Same idea here as the Longhorn Foundation thread, just now regarding the Texas Exes ... Curious as to y'alls overall generall thoughts and/or ideas regarding the Texas Exes. What do you like and/or dislike? What changes do you wish would be made? What do y'all think are the advantages/disadvantages of membership? In what ways do you use your Texas Exes membership, if at all? Are you actually a paid member, lifetime or annual? Are you involved with your local chapter? If not, why and what would it take for you to get involved? If what ways would you improve the organization as a whole ... as well as improve your local chapter? Again, this post is just made out of curiousity. Was just sitting here wondering what others thought about the organization as a whole. Post away ...
I think the car stickers need to be changed. I hate the clear outline, we have the technology to make it so that it is only the lettering that is the sticker, and I think that would look a million times better.
I SEVERELY dislike that Texas Exes pushes so hard for chapter events to have a member price and a non-member price for events. No one really follows it anyway, it's just too much a pain in the butt. I get the idea, that they want to show that their is value in being a member, but I think there are much better ways to do it: 1) The trips advertised in the Alcalde are great.... if you're retired and rich. Have a lower lever of trips put together for those of us that can only go to a place for maybe 3-4 days and can't drop 3g on it. Away games are great, but planning the travel can be a hassle, THIS would be of great value. 2) More discounts. My company gets me a 13% discount on my SprintPCS bill, and they aren't even our main provider. With a huge alumni base, they should be able to work some great deals. 3) Get the atheltic program to actually assign some value for being a life-member (maybe it is worth the equivalent of an extra $25 on your donation amount when it comes to determining OU tickets and such). I know technically we are above the general public, but you know what that is worth. 4) Sponsor TID on campus again. THE FULL EVENT. It still pisses me off that Texas Exes went chickenshit in 1994. I am a life-member and have been very active in 2 of the largest chapters over the past 4 years.
TID = Texas Independence Day UT caved a while back on celebrating the event because it was deemed to be insensitive to "Texas really belongs to Mexico and was stolen from us" crowd.
You have to absolutely be kidding me with that last post. I consider myself just left of center and that is the absolute biggest piece of #$@# that I have ever read. I would venture to say that most people "offended" by "stealing" Texas from Mexico neither are members of the Texas Exes nor contribute to the Longhorn Foundation.
How can we celebrate the fourth of july then? Didn't we basically steal this country from the brits...who stole it from the natives...who stole it from the martians?
The Exes are fairly useless. Other than the Alumni Center on gameday and a car sticker, what real value do the Exes serve?
I'm a life member, I did it when I graduated. I like the alumni center, but haven;t been active in any other chapters or anything. I live in Houston, I'm sure there is a big chapter, but I don't know anything about it or what they do.
I like the Exes and am a recent Lifetime member. One thing I would like is the better discounts as another poster mentioned. With a large group, they have to be able to get better discounts for hotels or rental cars or something.
As Hellraiser indicated, yes - it's true. UT made the decision to discontinue the campus-wide celebration of Texas Independence Day a while back at the behest of certain organizations that considered it to be insensitive and/or offensive. I believe it was the UT-Austin administration that made the call and not specifically the Texas Exes, although I believe the Exes were bound by the decision. Now, back to the original question (lest this meander into West Mall discussion territory). My wife and I are Life Members and have been for about 12 years. It buys you the window decal, key chain, the subscription to the Alcalde, and all of that; but the biggest motivation (I think) is the idea that you're supporting the University and helping others. Specifically, the Exes fund a number of scholarships, and the dues go (in part, I believe) to financing these.
As Hellraiser indicated, yes - it's true. UT made the decision to discontinue the campus-wide celebration of
We've been life members since the early 90s and my favorite perk is that, on non-game days, we can park in the Exes garage if we have a reason to visit campus. Can't do this on a football game day, but if you want to do a little shopping at the stadium and perhaps take a friend around campus to show it off, you can park without a fee in the Exes garage. We're attempting to resuscitate our local Bell County chapter so that we can fund scholarships for local kids who want to go to Texas. Anyone lives in the Bell County area, we will have our next gathering the first Friday of April, which will be April 6, at 6 p.m. at the Duckhorn Tavern in downtown Temple. Please plan to be there!
I think it needs to hold events for actual young adults. I'm not saying that at 28 you're not young...but come on, you're a real adult now. The young adult crowd need to consist of recent graduates to the age of 27. It really needs to cap it badly. If you saw James Brown on campus the jig is up.
Life Member here. Texas Exes are okay, but I agree that resurrecting TID would be a great great endeavor for the organization to take on. Seriously we now have offical celebrations for Cinco de Mayo and the like but not Texas Independence Day. That is whacked. Let's make it happen. Our aggy brethren have their most important event of the year on San Jacinto Day, I believe. That leaves TID for the Longhorns!! Let's do it.
I posted a similar question on another board and got zero responses. Does anyone use the Exes for networking, generating business contacts, etc., or just for a place to drink before and after the games. I know several Aggies that use their equivalent of the Exes to network and help promote their businesses with fellow ags. Sounds like y'all are saying that this kind of thing isn't commonplace with the Exes?? If that's true, that's just as said as no TID celebration.
The Houston Texas Exes hold a lunch at the Junior League on the next to last Wednesday of the month. There you can network and meet business peeps. That's one of the good things. My gripe is that they don't hold enough things for recent graduates.
Thanks for the correction/update. The point is, it doesn't take as much as many people think to really make a contribution in the way of a scholarship.
This Saturday the Austin Young Alumni Group is holding a tailgate: Austin Young Alumni Group Orange & White Scrimmage Tailgate We will be tailgating before the Orange and White Scrimmage on March 31st from 10 a.m. until game time at noon. Join us in the parking lot across from the Texas State History Museum on Congress and MLK. Free beer and food while supplies last. Just look for the Young Alumni Group banner. No need to register for this event, just come on by! Thank you to Plucker's for providing the food for this event. Be sure to check out their new location on South Lamar Blvd.
It has always bothered me that if you didn't go to Texas you can join Texas Exes. This is obviously a poor decision. I like the fact people who didn't go to Texas can support the university, but have a seperate program. Their credit card is *********. I have sent emails to people there with simple questions and never got a response. It was to two or three of the "officers" for Dallas, Austin and LA. This is no good. I am a life member, and the benefit is really only to them as the officers can go spend my money on their lunches and meetings. So, as you can tell, I am not a big fan of the Texas Exes. They seem to be a marketing machine to get money that only a few of the members and their officers benefit from.
Tailgate, Sorry, but you're dead wrong regarding officer spending. Our chapter spends zero for officer functions, and I should know. I'm starting my third stint as President of our chapter. We have gone from giving maybe $1500 a year in scholarships to local students to being able to fund $4000 or more per year during my seven years in Lockhart. I'm very proud of that fact, and that's the value that being a member holds for me. Sure, I get the Alcalde and the key chain and all that because my wife and I are both life members, but that's just the silly trappings of it all, and in the grand scheme of things is meaningless. Our primary purpose is to generate scholarship funds for deserving students in our county, and most of our activities are geared towards doing so. We do have some game day parties for select away games where we are only hoping to break even and fellowship is the order of the day, but for the most part, we're all about helping to fund the education of deserving students. That gives me a great sense of pleasure and pride, and it is why I am proud to be a TexasEx. Texanne, great job! Let me know if I can offer any advice or assistance.
Calling the Alumni Center on gameday a perk is a joke as well. I would guess that maybe 10% are dues-paying members and 90% crash the gates to drink beer and watch the big screens.
