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GO TEXAN Truly Significant Texans in Agriculture honors Porter Garner III, CEO of Texas A&M Former Students Association · GO TEXAN THE Truly Significant

0:02
Speaker 1: Welcome to Truly Significant Texans in Agriculture, the podcast where
0:07
Speaker 1: we spotlight the grit built legends who helped shape Texas
0:11
Speaker 1: farming and ranching. These are the stories of Texans who
0:14
Speaker 1: didn't just work the land, they transformed it and how
0:17
Speaker 1: they lifted others up. I'm your host, Rick Tokenny with
0:20
Speaker 1: Texas Agriculture Commissioner sid Miller. Now let's dig in. Hey,
0:25
Speaker 1: welcome back to Go Texan Presents Truly Significant Texas and Agriculture.
0:30
Speaker 1: I'm Rick Tokenny. We have a very special guest today
0:33
Speaker 1: and his family. It's Porter Garner the third and his
0:37
Speaker 1: wife Lisa and daughter Claire Garner Sheffield. We're honoring Porter
0:44
Speaker 1: for making a difference in this state. You're one of
0:48
Speaker 1: the big hearted Texans. Not only big hearted Texans, but
0:53
Speaker 1: big hearted Aggie's. To kick this off, I'm gonna show
0:56
Speaker 1: you a little message that came from Commissioner Sidon Miller.
1:03
Speaker 2: Well, howdy, friends, in Texas, we have a saying you
1:06
Speaker 2: measure a man not by what he takes, but by
1:10
Speaker 2: what he gives. And if that's the measure, then Porter
1:13
Speaker 2: Garner stands tall in the history of Texas A and.
1:15
Speaker 1: M and the heart of the Aggi family.
1:18
Speaker 2: Now for more than four decades, forty years, Porter's been
1:22
Speaker 2: a steady hand and a trusted voice in the Association
1:25
Speaker 2: of former Students. He didn't just lead the organization, he
1:29
Speaker 2: strengthened the Aggie network. One of the most loyal and
1:32
Speaker 2: powerful communities anywhere in the world is the Aggi family.
1:36
Speaker 2: So as your Texas ag Culture Commissioner, I see firsthand
1:40
Speaker 2: how Aggis show up across our state and farming ranching business,
1:46
Speaker 2: science and just public service. That spirit of service and
1:50
Speaker 2: lawsue didn't happen by accident. Let me tell you, friends,
1:54
Speaker 2: leaders like Porter Garner helped nurture it. He protects it,
1:58
Speaker 2: and he passes it all on to the next generation
2:00
Speaker 2: of Aggis. Now Porter understands something every Aggi knows down deep,
2:05
Speaker 2: that that Aggie ring isn't just a piece of gold.
2:08
Speaker 2: It's a promise, a promise that wherever life takes you,
2:12
Speaker 2: you'll stand to help a felly fellow Aggie in me. Now,
2:17
Speaker 2: under Porter's leadership, the Aggi network grew stronger, Traditions grew
2:22
Speaker 2: deeper in generations of Aggie's stayed connected to the values
2:26
Speaker 2: that makes Texas a and m special. That is respect, integrity, leadership, loyalty,
2:34
Speaker 2: selfless service, and of course excellence.
2:38
Speaker 1: Porter Garner didn't.
2:39
Speaker 2: Just serve Texas, and he served the people of Texas
2:42
Speaker 2: and helped make Texas stronger. And for that, the Aggi
2:46
Speaker 2: family and the state of Texas we all owe him
2:49
Speaker 2: a great debt of gratitude.
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Speaker 1: Porter.
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Speaker 2: Personally, I want to just thank you for your decades
2:55
Speaker 2: of dedication, your steady leadership, and your commitment to keeping
3:00
Speaker 2: the Aggie spirit alive for generations to come. God bless
3:05
Speaker 2: you in Gigamaggi.
3:08
Speaker 1: You know that I was a classist of seventy eight.
3:12
Speaker 1: You were one year later, right, Okay, so we know
3:16
Speaker 1: that everything is built on a tradition, on important traditions
3:19
Speaker 1: at A and M. What's a personal moment when the
3:23
Speaker 1: Aggie Spirit stopped being just an idea and actually became
3:27
Speaker 1: a responsibility for you.
3:29
Speaker 3: That's an easy question for me to answer, Rick. It
3:31
Speaker 3: has a lot to do with why I ultimately decided
3:34
Speaker 3: to go to Texas A and M. And as you know,
3:38
Speaker 3: I grew up in a Rado, Texas. My dad was
3:41
Speaker 3: class forty five. This happened on the banks of the
3:44
Speaker 3: Rio Grand River at Aggie Muster, when I was about
3:47
Speaker 3: thirteen years old and he took me to Aggie Muster.
3:51
Speaker 3: I will admit somewhat reluctantly on my part, it wasn't
3:55
Speaker 3: necessarily what I had planned that afternoon, but I'm glad
3:58
Speaker 3: I went because it had a profound intact on how
4:01
Speaker 3: I thought about Texas A and M and more importantly,
4:03
Speaker 3: how I thought about Texas acts. And what really hit
4:07
Speaker 3: me that day was to see the emotion that my
4:11
Speaker 3: dad had, particularly during the roll call for the absence
4:16
Speaker 3: at a point in time when you know, my dad
4:18
Speaker 3: was a tower of strength and never saw a whole
4:23
Speaker 3: lot of emotion, had never seen him cry up until
4:25
Speaker 3: that point. And to see my dad somewhat overcome and
4:29
Speaker 3: flooded with the emotion of staying here for fellow Haggis
4:33
Speaker 3: who had passed on hit me like nothing else in
4:38
Speaker 3: my life. And it was pretty much at that point,
4:41
Speaker 3: going into high school, that I knew I wanted to
4:45
Speaker 3: be a Texas at I wanted to be a part
4:46
Speaker 3: of something that they were part of that day.
4:50
Speaker 1: Beautiful God rest your dad, so thank you. What a
4:55
Speaker 1: what a great tribute to him. It's it's kind of
4:58
Speaker 1: interesting how Porter's influence has reached lots of people, including
5:03
Speaker 1: this little author here in Austin, Texas. In the last
5:07
Speaker 1: couple of years, we've been writing truly significant stories and
5:11
Speaker 1: conversations with big hearted people. And I called Porter and
5:14
Speaker 1: I asked, well, how are we going to write a
5:16
Speaker 1: story about truly significant aggies? And he says, just call
5:19
Speaker 1: him all big hearted, don't call any of them truly significant.
5:24
Speaker 1: But anyway I want to present I want and we'll
5:26
Speaker 1: get more into that later, but I want to present
5:28
Speaker 1: this book congratulation to the truly significant Porter Gardner, the
5:32
Speaker 1: Aggie Network pioneer, Thank you and Gigamaggi's yes, sir, that
5:37
Speaker 1: means a lot.
5:37
Speaker 3: I appreciate that, yes sir much.
5:39
Speaker 1: And You're going to appear in the Big Hearted Aggie's book,
5:43
Speaker 1: So everything that you say today is going to possibly
5:47
Speaker 1: appear in that book, so'll be careful in those. In
5:50
Speaker 1: our books and Books series, we talk about success that
5:53
Speaker 1: outlifts us. How do you personally define significance at this
5:57
Speaker 1: season of your life?
5:59
Speaker 3: Well, I think it has a lot to do with
6:01
Speaker 3: the last couple of months, particularly since I announced my
6:04
Speaker 3: retirement back in February. I never thought about it much.
6:07
Speaker 3: I still don't try to think about it. My wife
6:10
Speaker 3: Lisa is very good at reminding me at appropriate times
6:15
Speaker 3: of significant moments, of significant impacts of lives that perhaps
6:19
Speaker 3: I had touched that I didn't even know, And that
6:22
Speaker 3: has come full circle in the last couple of months
6:25
Speaker 3: with letters, calls, emails, texts, personal visits. And I don't
6:31
Speaker 3: know how I would literally define it, but I would
6:34
Speaker 3: tell you that I remember my dad saying something that
6:39
Speaker 3: resonated with me to the extent that when he passed,
6:42
Speaker 3: I quoted him and he said, you know, if a
6:45
Speaker 3: man lives his life the right way, he really doesn't
6:50
Speaker 3: need much of an obituary or much of ecology.
6:53
Speaker 1: That's right, That's exactly so.
