Ann Kellett and Lane Stephenson
“Lucky I didn’t get tarred and feathered.” That’s what Lane Stephenson - who has worked in communications at his alma mater for more than half a century - told colleague Ann Kellett about his days as an advisor to the student newspaper and yearbook. His boss was legendary retired Gen. James Earl Rudder, president of college, who wanted only positive stories. At StoryCorps, Stephenson also discusses how streaking was dealt with in the 1970s.
- [Lane] We had a publication that we called Texas A&M Today which we have, is, has gone by different names and been revived and so forth, and then as I said, what really got a lot of my time and attention was when I was designated the advisor for The Battalion, for the student newspaper as well as for the yearbook, the Aggieland, and, of course the provision there was, by General Rudder didn't, I had my marching orders on what the student newspaper was to be and what it wasn't to be and General Rudder's idea of what it should be was a base newspaper and he didn't want to see a lot of negative stories or kinda there so it was, took a certain amount of, uh, finessing, I'd like to think, and cooperation and we had to, well in addition to Tommy DeFrank, I'm the only probably person in the world that calls him Tommy, Thomas DeFrank, and Thomas has become a icon, you use the word icon, I don't think it necessarily applies to me, but Thomas DeFrank's become an icon in Washington for covering the presidents at the White House. He's covered every president since Lyndon Johnson, did that as an intern, but, anyhow, working with, well, Tommy was gone but when he, when Tommy left then the whole staff resigned, so we were basically out on the street recruiting a new staff, and so that had its obvious challenges.
- [Ann] So you were the advisor to this group of students, so how did you work with them and also manage above you with your boss and with the president? That must have been a difficult position.
- [Lane] Well it had its challenges, I'm lucky I didn't get tarred and feathered, some of the things that, you know, we had to work with on The Battalion, then the later challenge was when General Rudder died unexpectedly in, I guess it was the fall, but anyhow in 1970, then his successor Dr. Jack K. Williams came in, who I really consider my mentor, but not too long after he came in, and I was still had my obligations, responsibilities with the student newspaper was streaking, If you'll remember streaking
- [Ann] Streaking, yes of course
- [Lane] Streaking became popular on campus and Dr. Williams was pretty--
- [Ann] But we need to remind ourselves, it was all male back then, so, I can't imagine.
- [Lane] Well, I mean this was in the early '70s--
- [Ann] So we were starting, yeah.
- [Lane] So there were women, but my recollection all the streaking that was done around here was by men.
- [Ann] By men.
- [Lane] But anyhow, Dr. Williams let it be known that weren't gonna have any streaking pictures in the student newspaper, and the student editors were just as adamant that they were going to have a streaking news picture, and I finally got support from the strangest place from the sports writer of the paper, he convinced the editors that that [sic] somehow, I'll always that young man, he's since deceased, but, for getting me off the hook on that one.
- [Ann] How did he get you off the hook?
- [Lane] Well, I mean, he reasoned with the student editors that it wasn't a good thing to do or wasn't the, or as another one of our directors later on, not the hill he wanted to die on.
- [Ann] Right, right.