Ruth Hunt

When we were at A&M, there was a Ramada Inn at the Northwest corner of Texas Avenue and University. (The building is still there, but it's now a dormitory.) The Ramada included a café on the South side, facing the campus. Among the staff at the café was a waitress named Ruth Hunt. Ruth was biologically childless (I think), but she was a Mother to thousands.

I don't know how it started, but every fish in the Corps at A&M probably knew about her. The café was a great place to escape the campus, but it wasn't out of walking range of the quad. It was especially a homey place on weekend mornings, when the coffee was good and the pace was relaxed.

Ruth had the knack of knowing when a fish needed the attentions only a Mother could give, and many an Aggie confided problems, fears, and even joys and successes to Ruth over a cup of coffee at the Ramada's café. Somehow, she knew just what to say, and when to just listen. And it wasn't just Aggies - troubled youth from the Bryan and College Station community flocked to Ruth at the Ramada for advice and a sympathetic ear. But many a leather-legged Zip could thank Ruth for his staying in the Corps through his fish year.

One of the most important days on the calendar for the Corps of Cadets was Mothers' Day. Our school year went through the end of May, which made Mothers' Day the last formal occasion prior to the whirlwind of Ring Dance, final exams, Graduation, Commissioning, and Final Review. Mothers' Day was also when the Corps announced the individual and unit awards for the year just about completed, and named the leaders for the next. Each unit had its own tradition of festivities, but all included some kind of ceremony to honor the Mothers of the Cadets. At the University level, one woman was named Aggie Mother of the Year.

Ruth had such an impact on us that, during our Senior year, we decided to get her honored as Aggie Mother of the Year. As far as I know, she was the only person so named that had never had a biological child attend A&M. And she will remain unique, since after 1972, the University changed the nomination requirements to stipulate that the person so honored must be the Mother of at least one Aggie. Later, when Political Correctness set in, the occasion was changed to Parents' Weekend, the honorees became Aggie Parents of the Year, and, due to a change in the academic calendar, the date was changed from the first weekend in May to mid-April.

Ruth didn't stop with our class. In later years, she became known as "The fish Lady". But I'll always remember her as the person who best deserved the title of Aggie Mother.

John (Yankus) Yantis