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Speaker 3: I've never thought about legacy or impact. I've just done
7:00
Speaker 3: what I thought was my obligation as president of the
7:04
Speaker 3: Association for Students, as a husband, as a father, and
7:09
Speaker 3: I just I hope I've just done whatever was in
7:12
Speaker 3: my heart, which was the right thing to do at
7:14
Speaker 3: the right time, and never with any thought or perhaps
7:18
Speaker 3: strategy or outcome anything like that. It was simply of
7:22
Speaker 3: the moment, responding to whatever the need or the situation was.
7:28
Speaker 1: Indeed, stop talking about being a good managers be one. Yeah,
7:33
Speaker 1: how about that? Yeah, Yeah, I think I got that
7:36
Speaker 1: my sophomore junior year, pounded into me by some red
7:40
Speaker 1: pot who lived in Davis, Gary, who was majoring in
7:43
Speaker 1: bonfires at the time.
7:45
Speaker 3: There was a few of those.
7:46
Speaker 1: Yes, I don't think you ever went to class. Actually,
7:50
Speaker 1: you serve former students across generations. How do you feel
7:54
Speaker 1: like you've been able to balance honoring time tested traditions
7:58
Speaker 1: while still making room for change in new voices like
8:01
Speaker 1: your daughter's voice.
8:03
Speaker 3: So that has been a challenge. Texas A and M
8:06
Speaker 3: began a period of significant growth that we're still in
8:10
Speaker 3: right now in the seventies when you and I were
8:13
Speaker 3: at A and M, but perhaps more so in the eighties,
8:16
Speaker 3: when that significant growth in student enrollment became significant growth
8:21
Speaker 3: in former student And when I started with association in
8:25
Speaker 3: nineteen eighty one, we had one hundred thousand former students,
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Speaker 3: and as I see here today we have six hundred
8:30
Speaker 3: and thirty thousand. So we've had a period of thirty years,
8:34
Speaker 3: thirty five years of significant growth. With that comes a
8:39
Speaker 3: lot of change in maybe the attitudes about Texas A
8:43
Speaker 3: and M, if not the attitudes about higher education. And
8:47
Speaker 3: I can promise you this after forty five years. We
8:50
Speaker 3: are not a monolithic organization. Oh no, And we have
8:54
Speaker 3: quite a diverse ideology and thought about different things at
8:58
Speaker 3: a and m. Whether that's a all the core cadets
9:01
Speaker 3: were you named the tradition. Much of that came to
9:04
Speaker 3: the forefront sadly when Bonfire collapsed, because you had a
9:10
Speaker 3: tremendous amount of motion involved in a lot of emails,
9:14
Speaker 3: a lot of letters, a lot of phone calls, a
9:15
Speaker 3: lot of donations, and many people said we can't ever
9:18
Speaker 3: have this happen again. But the confluence of all the
9:22
Speaker 3: thinking about Bonfire as one of our grandest traditions was
9:28
Speaker 3: such that I think there was a supreme reverence for
9:32
Speaker 3: the great tradition that was one hundred years old, but
9:34
Speaker 3: yet the greater reverence for the lives of our young
9:38
Speaker 3: aggs and to never put them in peril again, to
9:41
Speaker 3: perhaps go through what we were going through. In November
9:44
Speaker 3: of nineteen ninety nine, and I became president forty two
9:48
Speaker 3: days later with the association, and I had a significant
9:53
Speaker 3: legal pad full of thoughts, ideas, visions, everything. I called
9:59
Speaker 3: it my plan of Back in two thousand that went
10:03
Speaker 3: the drawer for the better part of six months to
10:06
Speaker 3: a year because the obligation, I think of the association
10:10
Speaker 3: more than any other organization on that gips to respond
10:14
Speaker 3: appropriately to the families of twelve deceased Aggies and to
10:18
Speaker 3: the hundreds of thousands of former students who were hurting
10:21
Speaker 3: as Aggies as we all did it still do. It
10:28
Speaker 3: changed a lot of the mindset on traditions as a whole.
10:31
Speaker 3: And I think about the Aggie spirit and I think
10:34
Speaker 3: today my daughter would be a good example. They look
10:37
Speaker 3: at A and M and traditions maybe a little differently,
10:40
Speaker 3: and you know what, there's nothing wrong with it, because
10:42
Speaker 3: in nineteen seventy nine I probably looked at things a
10:44
Speaker 3: little differently than my dad did in nineteen forty.
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Speaker 1: Five, I bet.
10:48
Speaker 3: And I think what's most important is when you're a student,
10:52
Speaker 3: that's your experience, that's your textas saying it, that's your
10:54
Speaker 3: point of reference. And to me, the fundamental priority is
11:00
Speaker 3: when they graduate they have the same love and affection
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Speaker 3: for Texas A and M and Texas Aggys that we do.
11:05
Speaker 3: And if they do, it doesn't matter a whole lot
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Speaker 3: to me as to how they looked at a tradition,
11:10
Speaker 3: whether they participated in it. Whether they even liked it
11:13
Speaker 3: or not, what's ultimately important is that they became Aggies
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Speaker 3: in their heart and they understood perhaps the greatest tradition
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Speaker 3: of all, the oldest tradition of all, which is Aggie's
11:25
Speaker 3: helping Aggies.
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Speaker 1: That's right.
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Speaker 3: That's how I look at the changing of the spirit
11:30
Speaker 3: and traditions at Texas, A and M.
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Speaker 1: That part is the universal and timeless core value that
11:37
Speaker 1: outsiders still don't understand.
11:39
Speaker 3: And I would say, as I have actually said many
11:42
Speaker 3: times in speeches, stronger today than ever before, and not
11:46
Speaker 3: just because of our numbers, but because of perhaps the
11:49
Speaker 3: effects of a larger university, larger needs, the big event.
11:53
Speaker 3: You picked, the tradition, and I'll tell you about it,
11:56
Speaker 3: but the greater involvement of Aggie's doing good and doing
11:59
Speaker 3: greater good than most kids at most universities.
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Speaker 1: That's right, boy. I could give you a sermon about
12:07
Speaker 1: that too, but I want right now because this is
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Speaker 1: your show. There is a young lady whose I recorded
12:13
Speaker 1: a message from this week, who was driving ninety miles
12:18
Speaker 1: an hour between Dallas and somewhere. She pulled off the
12:22
Speaker 1: side of the road to send you a special message.
12:25
Speaker 1: And let's see if I can find it and see
12:26
Speaker 1: if we can get her lips to move versus the
12:29
Speaker 1: previous one that yeah me too.
12:32
Speaker 3: Message ninety miles an hour might have been a different message.
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Speaker 4: Well, Porter, it's so exciting to congratulate you on being
12:41
Speaker 4: a truly significant Texan. It does not surprise me at all,
12:46
Speaker 4: especially after I've seen you win mister South Texas and
12:50
Speaker 4: be awarded the Maze Outstanding Alumni Award. As you know,
12:56
Speaker 4: we have already coined the new catchphrase, or what I
13:00
Speaker 4: trying to make a catchphrase, which is c T HO
13:05
Speaker 4: Porter Garner, which is celebrate the hell out Porter Garner
13:10
Speaker 4: this year in twenty twenty six. And so I'm gonna
13:14
Speaker 4: do this as much as I can. And I'm just
13:16
Speaker 4: so excited that I'm not the only one, not that
13:18
Speaker 4: I'm surprised, but that so many wonderful Aggies and so
13:23
Speaker 4: many wonderful Texans want to celebrate you as you know
13:28
Speaker 4: you are so special to me, or as I hope
13:30
Speaker 4: you know you are so special to me, and you
13:34
Speaker 4: have done so much for Texas A and M. You
13:36
Speaker 4: have done so much for Texas, Aggis and the Aggie Network,
13:39
Speaker 4: and not only for those that you've met personally, but
13:43
Speaker 4: those that you have not met, and those for generations
13:47
Speaker 4: and many generations to come. I appreciate you Porter, I'm
13:51
Speaker 4: so excited for you, and congratulations and gig them.
13:56
Speaker 3: A special person. She fantastic, She's a special teas.
14:01
Speaker 5: Yeah.
14:01
Speaker 1: I found out afterwards that she majored in Banna. It's like,
14:05
Speaker 1: are you crazy?
14:06
Speaker 3: I hated Banner.
14:07
Speaker 1: I hated ban sixty four. Remember I hate three sixty four.
14:10
Speaker 1: I still haven't. I have PTSDAL for three sixty flight
14:13
Speaker 1: miriature this day, what is the deal?
14:16
Speaker 3: Just to hear business analysis sends.
14:18
Speaker 1: Me under this Listen, it's true. Who is someone seen
14:23
Speaker 1: or unseen who shape your values early besides your dad?
