The Battalion
The Battalion is the student newspaper of Texas A&M University. Started in 1893 as a monthly publication, it continues to this day, now as a weekly print and daily online paper. The Battalion is entirely student-run and covers the university and surrounding Bryan-College Station area.
History
Origins
The Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, had two literary societies, the Calliopean and the Austin. The societies collaboratively published a literary magazine, College Journal from 1889 until 1893. The College Journal appeared monthly, describing the activities of the college and its students in "the flowery prose of the time." College Journal ceased publication in 1893 when the two societies collaborated on a newspaper, called The Battalion.Vol. 1, No. 1 was published on Sunday, October 1, 1893. In the 's salutatory, it reads:
This new publication used a more journalistic style as it covered campus events, and even included photographs; however, early issues still strongly resembled prose, and included sections of poetry, humor and essays.
June editions originally acted as a yearbook before one was officially adopted by the university in 1903. While women weren't allowed to officially attend A&M until 1963, starting in 1893 women could enroll in classes and participate in student organizations. This included The Battalion; Ethel Hudson — the first woman to enroll in A&M courses in 1893 and an honorary member of the Class of 1895 — helped edit the annual yearbook issue. Women have served as reporters, writers and editors of The Battalion throughout its publication
Early 1900s
In 1904, The Battalion began publishing weekly. Around the same time, the Austin and Calliopean Literary Societies handed publication over to the Association of Students, causing a stylistic shift from literary writing to news coverage.The A&M College Trouble of 1908
While there had been turmoil in years prior about university restrictions, unrest between the students, newspaper and faculty came to a head after University President Henry Hill Harrington ordered history professor Charles W. Hudson and his family — including a popular son and current A&M student — to be confined to their campus home after Hudson's grandchild developed whooping cough. The decision overruled quarantine guidelines from college physician Dr. Joe Gilbert, interpreted as disrespecting Gilbert and questioning his competency. This angered students since Gilbert "had something of a hero image."Class president T.J. Beesley and the senior class of 1908 petitioned Texas' governor to remove Harrington from office. A month later, when the board of directors fully exonerated Harrington, roughly half of the student body left campus in protest; the walkout made national headlines at the time.Students slowly returned to A&M, but two months later The Battalion ran an article disputing Harrington's stance on the protest. He claimed there were no more problems between students and faculty, which the article contested. A&M's board of directors responded by directing Harrington to establish order — seven junior Battalion editors were suspended and an order put in place to censor future publications.
Protest against Harrington continued throughout the summer. As a result, Harrington resigned as university president in August. Censorship rules remained on the books for The Battalion; however, they were almost never enforced and eventually forgotten.
World Wars era
As the main local source of news at the time, The Battalion broke the news of America declaring war and joining World War I to much of the Bryan-College Station community. The below images are reprinted from The Battalion. Texas A&M was heavily involved in the war effort and had a larger percentage of graduates enlisted than any other university;. in September 1918, the entire senior class enlisted.In the 1920s and '30s, the editor-in-chief and business manager were elected annually by the A&M student body. At the same time, The Battalion gained its own campus office.The only time The Battalion ceased publication was during World War II, when it was suspended for a period of time to conserve paper and supplies.
Mid-20th century
1954 staff walkout
In February 1954, the Student Life committee voted for a special committee to oversee student publication. The entire staff of The Battalion quit in protest the next day. The staff announced the walkout on the paper's front page, saying:The rest of the four-page issue, in addition to typical news, featured letters to the editor from resigning staff. Each explained their grievances and why they chose to quit.
At the time, The Battalion's walkout made headlines. “Censorship is hidden with advice and assistance,” Holder and Bennett said in a press statement. “To us, it still means the same thing. This committee has been set up to stop The Battalion from printing the truth about things at A&M which are embarrassing to some individuals.”
A new staff was announced one month after the mass resignation, featuring many protesting writers returning in new roles. The two new co-editors, Harri Baker and Bob Boriskie, were formerly the campus and sports editors, respectively; Baker and Boriskie sought Battalion staff approval before taking the positions. Walking out worked as intended and no oversight committee was formed.
Push for coeducation
In 1958, A&M's student body voted whether or not to implement coeducation at the university. The Battalion began writing editorials to encourage coeducation leading up to the vote. A comic declared coeducation "An evolution, not a revolution."Copies of The Battalion were burned in the Quad in protest, and Editor-in-Chief Joe Tindel's dorm was "Batt bombed," or filled with crumpled issues of The Batt. A month later, the Student Senate demanded Tindel resign. The coeducation resolution was later defeated by students, and women weren't admitted to A&M until the 1960s.
Present
In February 2022, Texas A&M University administration unsuccessfully attempted to cease The Battalion weekly print release, despite the organization's independent status. This led to significant backlash from the publication, as featured in their "Print is not dead" edition, and started a student movement, #SaveTheBatt. The publication continues to print weekly, each Thursday, and distributes across Texas A&M's campus and the Bryan-College Station community.Kathleen McElroy hiring controversy
On June 13, 2023, former A&M student Kathleen McElroy was hired to lead A&M's new journalism program at an official signing ceremony. She began meeting with journalism faculty and staff of The Battalion soon after to plan for the upcoming year. However, on July 11, Elroy announced she would remain in her position as a University of Texas at Austin professor due to undiscussed changes to her contract.Two days after McElroy's official hiring, Texas Scorecard published "Aggies Hire NY Times 'Diversity' Advocate to Head Journalism Program." The article was written by a former opinion writer for The Battalion and discussed McElroy's work in diversity, equity and inclusion. Its publication led to criticism of her hiring, and on July 6, the Texas A&M Board of Regents met to discuss the decision.
On July 7, McElroy said she spoke on the phone with José Luis Bermúdez, then-interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and that he advised her to stay at UT, saying her hiring "stirred up a hornet's nest." Bermúdez later resigned from the position, citing the controversy.
On July 9, McElroy received a one-year contract that varied from the original agreement and included a clause about "at-will termination." She was originally offered tenure, which then-University President M. Katherine Banks told the faculty senate was still on the table on July 19. Banks resigned as university president on July 21 as a result of the McElroy controversy.
Opinion Section
A Texas A&M student conducted a partisan affiliation analysis of the opinion section of The Battalion after they refused to publish his conservative commentary. It showed a nearly 17-to-1 liberal-to-conservative article ratio.Traditions
- Silver Taps - when a student passes away, they're honored by a Silver Taps ceremony; the week of the ceremony, a write-up of the student's life and who they were, typically with quotes from their friends and family, appears in that week's print edition of The Battalion
- BTHO papers - for major sporting events, The Battalion publishes a BTHO, or "beat the hell outta," poster, featuring the phrase "BTHO " that spectators hold up during the game
- Batt bombing - typically done to freshmen by upperclassmen in the Corps of Cadets, Batt bombing involves filling a cadet's dorm room with crumpled up copies of The Battalion, with the goal being to take up as much of the room as possible
- Swan Songs - graduating Battalion staff have the option of writing a Swan Song column, which reflects on their time at A&M
- Ring Day columns - similar to Swan Songs, Ring Day columns are written when a staff member earns their Aggie Ring
Distribution
A&M's Cushing Memorial Library keeps an incomplete archive of past Battalion print issues, starting with the first issue from October 1893. The Battalion