Today we’d like to introduce you to Aaron Keegan
Hi Aaron, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
The Houston Howdy Club originally began as an informal social group for Houston area Aggies in the mid-1990s. The club evolved to an official 501(c)(3) non-profit in the early 2000s, and around 2012 its primary mission became raising scholarship money for current Texas A&M students.
Today, the Houston Howdy Club’s primary mission is still to raise scholarship funds for current Texas A&M students, with our secondary mission being to create a robust Aggie community in the Greater Houston area.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
While I can’t speak to the challenges faced by the club early on, for us today, the club definitely has faced its share of challenges.
Technology and social media were probably one of the biggest challenges the club has faced. Through the 1990’s and into the 2000’s, you’re engaging very little on social media and more through word of mouth. Today, we have to engage the majority through social media. That is a huge challenge because your voice can get drowned out by everything else being pushed out on social media. People have many choices and we want to be the one they choose. Fortunately, we have an outstanding Social Media team that puts out exceptional content for the club and Membership team that effectively engages our members.
In addition, it is vital for the club to ensure our events are inviting for those who may be new to Houston and are going to an event by themselves. It can be easier to adjust to a new city after graduating if you have friends living there already. However, that is not the case for everyone. Some have to create a new social life from scratch and attend social events by themselves to make new friends. As a club, we have to keep that in mind. Would an individual attending one of our events for the first time, especially if they are by themselves, feel welcomed?
Our Special Events team, along with our Bar Relations team, have done an exceptional job ensuring that the answer to this question is yes. We have had countless people tell us that our club was their launching point socially after moving to Houston. It brings us a lot of joy knowing we’re making a positive impact in people’s lives.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
The Houston Howdy Club’s primary mission is to provide scholarships for current students at Texas A&M University. This includes both the College Station and Galveston campuses. We are extremely proud of our scholarships and the impact we are able to make with them. In the last two (2) years alone, we gave out $30,000 in scholarships each year which consisted of two (2) $5,000 scholarships and ten (10) $2,000 scholarships.
Our scholarship is unique because it is not based on merit alone. Rather we look primarily at whether an applicant is embodying the Aggie Spirit. In other words, is the applicant living out Texas A&M’s core values: respect, excellence, leadership, loyalty, integrity, and selfless service? As Aggies, we are charged with living these out in our everyday lives, whether as students or as former students. By making the Aggies Spirit the primary component of the scholarship, the Houston Howdy Club is able to do its part in maintaining and growing the Spirit. Our scholarship team has done an excellent job over the years of ensuring our mission is carried out.
We are also very proud of the events we put on in the Greater Houston area. Second to our scholarship mission, the Houston Howdy Club’s goal is to create a robust, welcoming Aggie community in Houston. Our events tend to cater to recent graduates and young alumni but anyone is welcome. From our Aggie Football Watch Parties, to our monthly happy hours, to our annual barge trip out at Lake Travis, there is something for everyone to enjoy! Whether you are from Houston or not, we want to be your Houston Aggie family.
We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
COVID-19 was probably one of the hardest challenges Houston Howdy Club has faced. While we were able to still give out scholarships, we couldn’t give out as much as we typically could. We also were not able to host events and bring people together. This hurt us since we were no longer in the forefront of people’s minds anymore. In many ways, we had to build back up our following.
However, this forced us to be creative in our engagement with the Aggie community, along with showing immense perseverance. For the club to survive, all of the officers had to commit to keeping the club going and I’m proud to say we did. Because of our resolve, we are able to continue to making an impact in the Aggie community.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.howdyclub.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/howdyclub
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/howdyclub/