14:28
Speaker 1: And how do you see their fingerprints on the way
14:30
Speaker 1: you've led, especially in the last two or three years.
14:33
Speaker 3: Well, interestingly enough, I just saw him yesterday. He's surprised me,
14:37
Speaker 3: but surprised our team by making a drive from Matthews, Texas.
14:42
Speaker 3: He was my first board year in two thousand. But
14:44
Speaker 3: more importantly, Rick Jim Mayol class in nineteen seventy was
14:48
Speaker 3: an old family friend from Laredo. His dad and my
14:51
Speaker 3: dad were good friends, and we just talked about him
14:54
Speaker 3: not too long ago at Bunch and way before two thousand,
14:58
Speaker 3: way before he came on our board. Jim's about ten
15:02
Speaker 3: years older than me, but he's always somebody that I
15:03
Speaker 3: looked up to. Having not had an older brother, Jim's
15:07
Speaker 3: as close to an older brother, figure, mentor and hero
15:10
Speaker 3: as I have. And many times, like so many mentors,
15:15
Speaker 3: he never knew he had any influence on me. He
15:17
Speaker 3: didn't realize what he said or what he did maybe
15:20
Speaker 3: made a significant impact on me. But it did. And
15:25
Speaker 3: yesterday is a good example of what I'm talking about.
15:27
Speaker 3: He made a very unselfish, I'm sure you know, inconvenient
15:32
Speaker 3: trip to college station to make about fifteen minutes worth
15:35
Speaker 3: of remarks on my behalf. But that's who he is.
15:40
Speaker 3: That inspires me to this day to think about the
15:42
Speaker 3: effort and the genuine effort, the generous effort that Jim
15:45
Speaker 3: Mail makes that I aspire to.
15:50
Speaker 1: Thanks for sharing that. In studying you over the last
15:54
Speaker 1: several weeks, I've learned the importance of that you are
15:59
Speaker 1: a steward of trust. I want to know, with that
16:02
Speaker 1: in mind, what's the weightiest decision you had to make
16:07
Speaker 1: where values mattered more than optics.
16:10
Speaker 3: I think when we had to make a decision, and
16:13
Speaker 3: I made the decision early on. It was in that
16:15
Speaker 3: plant of action room. Let me let me give you
16:18
Speaker 3: the context. The Association when I took over was one
16:21
Speaker 3: hundred and twenty two years old. We were celebrating one
16:25
Speaker 3: hundred and twenty seven. Our bi laws were written at
16:31
Speaker 3: the turn of the century, incorporated in nineteen twenty five
16:34
Speaker 3: for the state of Texas by the Attorney Generals. Back then,
16:38
Speaker 3: we were an all male compulsory military institution. Our bilas
16:43
Speaker 3: in two thousand, if you could imagine this with women
16:46
Speaker 3: serving on our board and fifty percent of our student body,
16:49
Speaker 3: big females said things like, he shall recruit young men
16:54
Speaker 3: to the A and M. College of Texas. He shall
16:58
Speaker 3: oversee financial laws operations for the former Students Association didn't
17:03
Speaker 3: even get our name right, and they were so arcane
17:06
Speaker 3: and antiquated it to me, it was a no brainer.
17:11
Speaker 3: It was an intuitive thought that we've got to bring
17:13
Speaker 3: the bilaws up to the operations that reflect appropriately.
17:17
Speaker 1: That's right, But the.
17:19
Speaker 3: Optics of it in terms of the change that it
17:22
Speaker 3: represented to a majority of older aggies and you got
17:26
Speaker 3: a member in two thousand, we still had guys in
17:28
Speaker 3: the class of thirties that were alive and forties and
17:32
Speaker 3: a lot of fifties, and change wasn't something they were
17:37
Speaker 3: real fond of. In fact, one of my favorite Aggie
17:39
Speaker 3: jokes is how many Aggies does it take to change
17:43
Speaker 3: a light bulb?
17:45
Speaker 1: It's six change, change, And you got me on that way.
17:51
Speaker 3: That held true in two thousand and believe it or not,
17:55
Speaker 3: we began in earnest, after we had the bonfire, somewhat
18:00
Speaker 3: taken care of tragedy, the funerals, families, all the financial burden.
18:05
Speaker 3: In about two thousand and one, we began to work
18:08
Speaker 3: on how we were going to affect the new bilaws.
18:13
Speaker 3: Had a committee and all that nine to eleven hits
18:16
Speaker 3: that went on the back and burn. So now we're
18:18
Speaker 3: into two thousand and two and we are ready with
18:22
Speaker 3: a new set of bilaws, not amended, a completely new
18:26
Speaker 3: set of bilaws with the Association of former Students of
18:30
Speaker 3: the year two thousand and two. And I can't tell
18:33
Speaker 3: you what resistance. And we didn't have pitchforks and torches outside,
18:37
Speaker 3: but it was close. I can't tell you what kind
18:40
Speaker 3: of questions resistance Why I used to get and to
18:45
Speaker 3: have to stand up for the leadership. Councilor of eighty
18:50
Speaker 3: seventy sixty year old men predominantly used to business as
18:54
Speaker 3: usual from thirty forty to fifty years back. Was tough
18:58
Speaker 3: for a forty year old guy. I was one of
19:01
Speaker 3: their own. I thought, you know, I'm a Texas Aggy.
19:03
Speaker 3: Here's my ring. I love A and M just as
19:05
Speaker 3: much as you did. But we've got to bring the
19:07
Speaker 3: association into the twenty first century. We ultimately did. But
19:11
Speaker 3: what should have been about a six month through a
19:13
Speaker 3: year long process took over two and a half years
19:16
Speaker 3: and two council meetings to get a vote in the
19:19
Speaker 3: affirmative for new battles. Now, that doesn't sound like it
19:24
Speaker 3: should take that long, No, But that gives you perhaps
19:28
Speaker 3: an insight into the passion that aggies feel for their
19:32
Speaker 3: association of former students and for how that affects Texas
19:34
Speaker 3: A and M.
19:35
Speaker 1: But that sounds like a religious conversion.
19:38
Speaker 3: Well it was close. It was close. It required you
19:44
Speaker 3: can call it leadership, but I can tell you it
19:45
Speaker 3: required a lot of relationships, a lot of conversation, a
19:49
Speaker 3: lot of travel, a lot of convincing. In fact, I
19:52
Speaker 3: had to come to Austin one time and speak to
19:55
Speaker 3: a group of six aggies that really beat me up
19:57
Speaker 3: pretty good. They all said, the only way we'll go
20:02
Speaker 3: for this is if we get to be on the
20:04
Speaker 3: bylaws committee. Well I put one of them on there.
20:08
Speaker 3: We eventually got them passed. But it's just hard to
20:11
Speaker 3: explain in great detail with the context that all went
20:14
Speaker 3: on over two years, how difficult that was to get
20:17
Speaker 3: bylaws changed and really updated.
20:22
Speaker 1: But that was the beginning of shipping away at the
20:25
Speaker 1: old Guard. It was right without shipping away their heart.
20:29
Speaker 3: And I think that was part of what I had
20:32
Speaker 3: to come to Gripsley, is that understanding they felt like
20:38
Speaker 3: they were losing the association they knew, or the Texas
20:42
Speaker 3: A and M they knew, and they weren't. And we're
20:45
Speaker 3: a better organization today for it. And here's the nice
20:48
Speaker 3: part route it didn't happen the first year, but perhaps
20:51
Speaker 3: by about twenty ten, when we expanded our reach and
20:55
Speaker 3: relevance and we grew as an organization, and we grew
20:58
Speaker 3: as a team, and we had tremendous success within the
21:03
Speaker 3: association on every front, programming, fundraising, influence, advocacy, you name it.
21:10
Speaker 3: I began to get letters and phone calls from a
21:12
Speaker 3: lot of those old guard guys, and it was great
21:15
Speaker 3: affirmation for me when they said, I'm sorry, you were right.
21:21
Speaker 1: It's amazing. All right, Claire. I got to sneak in
21:24
Speaker 1: a question here because I have two daughters, both of
21:28
Speaker 1: which were supposed to have gone to A and M
21:29
Speaker 1: but took a different route. So what do you think
21:31
Speaker 1: about what your dad just said and how could you
21:34
Speaker 1: use that in your future as a leader?
21:38
Speaker 5: Goodness, that's quite the loaded question.
