learning and Practice in the Interprofessional Practice Education and Research office, for a keynote conversation and question and answer session about some of their experiences as student activists at Texas A&M.

“When we got here to Texas A&M, I think we were like 1% of African-Americans here,” Texas A&M Class of ‘86 Paula Harris said. “It was always the first – the 1st black RA, the 1st black Corps leadership.” 

The panelists also discussed the importance of portraying inequalities and how students could address them. 

“You have a privilege that few other students in this country have, and that is the vision of scale,” Rodney Pennywell ‘86 said, describing the importance of figuring out how to enact change with a social environment. “You're not just dealing with two, three, and four people, you're dealing with thousands of people.”

When discussing how students can navigate an institution where course content is being removed or censored in today's society, TAMU Class of ‘93 Kenneth Robinson took the mic to discuss other ways to preserve students’ education.

“Don't let someone else's ideology define who you are,” Robinson said. "Don't let anybody's ideology frame who you are and what you are capable of.”

As the conversation came to a close, North asked the panelists what takeaways the audience should take with them from today's conversation. To which, all panelists kept it short and simple – providing suggestions from holding others accountable to finding their passion as an activist.

“If it's to be, it's up to me,” Harris said.

The audience responded with a standing ovation for all the panelists. Broderick Lowe, Supply Chain Management Senior, President of the National Panhellenic Council, and first year attendee at the MLK Breakfast, found it impactful to be around a community with similar interest and desire for change.

“We all shared the same vision of, like, pushing our community of Aggies forward, and definitely like pushing each other to the max that we can, and really wanting that change for other people and ourselves,” Lowe said.

Dr. Frank North discussed the importance for students to attend the MLK Breakfast event and other similar events.

“So often students are very passionate about a lot of things and they may not necessarily know how to navigate them,” North said. “I love the fact that this event is not just a Black event, you know that this event is supported, and attended by other members of the Texas A&M community and Bryan-College Station community beyond race.”