Issuu

THURSDAY, MAY 1

TRADITION Outgoing editors say goodbye to The Battalion newsroom in their Swan Songs A4-A6

@THEBATTONLINE

LIFE & ARTS Philippine Student Association builds community on campus through shared culture A7

PUBLICATION NOTICE The Battalion

This is the last newspaper of spring 2025. Publication will continue online, and printing will resume on Aug. 23.

Cabinet members visit Aggieland

In a collaborative effort between government healthcare and agriculture officials, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins ‘94 and Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spoke about food security and nutrition on Texas A&M’s campus By J.M. Wise News Editor

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture our state, for our country and, ca Healthy Again committee. The Brooke Rollins ‘94 and Secretary frankly, for our world. … It’s im- committee aims to study and lower of Health and Human Services portant to note that this is unprec- rates of chronic disease in adults and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. visited Tex- edented — our partnership. It’s not end childhood chronic disease. as A&M’s AgriLife Phenotyping partisan, it’s not Republican ver“Nearly 100 million Americans Greenhouse and toured facilities on sus Democrat. It really is making are obese in a country of 340 milTexas A&M’s campus on Tuesday, America healthy again, and making lion,” Rollins said. “And the inApril 29. Following a tour of the American agriculture great again.” stances of diabetes, cardiovascular greenhouse, the secretaries spoke at Rollins was the first woman disease and other diet-related disa press conference. eases are on the rise, parTheir visit was announced ticularly in children and on Monday as a joint effort adolescents.” It really is making America healthy between the Department Rollins and Kennedy again, and making American of Health Human Services plan to release the 10th and the Department of Agedition of the Dietary agriculture great again. riculture to improve naGuidelines for Ameritional wellness. Protestors cans in late summer or from Hands Off!, a early fall, and described Brooke Rollins ‘94 nationwide the new guidelines as nonU.S. Secretary of Agriculture protest partisan and user friendly, movement with an emphasis on local and whole foods. against Under Kennedy, the President Don- to serve as an A&M student body ald Trump, president. Her son, mechanical en- Department of Health were present gineering sophomore and junior and Human Services outside the Yell Leader-elect Luke Rollins, has cut over $3 billion press confer- was present at the press conference in federal research which ence for the alongside other members of the funding, duration of Corps of Cadets. Rollins and Ken- A&M relies on for the event. nedy have previously collaborated healthcare and ag“ N u t r i - on changing school lunches and ricultural research. In response to a tion must improving children’s health. drive what “When I was a boy, we had the question about we are best food in the world,” Kenne- the cuts, Rollins doing to dy said. “We were regarded as the expressed her build a healthiest people in the world. To- dedication to b e t t e r day, we are the sickest. We have the local farmers and ranchers t o m o r - highest chronic disease burden.” vowed row,” Kennedy, a previous indepen- and Rollins dent candidate for president in that programs s a i d . 2024, is a proponent of President which com“ F o r Donald Trump’s Make Ameri- bine health-

care and agriculture would be prioritized for federal funding. “There is no surprise to anyone here that we have been going through a lot of realignment and reorganization in the federal government,” Rollins said. VISIT ON A3

“

Getting the job done: Aggie women in D.C. Thanks to Texas A&M’s public policy internships Aggie women today thrive in government positions By Tenny Luhrs Associate News Editor Women have long faced adversity in higher education, and Texas A&M is no exception. In 1895, Ethel Hudson, a professor’s daughter, became the first woman to attend classes at A&M, with other well-connected women following suit. Their enrollment as “special students” was limited, though, and they were barred from being awarded an official degree. It took three decades before Mary Evelyn Crawford became the first woman to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in 1925, but the win was short-lived. Just four days later, the A&M College Board of Directors banned women’s enrollment once more, a decision that wouldn’t be overturned until 1963. Despite this tumultuous history, the enrollment of women at A&M continues to close the gender gap, and many go on to lead esteemed careers, particularly in public policy. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins ‘94 is currently one of the most prominent political figures to have graduated from A&M, but she’s not the only Aggie making waves in public policy. Of the female former students paving their way in D.C., many went through A&M’s Public Policy Internship Program, or PPIP. The program offers a range of hands-on internship opportunities for students looking to influence policy across all industries and has served about

1,300 Aggies since its creation in 1999. One alumnus served was Izzah Yousuf ‘23, who grew up with a mother involved in local politics. She was immersed in the political world from a young age, so she knew she would pursue a degree in political science when she came to A&M. Through the PPIP, she worked as an intern for the office of Congressman Al Green (D-09), was hired as a legislative correspondent after graduation and was recently promoted to legislative assistant in March. “I am very lucky that my boss is a proponent of moving people within the office,” Yousuf said. “Our old [legislative director] had too much on his plate and decided I could handle the promotion. … I’m very grateful for his and the congressman’s trust in me.” Yousuf said that while she loves her job and her female-dominant office, she is not ignorant to the ways she — and other women around her — have been treated differently in the predominantly white, male space that is Capitol Hill. “I have been in rooms as the only woman and [person of color],” Yousuf said. “It doesn’t bother me much, but I know many women around me who have experienced sexual harassment and exclusion. Being both young and female, there is a tendency for people to assume I’m an intern or for some to overexplain basic policies to me.” Despite the challenges, Yousuf credits PPIP for giving her the opportunity to break into the industry. She said that, not only did the program get her the job she has now, but it gave her the time and experience to decide if public policy was something she truly wanted to pursue. WOMEN ON A3

Photos by Sophie Villarreal — THE BATTALION

Top to bottom: Morgan Orem ‘23 poses for a photo in Washington, D.C. Izzah Yousuf ‘23 speaks to a reporter from The Battalion in Washington, D.C.