21:42
Speaker 6: I think, honestly, just my dad's faith and being rooted
21:46
Speaker 6: in his faith has shaped me as a leader, and
21:52
Speaker 6: honestly just seeing how he has led, and especially like
21:54
Speaker 6: these last few weeks, being around his staff, being around
21:58
Speaker 6: the board and seeing how he leads, it's more of
22:00
Speaker 6: a relationship base than anything. And I think, just going
22:04
Speaker 6: back like I feel like truly the relationship is the
22:08
Speaker 6: base of his leadership and how he chooses to lead
22:11
Speaker 6: and seeing people for who they are and meeting people
22:14
Speaker 6: where they are at I think that has shaped me
22:18
Speaker 6: to want to be a leader like him. And I
22:22
Speaker 6: think a lot of it goes back to faith and
22:24
Speaker 6: how much faith also just ran our lives growing up
22:28
Speaker 6: in the importance of our relationship with Jesus and that
22:32
Speaker 6: being really the foundation of our faith and.
22:35
Speaker 5: Why we lead and why we choose to be great leaders.
22:39
Speaker 1: Well said, way to go, daughter.
22:42
Speaker 3: I wish I could say it like that.
22:43
Speaker 1: No kidding, We've been to the school of articulation.
22:49
Speaker 5: You use some pretty big words, though.
22:51
Speaker 1: They must have changed the speech class. Speaking of that,
22:57
Speaker 1: as a side note, I'll never forget. That was an
22:59
Speaker 1: eight o'clock class and I borrowed a drum from Terry
23:02
Speaker 1: Terry Stanislav or somebody like that from the core band app.
23:06
Speaker 1: I did the presentation on the snare drum, and I
23:09
Speaker 1: woke everybody up in that class because I did a
23:11
Speaker 1: five stroke roll boom. Remember the first couple of rows
23:15
Speaker 1: fell over. It's like, take this guy away and get
23:18
Speaker 1: this speech class over with as soon as possible, so
23:21
Speaker 1: you're bringing back all these memories.
23:22
Speaker 5: Why took a speech class?
23:25
Speaker 1: Okay, During this fun journey of meeting people that know you,
23:32
Speaker 1: some really interesting stuff has come out. Here's what I
23:36
Speaker 1: would consider a lovely message from two of your friends
23:41
Speaker 1: at Messina hoff Border Gardner. These are two of your
23:46
Speaker 1: special friends and this is being recorded on Friday night
23:52
Speaker 1: at six o'clock, which anybody who knows anything about wine,
23:58
Speaker 1: I think very much that's what I want to see.
24:00
Speaker 1: So without further ado, here are your two buddies, Maryll
24:04
Speaker 1: and Paul, who want to say a few words to you.
24:06
Speaker 7: Hello, Porter, Congratulations on being selected for the truly significant
24:14
Speaker 7: Texan recognition. That's such a special award and we're very
24:19
Speaker 7: proud of you. And it's hard to believe that you
24:22
Speaker 7: have been with A and M Association of Former Students
24:26
Speaker 7: for over a quarter of a century.
24:28
Speaker 3: Wow, that's amazing. It is truly.
24:31
Speaker 7: Amazing that you've done a wonderful job.
24:33
Speaker 2: And we've been with Porter since the beginning of our association.
24:38
Speaker 3: With the Association and.
24:39
Speaker 8: Former Students, we do that we do your Aggi network
24:43
Speaker 8: wine and here it is the Agging Network Wine, Fabulous Wine.
24:49
Speaker 8: We also wanted to say how much we appreciate your
24:52
Speaker 8: aggie spirit and your leadership and how you represented always
24:59
Speaker 8: the core values of A and M. And I particularly
25:03
Speaker 8: appreciate the fact that you were such a visionary in
25:07
Speaker 8: allowing the Ague Women Network and also bringing in our
25:13
Speaker 8: Texas rapes and viticulture and analogy into the Association of
25:17
Speaker 8: Former Students through our wines.
25:19
Speaker 3: Thanks for your vision. We appreciate it, we.
25:22
Speaker 7: Do, and we have a toast for you. Absolutely so
25:25
Speaker 7: many more years of your own love and blessings from
25:31
Speaker 7: the Lord.
25:32
Speaker 1: Cheers, cheer, Thank you, folks. That's that's perfect. Those are
25:39
Speaker 1: those are cool people. I mean, they're great to hang
25:42
Speaker 1: out with, great business, they really do. You know, there's
25:47
Speaker 1: other friends that stepped up also, And this is the
25:51
Speaker 1: guy that really surprised me and I had a lovely
25:55
Speaker 1: meeting with them.
25:56
Speaker 3: Audi.
25:57
Speaker 9: I'm Bobby Jenkins with ABC Home and Commercial Services here
26:00
Speaker 9: extending heartfelt congratulations to Porter Garner for his work of
26:05
Speaker 9: significance as director of the Association of Former Students at
26:08
Speaker 9: Texas A and M University. For decades, Porter has exemplified
26:12
Speaker 9: what it truly means to live the AGGI core values
26:16
Speaker 9: of respect, excellence, leadership, loyalty, integrity, and selfless service. Under
26:22
Speaker 9: his stewardship, the association strengthened the AGGI network and reminded
26:26
Speaker 9: generations of Aggies that these values are not just words,
26:31
Speaker 9: so a strategic way of life that shapes how we
26:33
Speaker 9: serve others and lead our communities. Porter's leadership has honored
26:37
Speaker 9: the traditions of Texas A and m while inspiring Aggis
26:41
Speaker 9: to carry forward the spirit of service and commitment that
26:44
Speaker 9: defines our university is integrity, humility, and unwavering loyalty. Did
26:49
Speaker 9: the Aggie family have left a lasting mark on our
26:52
Speaker 9: university and on everyone privileged to work alongside of him
26:57
Speaker 9: on behalf of ABC Home and Commercial Services and countless
27:00
Speaker 9: Aggies who admire his example.
27:03
Speaker 1: Thank you, Porter for a.
27:04
Speaker 9: Career to define by purpose, character and selfless service. Your
27:09
Speaker 9: legacy will continue to guide Aggies for generations to come.
27:13
Speaker 9: Gig Importer, and congratulations on a remarkable career as a
27:17
Speaker 9: truly significant Texan.
27:22
Speaker 1: That gets me.
27:23
Speaker 3: He's significant. I'll tell you that I know a little
27:25
Speaker 3: bit about Bobby.
27:26
Speaker 1: Jenny, Yes, sir, and he knows a little bit about you. Apparently.
27:30
Speaker 1: Let's talk about measuring impact. I want to talk about
27:33
Speaker 1: I want to ask you both the question because legacy
27:36
Speaker 1: is an important thing. Sadly for our generation, people talk
27:40
Speaker 1: about legacy when you're near death. We're trying to change
27:43
Speaker 1: legacy into why don't you be significant now? And your
27:47
Speaker 1: generation is at least from my understanding, for my two daughters,
27:52
Speaker 1: it's purpose and passion are really important. And so you've
27:57
Speaker 1: got this way of blending avocation vocation like nobody I've
28:01
Speaker 1: ever seen. So congratulations to all of you as my
28:05
Speaker 1: daughter chases down her great career in Hollywood. But I'd
28:09
Speaker 1: love that. I love your perspective on what have you
28:12
Speaker 1: learned about your dad who has blended his vocation and avocation,
28:15
Speaker 1: and then what are you going to do to follow
28:17
Speaker 1: in his footsteps if you do goodness?
28:19
Speaker 6: I think going back to just like being rooted in faith,
28:22
Speaker 6: I think that's where it all started for him, and
28:26
Speaker 6: those kind of lessons that I've seen firsthand from him
28:30
Speaker 6: and just how he lives that I think a lot
28:32
Speaker 6: of it is also seeing like hearing him him setting
28:36
Speaker 6: us down, preaching us how to be a good person,
28:38
Speaker 6: preaching to us those long three hour conversations we would
28:42
Speaker 6: have with our siblings, Like he would sit us down
28:45
Speaker 6: and it would just turn into the whole entire afternoon.
28:48
Speaker 6: We wouldn't get out of the bedroom until five pm.
28:52
Speaker 6: We're like, okay, we're hungry for dinner. It's but I mean,
28:56
Speaker 6: I mean, surely some of those messages stuck with us, surely,
29:01
Speaker 6: And I think going back to that, it's not even
29:04
Speaker 6: just him preaching to us, it's also him us seeing him.
29:08
Speaker 5: Live those out as well.
29:10
Speaker 6: It's that faith through action, leadership through action more than anything.
