TRA HISTORY
June 13, 2020
Sully statue vandalized, and statue roped off. Protesters bussed in an effort to remove Lawrence Sullivan Ross from our campus. TRA Founder Keith Hazlewood called in Aggie friends, carried a boom box and a flag to stand for Aggie Traditions and Core Values. Image provided by The Battalion, TAMU
June 25, 2020
In the second protest, Aggie football players were released from practice where they confronted Ol' Ag Vietnam war vets threatening their lives in a confrontation around Sully on Academic Plaza while law enforcement stood idly by.
June 28, 2020
TRA begins its formation with a Facebook page by founder Keith Hazlewood. Begun as a place for good Ags to tag up, the idea of defending our Aggie Traditions and Core Values caught on like wildfire.
July 13, 2020
In the third protest, a large number of Ol' Ags appeared, complete with signs proclaiming our Core Values. A physical confrontation occurred which culminated with a scholarship student from the track team climbing atop Sully toting a Black Lives Matter flag. The media circus portrayed the BLM aggressors as the victims and many TRA members were doxed and threatened.
July 15, 2020
The Rudder Association receives its certificate of formation and begins the path to becoming a 501c3 organization defending Core Values and Aggie Traditions. Keith Hazlewood proposes a Double the Corps in Four plan he pitches to the administration. Original TRA logo pictured.
August 7, 2020
The state legislature determines that the statue of Lawrence Sullivan Ross was placed on campus by the legislature, and they are the only ones that could remove it. The Sully question was solved. The protesters would not concede, and another protest was held but this time current students from the ‘Save Sully’ movement joined in. The movement to protect our Core Values and Traditions was growing. After this episode, when BLM called a protest, no one answered their call. Without a circus to film or drama to manipulate, the protests fizzled out.
September 27, 2020
Rain Brigade! With protests no longer attended, the blm crowd led by socialists professors took to using (then) legal means of sidewalk chalk to continue their hateful rant. Hateful, racists messages were left using waxy railroad chalk. The furious students cried out to TRA for help. A system was set up where current students would message TRA Rain Brigade members consisting of both Ol' Ags and current students with maps/photos of the hateful chalking. TRA Rain Brigade would walk the campus in the wee hours of the morning spraying clean the racist messages before each day began. When the protesters began desecrating the seal on Military Walk, administrators were forced to act and outlaw the chalking.
October 24, 2020
First members meeting at the Bryan/College Station Hilton was held where the 5 top strategies were laid out, officers were elected, and priorities were established. Guest speakers included McKenna Dallmeyer, an Aggie student bullied, doxed and threatened for her conservative beliefs by an Aggie Professor at TAMU and the LatinX group on campus. McKenna’s private residence was violated, and photos of her apartment were spread throughout social media. McKenna left Texas A&M when administrators did nothing to protect her. Picture courtesy of McKenna Dallmeyer's LinkedIn.
November 4, 2020
TRA begins to really get their feet planted. Office space acquired, office space rented, certificate of formation was amended to include several classes of membership and paperwork was filed to become a 501c3. A common purpose was established - Core Values and Aggie Traditions. Early slogan - We're going to put the "AGGIE" back in AGGIELAND
March 14, 2021
Stories of a rogue Fish Camp, high-jacked by the diversity crowd began to surface in 2/21. The core values had quietly been changed to reflect the progressive diversity agenda and attendance began to fall off. A 160-page Fish Camp Report was completed by TRA volunteers and presented to administrators and Fish Camp. There had been media accounts of a sexual assault said to have ties to the structure of Fish Camp and that it was a hunting ground. The report and media following its release resulted in the exit of then Vice President of Student Services and the complete overhaul of Fish Camp returning it to its original purpose and core values.
November 29, 2021
TRA begins a cordial relationship with Texas A&M University President Kathy Banks. TRA advocates campus issues such as Double the Corps in Four and protesting Alana, a proposed dorm for ONLY black and pacific islander students, special university funding for Draggieland (a drag show on campus) at the MSC. Once funding for Draggieland is removed, the campus press takes notice and begins an assault on The Rudder Association culminating with them hacking our webpage and publishing an expose using outdated information, former members and stolen documents.
August 23, 2022
The first Leaders and Legends Conference was held at the Pebble Creek Country Club in College Station. After the scorched earth article by the student newspaper, students were reluctant to associate with The Rudder Association. Students were fearful of having their faces photographed. Leaders attended and mentored students. There were door prizes, a meal and comradery.
September 14, 2022
TRA sends a letter to the Board of Regents demanding an end to the Aces Plus Program which displayed outright racism with bounties to hire academic professors of certain colors while penalizing administrators for hiring white professors.
June 19, 2023
TAMU announces the hiring of DEI champion Kathleen McElroy. A flurry of press releases were released by TRA and other Aggie groups in objection to the hiring of the new journalism school with such ties to radical journalism. Then President Kathy Banks rescinded the offer which led to a $1,000,000 settlement and Kathleen McElroy leaving TAMU before having ever taught a class. TRA Membership pours in as word spreads that, finally, someone is standing up to the woke agenda. Image courtesy of: Joe Timmerman/The Texas Tribune
August 14, 2023
The Second Annual TRA Leader and Legends Conference serves double the amount students than the previous year. Students are thrilled to be invited to a good meal, speaker Former Governor Rick Perry and to be mentored by Aggie Greats.
November 19, 2022
General (Ret.) Mark A. Welsh III was is announced as the 27th president of Texas A&M University. In review of his resume and references, TRA decides to take reserved, cautious view and publishes list of ‘redlines’ which would turn the tide on our approval of him. Image courtesy of: Meredith Seaver/The Eagle
February 12, 2024
Rumors begin to bubble up concerning a ‘Fish Academy’ and current students begin actively reaching out to TRA to halt the destruction of unit identity formed by traditional Corps of Cadets FOW practices. In a flurry of emails and press releases that followed, the Commandant reversed course and Corps students heralded TRA as heroes to the cause. Additional woke policies such as ‘European bathroom’ remodels, transgender hormones being dispensed at the taxpayer funded health center were exposed via FOIA requests and were cancelled. You know you’re doing something right when the Instagram Memes feature you as the heroes.
August 22, 2024
The Third Annual TRA Leaders and Legends Conference held at Pebble Creek highlighted 15 table hosts including District 10 Texas State Rep. Bryan Harrison and the President of the Texas Board of Education. More than 60 students representing over 25 student organizations on campus attended. The evening guest speakers were Mark & Brooke Rollins ’94, CEO of Texas Public Policy Foundation.