Why Are You A Texas Exes Life Member? You Are, Right?

By Rebecca Fontenot in Blog on May 2, 2011 at 12:35 pm | 3 Comments

For the first time ever, we at the Ex-Students’ Association of The University of Texas at Austin (a.k.a. the Texas Exes) are devoting a week to thanking and recognizing our Life Members. We’re calling it…Life Member Appreciation Week!

As an independent, nonprofit alumni association, we are a members-based organization that relies on our Life Members for our daily bread. Of the 93,000 members of the Texas Exes, more than 64,000 are Life Members.

Their/your/our dues enable the Texas Exes to promote, preserve, and protect the University, as well as the value of your degree.

We run one of the most heralded scholarship programs in the country; publish The Alcalde, one of the country’s best alumni magazines; offer professional career counseling and networking; and improve student life on campus.

We recognize great teaching, superb advising, and commend outstanding achievements by students and alumni. All of which are made possible by the financial and volunteer support of our members and, especially, Life Members.

The Life Member program started in 1957, when then-executive director Jack Maguire came up with the idea while talking with 7-Eleven founder Jodie Thompson, who became Life Member No. 1.

In the 54 years since, more than 64,000 people have become Life Members, everyone from Walter Cronkite (No. 24,993) to Earl Campbell (No. 10,000) to Darrell Royal (No. 87) to Vince Young (No. 50,010 — love the number 10 in there).

For this week, we are sending all of our Life Members a newly redesigned Life Member car decal, as well as offering — for the first time ever — Life Member T-shirts through the University Co-op. We’re also selling copies of Our Texas for a discounted rate.

But most of all, we’re taking this opportunity to thank each and every Life Member for choosing to invest in the University and the Texas Exes. We really, really appreciate it!

We want to hear why you joined as a Life Member. Tell us your story and you could win a free tile in front of the Alumni Center. Also subscribe to The Alcalde Blog, like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter.

And if you’re not a Life Member but are interested in becoming one, we’d welcome you to the family. Check out joining here.

Video of Pamela Bain, Life Member No. 64,303, by Scott Paull and Tracie Gibson