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Building campus unity

Students camp for tradition By Camila Munoz @camila.munox

to vice provost for faculty affairs. Welsh also said multiple programs and offices will return under the provost’s control, such as the Aggie Honor System Office, Transition Academic Programs, the Public Policy Internship Program, the Texas Real Estate Center, the Private Enterprise Research Center and the Hispanic Serving Institution Initiative. Welsh then said he instructed Scott and Pettibon to make a committee to study the campus-wide effects of enrollment growth. “There are so many stressors here on campus that have to do with growth,” Welsh said. “ … How big are we gonna get? Are we going to 150,000 [students]? Stop at 80[,000]? We don’t know. All of us have to deal with this. We need an answer.” Welsh said he would accept the recommendations regarding libraries to maintain the current model.

Whether it means sleeping on concrete or in a tent for over 10 days, Aggies are known to have a passion for their school and its traditions. Students have been lining the streets outside Kyle Field since last Saturday, at halftime of the Auburn game in order to secure a spot for the Texas A&M vs. Alabama game that will take place on Oct. 7. Telecommunication junior Sophie Villarreal has been camping out since last Sunday. After seeing the first tent set up during the Auburn game, she knew she had to act fast and her group began to camp out, Villarreal said. Composed of 17 people, her group created a schedule and assigned shifts to ensure someone was always at the tent. “I have really enjoyed the experience,” Villarreal said. “The best part has probably been just hanging out with all of my friends and meeting our neighbors. We made a massive Excel spreadsheet so everyone could be held accountable and record the 30-hour minimum requirement.” Villarreal has logged over 30 hours of camping since her group settled in. Although it was rewarding, Villarreal said the heat and the lack of outlets posed a strong challenge to her campout experience. Her group decided to camp out early because of how popular the Alabama game was and their love for football, Villarreal said. “I think it’s the lore of Bama that makes it so popular,” Villarreal said. “When people think of Alabama and our rivalry, when it comes to their games, anybody and everybody is going to be out there.” Aerospace engineering senior James Rushing said he slept overnight at Kyle Field to secure his tickets.

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Julianne Shivers — THE BATTALION

Interim President Mark A. Welsh III talks to press at a media availability after his all-staff meeting regarding his decisions on the recommendations of the Sept. 19 Path Forward report at the Hall of Champions on Oct. 4, 2023.

Interim President Mark Welsh III discussed issues, addressed campus changes By Nico Gutteridge @nico_gjc The university continues to push forward, despite a summer of controversy. In an all-staff, student and faculty meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 4, Interim President Mark A. Welsh III presented his decisions on former-President M. Katherine Banks’ Path Forward initiative, discussing issues facing the university, such as growing campus enrollment and librarian tenure. On Sept. 19, a team including Vice President and Deputy CFO Joe Pettibon and Vice Provost Tim Scott, Ph.D., published a 32-page report detailing recommendations to the president on

Campus election results By Ana Renfroe @aeoenia The final results for the student government elections are in. The Texas A&M Student Government Association, or SGA, Election Commission oversaw the fall 2023 election. Students voted from Thursday, Sept. 28, at 9 a.m. until Friday, Sept. 29 at noon. The Class of 2027 voted for freshman class president, and students voted for Student Senate representatives. The unofficial results were released on the evening of Friday, Sept. 29 and were officially confirmed on Monday, Oct. 2 by Chief Justice Sawyer Bagley. The officer winners are as follows: • Freshman Class President: General engineering freshman Duncan Poling (61.23%) • Freshman senators: Political science freshman Brendan Hurt (25.46%), agricultural economics freshman Jackson Steele (21.88%) • Senator for College of Agriculture and Life Sciences: Agricultural economics sophomore Hadley Harris ELECTIONS ON PG. A3 HEAT ON PG. A3

the university’s next steps for Banks’ initiative. On Oct. 4, Welsh presented his final decisions and said an accompanying survey received around 2,500 responses. In the multi-hour-long meeting, Welsh went through the recommendations, showing the survey statistics and ending each with his final decision. “One of the things that I have been impressed by, throughout this whole process, is that everybody I’ve talked to, everybody I’ve heard talking in our listening sessions, all the comments you read online — there’s no evil intentions here,” Welsh said. “Everybody really just believes in what they’re doing.” Welsh said he would be reverting the Provost’s Office to its pre-Path Forward status by changing the title to executive vice president and provost to clearly identify the position as No. 2 in the university. The university will also move the vice president for faculty affairs position under the Provost’s Office, renaming the position

Rolling into Kyle Field A&M and Alabama battle it out for top spot in SEC West By Cade Harris @cadeharris_ A battle of undefeated teams in the SEC West. On Saturday, Oct. 7, Texas A&M will host No. 11 Alabama for the first time since upsetting the top-ranked Crimson Tide in 2021. However, this season, the Aggies are off to a much better start since the last time they upset Nick Saban and company. Both teams started similarly in terms of their wins and losses. The Aggies were defeated in Week 2 by Miami and a couple hours later, the Tide fell to Texas in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Since then, each team rattled off three straight victories, with two of those coming against division opponents. Because of this, a matchup between two 2-0 teams in the SEC Ishika Samant — THE BATTALION West will take place Saturday afFormer RB Devon Achane (6) runs with the ball during Texas A&M’s game ternoon at Kyle Field, with the winner coming out as the lone against the Alabama on Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022, at Bryant-Denny Stadium undefeated team in the division. in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

“This is just another game for us and just a game that we’re really gonna take importance and preparation in everything that we can,” graduate A&M tight end Max Wright said. “I think that, especially this year, it’s an important game this weekend.” The race for the SEC West title is wide open, with teams like Ole Miss and LSU already suffering a loss and other potential losses ahead on each team’s schedule. Graduate wide receiver Ainias Smith said his main worry is not about the standings. “I’m just trying to keep my head on to what I need to do, make sure my grades are straight so that I can be able to play in the end, making sure that the team is straight, so that we have the right mindset going into each week,” Smith said. “Really just focusing on each week, not really worrying about the end result, just let’s win this weekend and continue on.” Sophomore offensive lineman Dametrious Crownover said the standings can’t affect the way the team plays. FOOTBALL ON PG. B2