29:16
Speaker 6: And honestly, like now as an adult trying to raise
29:21
Speaker 6: a family at some point down the line, trying to
29:24
Speaker 6: mimic those lessons and we make those things that he's
29:28
Speaker 6: taught us along the way to my family. So I
29:31
Speaker 6: think learning what we've learned from him over the years
29:34
Speaker 6: and trying to implement that into our family is God willing.
29:36
Speaker 5: One day is the ultimate goal, and so.
29:39
Speaker 6: I think relates just setting the example. And he has
29:43
Speaker 6: set such a high example in such a high bar
29:46
Speaker 6: to reach, but we'll strive for it every day.
29:50
Speaker 5: So I think that's something that he's insuled in us
29:51
Speaker 5: big time.
29:54
Speaker 1: Thank you for that. But for or or why is
29:57
Speaker 1: that generation? Why do they have purpose already as a
30:01
Speaker 1: built in element of their heart?
30:04
Speaker 3: Well, I've got a theory on it, right, And I
30:06
Speaker 3: think as I study the adversity that so many generations,
30:11
Speaker 3: perhaps up until the internet was a thing, had to
30:15
Speaker 3: deal with, and the things that we did that were
30:18
Speaker 3: either manual or they were challenging, or that you just
30:22
Speaker 3: couldn't do because you couldn't afford whatever they might have been,
30:26
Speaker 3: so much of that changed with a generation that had
30:29
Speaker 3: the world at their fingertips literally, and whether it was
30:34
Speaker 3: you know, searching a website, getting an answer for a
30:37
Speaker 3: question on a test, whatever it might have been, connecting
30:39
Speaker 3: with family members around the world. So many opportunities opened
30:43
Speaker 3: up and I think enlightened a generation as to what
30:47
Speaker 3: the world could really be for them. And I don't
30:50
Speaker 3: know that prior to that, at least I didn't have
30:54
Speaker 3: those kind of thoughts, and I don't credit a lot
30:58
Speaker 3: of it with our parenting, to be honest with you,
31:01
Speaker 3: I think a generation of young people today have found
31:06
Speaker 3: their purpose by virtue of the world that they've discovered online,
31:12
Speaker 3: some of it bad, some of it good, but a
31:15
Speaker 3: pretty early on fast education as to what the world
31:19
Speaker 3: really is. I didn't have that. You didn't have that.
31:22
Speaker 1: I'm sure didn't.
31:23
Speaker 3: And we might have said, well, we're going to join
31:24
Speaker 3: the Peace Corps, we're going to travel, we're going to
31:27
Speaker 3: read a lot of books. But to have it at
31:29
Speaker 3: your fingertips and perhaps never leave your hometown and know
31:35
Speaker 3: more about the world and the opportunities therein I think
31:39
Speaker 3: has changed and inspired a generation of young people.
31:45
Speaker 1: I think you're right, it's access isn't it? Absolutely it
31:48
Speaker 1: is access And well, let.
31:50
Speaker 3: Me make a comment on that legacy thing, because please,
31:53
Speaker 3: I've done several interviews and even ten, fifteen, twenty years ago,
31:57
Speaker 3: particularly when I took over the situation, and I would
32:01
Speaker 3: I would shy away from this because I didn't I
32:04
Speaker 3: really didn't think about it, and I still don't. That
32:06
Speaker 3: they would ask questions like what do you want your
32:09
Speaker 3: legacy to be? What do you think your legacy will be?
32:12
Speaker 3: What does legacy mean to you? And I was always
32:15
Speaker 3: stumped because I've never given it a moment's thought. I
32:18
Speaker 3: still don't. So maybe I've got enough of my dad
32:20
Speaker 3: and me to the extent that I believe, if you
32:22
Speaker 3: live your life right, don't worry about a legacy. It
32:27
Speaker 3: is what it is. It's done. Claire's talking about an
32:31
Speaker 3: approach with people that basically is biblical. Seek first to understand, yes,
32:37
Speaker 3: as I've done that my life has been enriched by
32:41
Speaker 3: people that had an influence on me. That maybe I
32:46
Speaker 3: didn't think a certain way before I met Rick TOLKINI
32:48
Speaker 3: and had a conversation with him, and so on and
32:50
Speaker 3: so forth. But the greatest legacy any parent can have
32:55
Speaker 3: is their children and while I think I've done well
32:58
Speaker 3: at the association, I know it better than when I
33:00
Speaker 3: found it. I'm proud of what we've done. I don't
33:04
Speaker 3: think about that for a moment as my real legacy,
33:08
Speaker 3: our legacy, Lisa's and mine, is our three children. And
33:14
Speaker 3: I do think about that because it's a reflection of us,
33:18
Speaker 3: our values, and who we are as people.
33:23
Speaker 1: That's exactly right. In the end, it's we're probably all
33:28
Speaker 1: hopefully seeking that big prize, which is well done, my
33:32
Speaker 1: good and faithful servant, absolutely and not hear all the
33:36
Speaker 1: accolades that come with it, but boy along the way,
33:40
Speaker 1: grandparenthood is very good. It's the role of all roles.
33:45
Speaker 1: I think I've got one other video before I get
33:48
Speaker 1: into the final questions with you. It was a hilarious
33:52
Speaker 1: meeting with this guy and talking about Moses Hall, more
33:57
Speaker 1: Hall and Davis Gary and at one point and I
34:00
Speaker 1: recalled why I guess I had brain fog or something
34:03
Speaker 1: for many years. But I swear my roommate tried to
34:06
Speaker 1: burn down more Hall at one time by stuffy as
34:10
Speaker 1: many bats into one room as possible and then smoking
34:13
Speaker 1: out a person that he didn't like.
34:15
Speaker 3: Is that about.
34:17
Speaker 1: Were we?
34:18
Speaker 3: Yeah? Yeah?
34:19
Speaker 1: Exactly were we arsonist at Davids Gary. So I walked
34:23
Speaker 1: away from the conversation thinking, man, glad we got out
34:26
Speaker 1: of there. But here's here's a fun message from a Porter.
34:31
Speaker 10: If someone had told me fifty years ago, when we
34:34
Speaker 10: were both freshmen and Moore Hall, that you were going
34:36
Speaker 10: to be named a significant Texan, I would have spit
34:39
Speaker 10: my beer out at the dicks of chicken. But Porter,
34:42
Speaker 10: after these fifty years and watching your career, especially as
34:45
Speaker 10: the leader and CEO of the association, I could think
34:49
Speaker 10: of nobody, no Aggie that deserves it more.
34:51
Speaker 3: Congratulations Buddy Ritt helding philis.
34:55
Speaker 1: Isn't that Gray? I just I made a new friend
34:58
Speaker 1: when I'm when I'm back. Now we're getting down to
35:01
Speaker 1: the portion about being a big hearted Texan in what
35:04
Speaker 1: we're striving to do in terms of a message in
35:08
Speaker 1: this book. When you think about the phrase big hearted Texans,
35:11
Speaker 1: what does it mean to you personally and where did
35:15
Speaker 1: that spirit first take root in your life?
35:18
Speaker 3: I'd have to go back to my grandfather and my dad.
35:21
Speaker 3: I saw them do things that they they didn't know
35:25
Speaker 3: us all, they didn't know anybody. But I was aware
35:29
Speaker 3: of things they would do in the dark of night
35:33
Speaker 3: on Christmas Eve for other families. I saw them make
35:38
Speaker 3: cash donations so that they wouldn't have any attribution, you know,
35:43
Speaker 3: via a check or sure like that. I saw them
35:47
Speaker 3: lift people up constantly and put others first. I remember
35:53
Speaker 3: heading to our ranch in nineteen eighty five and I
35:57
Speaker 3: pulled into a gas station in Insanel, Texas, and a
36:00
Speaker 3: guy came out. He could he had a limb, but
36:05
Speaker 3: he could walk, but he wasn't real fast. Those were
36:08
Speaker 3: in the days when your name was actually on your
36:10
Speaker 3: gas credit card. I had an excellent card quarter it's
36:14
Speaker 3: going at the third and when I handed it to him,
36:18
Speaker 3: he went inside, looked at it, stopped and came back
36:25
Speaker 3: and he got a little emotional and he pulled up
36:27
Speaker 3: his cat and pants legs and he had a prosthetic
36:32
Speaker 3: way and he said, your grandfather drove me to Austin
36:37
Speaker 3: and bought and paid for everything I needed to get
36:41
Speaker 3: this leg. I was out of a job, and he
36:45
Speaker 3: hired me at the In those days, it was called
36:47
Speaker 3: a locker plant. A lot of people don't even know
36:49
Speaker 3: what a locker plant was. Many people didn't have refrigeration
36:51
Speaker 3: of their homes, so you could rent locker space at
36:55
Speaker 3: a locker plant in a central part of a community,
36:58
Speaker 3: and he had one of those and he hired this guy,
37:01
Speaker 3: but he had trouble getting around on one leg, and
37:05
Speaker 3: my dad, my grandfather, drove it.
37:06
Speaker 1: Man, that's big hearted.
37:08
Speaker 3: That afternoon I had to I wasn't married, I didn't
37:13
Speaker 3: have a family, and I went to the ranch and
37:15
Speaker 3: I remember sitting inside the gate and just reflecting on
37:20
Speaker 3: doing good for others. Yeah, that's what life ought to
37:24
Speaker 3: be about. It's making other people's lives better.
37:26
Speaker 1: That's right, without keeping score or without needing to be
37:30
Speaker 1: acknowledged for it. That's one of the things that I'm
37:34
Speaker 1: finally learning at age seventy. Why do you think so
37:37
Speaker 1: many people believe giving only counted if it was large?
37:42
Speaker 1: And how did that belief limit the spirit of the
37:45
Speaker 1: aggie network.
37:48
Speaker 3: That cuts across a lot of human emotion, Rick, Because
37:53
Speaker 3: many times in life you look at people that are
37:57
Speaker 3: seemingly very generous, and I would tell you that it
37:59
Speaker 3: might experience, and not just with A and M, but
38:03
Speaker 3: with all charitable giving. There are many people that are
38:06
Speaker 3: more of a buying mode than they are a giving mode,
38:11
Speaker 3: and recognition is important to them. You're honest to goodness,
38:16
Speaker 3: givers never worry about recognition. Some of our most generous
38:20
Speaker 3: donors at the Association over the years shunned recognition, much
38:25
Speaker 3: like my dad didn't want it. They believe giving was
38:29
Speaker 3: an act of selfless service. Giving was an act of
38:33
Speaker 3: helping other people. Giving was not about recognizing themselves. And
38:42
Speaker 3: I think, and I believe, we have a majority of
38:44
Speaker 3: form students today that feel that way, particularly at our
38:47
Speaker 3: Century Club level, but even if at our most generous
38:51
Speaker 3: levels seven eight figure donors, when we go to talk
38:55
Speaker 3: to them about how to recognize them, many of them
38:58
Speaker 3: don't want to have a conversation. I'll tell you a
39:01
Speaker 3: quick story. Bartel Zachary, Zachary Corporation, the Zachary engineer, Zachary
39:06
Speaker 3: generous gift. I'm sitting in his office and he's telling
39:10
Speaker 3: me by pointing at me. And I'd known Bartel for
39:12
Speaker 3: many years Class of nineteen fifty four. I knew his
39:14
Speaker 3: dad clus twenty two. He said, Porter, I don't want
39:17
Speaker 3: any recognition whatsoever. And I was trying to convince him
39:21
Speaker 3: that his story, his generosity, his life, and his success
39:27
Speaker 3: in life, not just as an engineer with Zachary, but
39:30
Speaker 3: as a person was an important and inspiring story to
39:34
Speaker 3: future generations of agons. I made him think about it,
39:38
Speaker 3: and he said, I'll get back to you. Let me
39:40
Speaker 3: think about that. I didn't wait. I had a stone
39:46
Speaker 3: cast with a poem written by his father called My Creed,
39:52
Speaker 3: and I had it inserted into the walls of the
39:54
Speaker 3: Clayton W. Williams Junior Alumna senner And by the time
39:58
Speaker 3: he came to college station to talk to me about it,
40:03
Speaker 3: it had already been set in place for about a week.
40:06
Speaker 3: And so we walked around and he says, you've done
40:09
Speaker 3: a great job, and boy, it's beautiful and I'm glad
40:11
Speaker 3: I could be a part of it, and blah blah blah.
40:14
Speaker 3: And timing couldn't have been any better because about the
40:15
Speaker 3: time he took a breath, he turned a corner and
40:19
Speaker 3: I pointed to it. He couldn't talk for probably three
40:24
Speaker 3: or four minutes, and he pulled his handkerchief out, wiped
40:27
Speaker 3: his eyes, put his hand on it because it had
40:31
Speaker 3: his dad's signature, put his hand on it, gave me
40:34
Speaker 3: a hug, thank me, and that was the end of
40:37
Speaker 3: the tour. He walked up the door. So I love
40:42
Speaker 3: that story because it tells you a lot about Yeah,
40:46
Speaker 3: he would eat and want the recognition, but what he
40:48
Speaker 3: appreciated was the story that we're telling about him, his father,
40:52
Speaker 3: his family, their success, and how that's going to inspire
40:55
Speaker 3: future generations at Texas.
40:56
Speaker 1: AGI's that's right, that's walking then talks a good questues
41:00
Speaker 1: you ask.
41:01
Speaker 3: It's a lot of different human emotions.
41:03
Speaker 1: I'm sure did we're sort of I told you before
41:07
Speaker 1: the program began that were Carl and I are trying
41:12
Speaker 1: to fly forty thousand feet above what the narrative is
41:16
Speaker 1: and how to teach other organizations what you've done with
41:20
Speaker 1: your team. And it's the other day we came across
41:24
Speaker 1: the concept of buying in and how do people get
41:28
Speaker 1: buy in to a culture I had written down. A
41:32
Speaker 1: friend of mine had run Campbell's Soup at one time,
41:36
Speaker 1: and when he was the CEO, they changed the mission
41:39
Speaker 1: to connecting people through food that they love. I went
41:42
Speaker 1: connecting people. I thought this was Tomato Soup company, and
41:47
Speaker 1: then I thought, was that the Aggie network connecting aggies
41:50
Speaker 1: through the school they love?
41:52
Speaker 3: That?
41:52
Speaker 1: Did you? It's part of this emotional connectivity and emotional intelligence.
41:57
Speaker 3: I think that's where it all started. I think that
41:59
Speaker 3: from re rooted in our humble beginnings in eighteen seventy
42:03
Speaker 3: six have a lot to do with that very spirit. Yeah,
42:06
Speaker 3: I think the adversity that many of those cadets faced,
42:11
Speaker 3: and it was not a wealthy school. In fact, we
42:13
Speaker 3: were on a shoe string in eighteen ninety four. We
42:16
Speaker 3: were about to be shut down to become an insane asylum.
42:21
Speaker 3: State of Texas thought and them would be better served
42:24
Speaker 3: as an insane people say they accomplished that.
42:28
Speaker 5: I don't know.
42:28
Speaker 3: I don't want to go along with that.
42:30
Speaker 1: Yeah, we could go a lot there, You could go
42:32
Speaker 1: off on a few tangent, but I think what part
42:35
Speaker 1: campus are you talking about.
42:37
Speaker 3: I think because of the adversity in those early days
42:40
Speaker 3: and the genuine humility that so many of those young
42:44
Speaker 3: men from the farm had, it began a spirit of
42:48
Speaker 3: giving in any way. They could not just monetarily selfless service,
42:53
Speaker 3: lending a hand helping other aggies. We have records that
42:57
Speaker 3: go back to the late eighteen nineties where cadets would
43:01
Speaker 3: bring a milk cow to campus off of their form
43:05
Speaker 3: to help with supplying milk. They would bring beef a
43:09
Speaker 3: side of beef back from winter break to help with
43:13
Speaker 3: feeding the cadets and selfless service I think began there
43:19
Speaker 3: way before we thought about it.
43:20
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, but okay, let me get down to a metric.
43:25
Speaker 1: If other alumni organizations or foundations had a one or
43:31
Speaker 1: two percent contribution rate and they jumped to eleven percent
43:34
Speaker 1: over the course of a career like you and your
43:38
Speaker 1: team accomplished, something happened in there. So what actually happened
43:45
Speaker 1: to get to the buy in?
43:47
Speaker 3: Well, we weren't actually two percent of read his book
43:50
Speaker 3: and I saw that that.
43:51
Speaker 1: Was okay, So what's the real number that was? Let's
43:54
Speaker 1: set this story straight.
43:55
Speaker 3: We actually, when we measured true donors, not by not
44:01
Speaker 3: anything where a transaction was to take place. When we
44:04
Speaker 3: measured true benevolence, we were at about eight percent. Okay,
44:09
Speaker 3: so we drove it to about eleven percent.
44:12
Speaker 1: Still significant, Still signty, So how did you take that
44:16
Speaker 1: quantum lead?
44:17
Speaker 3: You know, all I got to tell you is when
44:19
Speaker 3: I took over, I had this fundamental belief that we
44:23
Speaker 3: had never told the appropriate inspiring story of Texas A
44:29
Speaker 3: and M, which is Texas Eggs, A and I's a
44:32
Speaker 3: great school. We got great faculty, we have great facility,
44:35
Speaker 3: we have a lot of great things today. But none
44:37
Speaker 3: of that matters. None of that would have happened if
44:40
Speaker 3: we didn't have great students and became great former students. Yes, sir,
44:42
Speaker 3: And if you look at the margin of excellence over
44:45
Speaker 3: the course of our history, it is ninety nine percent
44:49
Speaker 3: generated by former students who cared and wanted a better
44:53
Speaker 3: experience for future generations than perhaps we had ourselves. And
44:59
Speaker 3: I simply said, let's just tell our story. And we
45:02
Speaker 3: began to do that, and we began to tell student stories,
45:06
Speaker 3: former student stories. We talked about the ring the greatest
45:08
Speaker 3: symbol of the Aggie network, that it's more than a
45:10
Speaker 3: piece of jewelry, that it's probably the greatest connector we
45:13
Speaker 3: have when we're in an airport or a hotel, or
45:15
Speaker 3: a restaurant or wherever we are.
45:16
Speaker 1: That's right, and.
45:19
Speaker 3: Promoting that camaraderie through the Agia Ring, and then telling
45:22
Speaker 3: stories from young and old. We told the story of
45:26
Speaker 3: the oldest living Aggie at the time, and then we
45:29
Speaker 3: told the story of an eighteen year old and why
45:31
Speaker 3: he or she might have come down l what inspired
45:34
Speaker 3: them to be an AGGI, not what inspired them to
45:37
Speaker 3: want to be a mechanical engineer. You can get a
45:41
Speaker 3: great education at a lot of schools across country. Yes,
45:44
Speaker 3: there's only one school you can go to and be
45:47
Speaker 3: a Texas Aggy. So we told that story, and I
45:51
Speaker 3: think I'm not taking credit for it by any means, Rick,
45:54
Speaker 3: But I think when you look at the demand two thousand,
46:01
Speaker 3: I think we had maybe ten thousand applications a year.
46:04
Speaker 3: Maybe for the fall of twenty twenty six, Texas A
46:10
Speaker 3: and M received almost ninety thousand paid applications. Yeah, one
46:16
Speaker 3: hundred bucks reply, So think about what the commitment that
46:19
Speaker 3: is from ninety thousand families we had to pay one
46:22
Speaker 3: hundred dollars that committed that serious about I want to
46:25
Speaker 3: be a Texas ey.
46:27
Speaker 1: Just to the college station, just ag that's amazing.
46:31
Speaker 3: There's no other school in the country that had that
46:33
Speaker 3: kind of demand, not the IVY League, not any school.
46:38
Speaker 1: Is that wild popularity a good thing?
46:43
Speaker 5: I think it is.
46:44
Speaker 3: Well, I think it is because I think if the
46:46
Speaker 3: world had more aggues, it would be a better place.
46:48
Speaker 3: So we need more aggues in the world. My bottom line,
46:51
Speaker 3: it's true.
46:52
Speaker 1: Okay, when you and I were talking about the next book,
46:56
Speaker 1: you help shift my mindset from a few big donors
47:01
Speaker 1: to everyone matters absolutely, and so it's we're on this
47:05
Speaker 1: campaign about big hearted aggies now and big hearted people
47:09
Speaker 1: in general, because truly significant is I've learned since you
47:13
Speaker 1: and I talked first that people don't understand it yet.
47:16
Speaker 1: And I go, Jesus is the only truly significant person
47:20
Speaker 1: I said it. But people still go, I'm still confused.
47:23
Speaker 1: What's truly significant?
47:25
Speaker 3: So I'll tell you where that was form. It's important
47:27
Speaker 3: for context. Rarely, exceedingly rarely do you have somebody come
47:33
Speaker 3: to the forefront and say I want to give you
47:35
Speaker 3: all a million dollars. About ninety seven percent of our
47:40
Speaker 3: largest donors over time started out as small donors, twenty
47:45
Speaker 3: five dollars a year. We had a donor who kept
47:50
Speaker 3: his first check to the association in nineteen fifty nine.
47:53
Speaker 3: His name's John Hayler. The Texas A and M Foundation building
47:56
Speaker 3: is named in his honor. Two dollars and fifty in
48:00
Speaker 3: nineteen fifty nine to the development fund at the Association
48:04
Speaker 3: of Former Students. We still have that church, mister, and
48:07
Speaker 3: now look at John over his lifetime, one of the
48:10
Speaker 3: most generous aggies. So my point in all that is
48:13
Speaker 3: that we all start out doing what we can. There
48:16
Speaker 3: you go, and I think whether that's money, we're bringing
48:19
Speaker 3: your milk out of school, it doesn't matter. Send again
48:22
Speaker 3: green stamps back in the thirties, buying war bonds, whatever
48:25
Speaker 3: it might have been that Aggie's did. I think we
48:30
Speaker 3: have such a great history and culture of aggies just
48:33
Speaker 3: wanting to help Texas A and M in any way
48:36
Speaker 3: they can. And we are fortunate that we have a
48:38
Speaker 3: lot of baggies that send us one hundred dollars a
48:41
Speaker 3: year and they're very low, and then they send us
48:43
Speaker 3: to fifty a year, and they grow, and then before
48:45
Speaker 3: you know it, we're in their state plan and now
48:49
Speaker 3: we've raised millions of dollars. So it's it's a cultivation,
48:53
Speaker 3: and I think it speaks well to the story of
48:57
Speaker 3: Texas A and M, as well as the story of
48:58
Speaker 3: Texas ages.
49:00
Speaker 1: Would you mind switching places with your mom because I
49:02
Speaker 1: want to ask Lisa a question that's really critical. So
49:05
Speaker 1: Carla and I met in seventy five in a Banna class,
49:12
Speaker 1: and she saved my keysters probably two to one or
49:17
Speaker 1: something like that. I'm trying to hopefully trying to forget
49:20
Speaker 1: all the bad ban of memories only took one, but
49:23
Speaker 1: so we celebrated our fiftieth anniversary of friendship last fall.
49:29
Speaker 1: In case we don't make it to fifty, we kill
49:31
Speaker 1: each other. So behind every great leader is a spouse, absolutely,
49:39
Speaker 1: And so I want to know about some of the
49:42
Speaker 1: greatest moments you think that happened over the last quarter
49:45
Speaker 1: century that that you're most proud of today.
49:51
Speaker 11: Well, I would start by saying that Orter just always
49:56
Speaker 11: from the moment we met, we could be walking through
49:58
Speaker 11: a grocery store or anywhere and he would notice everyone
50:03
Speaker 11: like he just It could have been someone passing out
50:07
Speaker 11: samples of food, it could have been someone behind the counter,
50:11
Speaker 11: just treating everyone with respect.
50:16
Speaker 5: Sorry, I get really emotional that he set such a
50:20
Speaker 5: high bar.
50:22
Speaker 12: Of how he treated people and it wasn't it wasn't
50:25
Speaker 12: just what he said, it was truly their action. And
50:28
Speaker 12: so watching him go through his career and always put
50:32
Speaker 12: our family first, which is really hard to do in
50:35
Speaker 12: a situation like that when everyone wants in every time,
50:39
Speaker 12: that he.
50:42
Speaker 5: Really just put.
50:46
Speaker 12: Our needs are once, our desires first.
50:51
Speaker 1: Powerful. Okay, this is something Carly and I do in
50:54
Speaker 1: counseling at church. I want you all to hold hands
50:56
Speaker 1: for a second, and Porter, I want you to Look,
51:00
Speaker 1: that's what written.
51:02
Speaker 6: Here.
51:02
Speaker 1: It's kind of a novel for Carly and I age seventy.
51:06
Speaker 1: But anyway, look in her eyes. I want you to
51:08
Speaker 1: tell her kind of therapy, provide a tribute, just say
51:13
Speaker 1: thanks in whatever way you want to during this show,
51:16
Speaker 1: because I think it's going to send a big message
51:19
Speaker 1: about it takes two to make something happen.
51:21
Speaker 3: There is no question. And I would tell her now
51:25
Speaker 3: as I have many times. I credit me so with
51:31
Speaker 3: the outstanding children that we have because of the way
51:34
Speaker 3: she poured into them on a dating basis. She left
51:38
Speaker 3: lucrative job to be a stay at home all and
51:41
Speaker 3: to make a difference and young lives that I perhaps
51:46
Speaker 3: couldn't do because of the demands on my career. So
51:49
Speaker 3: my love for Lease is not just for her. It's
51:51
Speaker 3: for her as a mother, as a person, indeed as
51:54
Speaker 3: a wife, but a constant supporter of our family.
52:01
Speaker 1: That's so nice, okay, and I want both of you
52:06
Speaker 1: to answer this. Along that quarter of a century, what
52:10
Speaker 1: were the non negotiables.
52:15
Speaker 3: Well, the first one was we're not moving to Mexico.
52:17
Speaker 3: I remember that I had an opportunity before we were
52:22
Speaker 3: married to go to work for at and T when
52:24
Speaker 3: they bought tellmex And that just shows you I knew
52:28
Speaker 3: she was the one because she said, I really don't
52:30
Speaker 3: want to go to Mexico City. Okay, yes, I'm not
52:35
Speaker 3: moving to Mexico City and going to work for AT
52:37
Speaker 3: and T and four times my salary. You know. That
52:40
Speaker 3: was the first timeable, but it was a great one
52:44
Speaker 3: because it led to the opportunities in the career. In
52:47
Speaker 3: the family we had today church, going to church, going to.
52:53
Speaker 11: Get in late from a road trip, or in church.
52:55
Speaker 5: The next morning with our kids.
52:59
Speaker 1: A lot of moments. All right, just a few more questions.
53:06
Speaker 1: How do you want future generations of Aggies to think
53:08
Speaker 1: about their responsibility to one another and to our university.
53:18
Speaker 3: Yeah, this is in my wheelhouse because, as I've stated
53:25
Speaker 3: a couple of times today, it's our legacy as Aggies.
53:28
Speaker 3: It's it's perhaps the most profound aspect of being an Eggy,
53:33
Speaker 3: and that's Aggie's helping Aggies. And we have a worldwide
53:37
Speaker 3: reputation for that. And I've heard it from the game
53:41
Speaker 3: day set when they come to Texas, A and M.
53:43
Speaker 3: I have heard it from other university leaders. I'll hear
53:46
Speaker 3: it in Washington next week when I'm up there that
53:50
Speaker 3: they just don't see the camaraderie, the genuine camaraderie and
53:53
Speaker 3: level of support blindly for a fellow, regardless of generational differences, differences,
54:01
Speaker 3: whatever the differences are, that that ring binds all of
54:05
Speaker 3: us together with a common love and loyalty not only
54:08
Speaker 3: for each other, but indeed for our school. I pray,
54:13
Speaker 3: honestly pray that we never lose that, and it's something
54:17
Speaker 3: we guard and work on at the association. Because of
54:21
Speaker 3: our size eighty thousand students six hundred thousand former students,
54:27
Speaker 3: there's a real challenge.
54:28
Speaker 1: There, Yes, sir, there's a challenge in the numbers. And
54:31
Speaker 1: if ninety thousand applied and only thirty thousand get in,
54:37
Speaker 1: maybe twenty five thousand.
54:39
Speaker 3: About fifteen end up getting the honest acceptance in about
54:44
Speaker 3: fourteen to fifteen show up.
54:45
Speaker 1: Yeah, and they're all applying to get into Davis Gary.
54:49
Speaker 1: I just don't believe it anyway. So if that happens,
54:52
Speaker 1: there's the funnel, and then some of them get to
54:54
Speaker 1: go to a fish camp, some will be in the core,
54:57
Speaker 1: others will go their merry way. At the end of
55:01
Speaker 1: that day in May of four years later, what are
55:07
Speaker 1: we turning out in terms of an American citizen who cares.
55:12
Speaker 3: I'll tell you what we're turning out. We're turning out
55:15
Speaker 3: leaders that are dedicating their lives to the greater good.
55:19
Speaker 3: And much like Claire spoke to and Claire represents, it
55:23
Speaker 3: is more about the greater good than it is about
55:25
Speaker 3: their own good. And the selfless nature of our graduates
55:30
Speaker 3: and the humble, genuine nature of our graduates, I think
55:35
Speaker 3: is a real hope for the world, if not the
55:37
Speaker 3: state of Texas, in many communities throughout the world.
55:41
Speaker 1: Thank you so much. I feel like that I'm speaking
55:46
Speaker 1: to the person over the ecosystem of big hearted Texans,
55:50
Speaker 1: much less big hearted Aggie. So thank you for making
55:54
Speaker 1: an imprint. And I know you struggled with the whole
55:58
Speaker 1: concept of us honoring you, but that was I'm glad
56:01
Speaker 1: that you got over that because this is intended to
56:05
Speaker 1: send a message and inspire others to choose a career
56:10
Speaker 1: that can lift others up. And that's what we honored
56:14
Speaker 1: you about today. So thank you and congratulations to you
56:17
Speaker 1: and your family and all to the next generation of Aggie's.
56:22
Speaker 1: You get the final word.
56:24
Speaker 3: Well, as much as I love Texas, A and m
56:26
Speaker 3: and I love South Texas where I grew up. I
56:31
Speaker 3: love the state of Texas. I love all things associated
56:34
Speaker 3: with the great state of Texas. That there's nothing I
56:39
Speaker 3: don't love about Texas. So as I said in Loreto,
56:45
Speaker 3: to be recognized by your peers and folks in your hometown,
56:49
Speaker 3: it's a wonderful thing to be recognized by your state
56:55
Speaker 3: and by a friend. Yes, Truly Significant is a substantial,
57:02
Speaker 3: significant honor in my life. I don't have the words
57:06
Speaker 3: to thank you.
57:09
Speaker 1: Well, our privilege, our pleasure. Thank you folks for joining us,
57:14
Speaker 1: and I want to thank the production team here at
57:17
Speaker 1: the Texas Department of Agriculture and our commissioner, Sid Miller.
57:21
Speaker 1: Thank you for all that support. And our theme song
57:26
Speaker 1: is an original from the Truly Significant band. It's called
57:29
Speaker 1: Big Hearted Texans now across our state, so it really
57:35
Speaker 1: is befitting. So thank you folks again and we look
57:38
Speaker 1: forward to being with you again on Go Texan. Truly
57:44
Speaker 1: Significant Texans in Agriculture have great week.
57:48
Speaker 3: Maybe Hi. I'm Lyle Lovett.
57:50
Speaker 13: I've known Porter Garner since we were both undergrads at
57:53
Speaker 13: Texa A and M University. We're both classed in nineteen
57:55
Speaker 13: seventy nine. Porter started with the Association of Former Students
57:58
Speaker 13: right out of school's led the association all these years.
58:02
Speaker 13: His impact on the university, on former students, on the
58:07
Speaker 13: current student body is immeasurable. He has always been a
58:12
Speaker 13: truly significant Texan in my book, and Porter, I am
58:16
Speaker 13: thrilled for you to have this recognition. Thank you for
58:20
Speaker 13: everything you've done for our school and for our people.
58:23
Speaker 13: Thank you for everything you've done for me personally. Congratulations
58:27
Speaker 13: on an amazing career at the Association of Former Students,
58:32
Speaker 13: and congratulations on this honor. You are a truly significant
58:38
Speaker 13: Texan and I'm proud to be your friend. Thank you, Porter.
59:04
Speaker 14: Be Cotton Texas found across our stay.
59:09
Speaker 3: Ride and it's howard looking brisk it.
59:12
Speaker 14: Is on our play boots. It's what we're wear.
59:16
Speaker 3: It mosses, yet we may ride farm.
59:20
Speaker 14: It is so rewarding branch and we do it ride
59:24
Speaker 14: and we chase sub said, what's left.
59:30
Speaker 15: Is just anas. It's not what you are say. It's
59:39
Speaker 15: no true signly cans bee, it's.
59:45
Speaker 14: What will read. Godly Big supplies all sweezy textas grapes juice,
59:53
Speaker 14: while faith it's how're learning grace a gifted free sir
1:00:00
Speaker 14: fist to each other. Love a currency, and we did
1:00:06
Speaker 14: chase success.
1:00:09
Speaker 3: Big Deal is just empty days.
1:00:14
Speaker 15: It's not what you PA say, but finding true sacs.
1:00:24
Speaker 14: Big Cottage, Texans found across the steam ride.
1:00:30
Speaker 3: It is Howard Lovekid Risk.
1:00:32
Speaker 5: It is Honaly