Our mission is to provide an opportunity for Alabama alumni, family, and friends to meet one another, to promote fellowship and build awareness of the University of Alabama throughout North Texas. We hope to accomplish this through our various meetings, social events and sports viewing parties. Please support your local University community by joining the Tide In Texas.

Message from the President

It seems like just yesterday Tide in Texas was getting ready for what 2020, our 40th year as a chapter, would bring. Now, almost a year later, as we look back at 2020, we want to thank all of our members for their support under unique circumstances. The year started with our Citrus Bowl watch parties and continued in January at the Metroplex Challenge in Fort Worth. As we cheered on our Nationally ranked Alabama Gymnastics team, little did we know the world we knew was about to change due to Covid 19. Tide in Texas members stepped up, volunteering money and time, allowing us to donate hundreds of meals to first responders, medical professionals and educators on the frontlines of the pandemic. We want to thank everyone for their generosity. The University recognized the chapter with a story on our meal delivery efforts in the fall edition of the Alumni Magazine.

Throughout the spring and summer, our chapter continued to look for ways to keep local alumni engaged while we maintained social distancing. Some of these included, supporting Women’s Gymnastics by taking part in the Flippin 5K virtually, and starting a mentorship program for recent Alabama graduates. Numerous alumni stepped up to assist recent grads with resume review, career advice and networking, already leading to recent graduates securing jobs in DFW.

As the calendar turned to the summer, we had hoped our beloved Crimson Tide would kick off the 2020 college football season in DFW vs USC. Unfortunately, the pandemic did not allow that to happen. However, we were able to work with our watch party venues to host Tide in Texas family and friends in a safe and socially distant manner. We had a special guest at our Iron Bowl watch party with former Alabama punter, Mike Bernier, joining us and graciously answering questions about Coach Saban and his experiences at UA.

In addition to our watch parties this fall, we worked with The City of Wylie and Woodbridge Golf Club to safely host our Crimson Classic benefiting the Lee Roy Jordan Endowed Scholarship Fund. We raised over $4,500 and honored Lee Roy with a video tribute featuring former teammates including Bill Battle, Bennie Nelson, Jimmy Sharpe, and Dr. Gaylon McCollough. Former Alabama great Bob Baumhower, AD Greg Byrne, NAA Executive Director Cavin Brown, Women’s Gymnastics Coach Dana Duckworth and Coach Gene Stallings also honored Lee Roy on the video. We were honored to have National Alumni Association region 5 VP Les Yates join us at the golf tournament along with Trinidad Miller from Alumni Chapter Development. Speaking of scholarships, 2020 saw the endowment of the Les Yates Emerging Leader Scholarship and the David and Sharon Richardson Young Leader Scholarship.

We rounded out the year with our Beat Auburn, Beat Hunger Food Drive and Christmas Party. The food drive was held virtually this year, and thanks to your generosity, we were able to provide over 3,000 meals to local North Texans in need. The Christmas Party was an opportunity to say "Thank You" to our wonderful members for everything they do! One lucky member went home with a 2017 team signed football. Lastly, we announced the establishment of The Coach Gene and Ruth Ann Stallings Scholarship.

On behalf of the board, I would like to thank everyone for a great 2020 and say "Thank You" to our past board members, volunteers, members and everyone who has helped build Tide in Texas over the past 40 years. We look forward to the next 40 years and wish everyone a Happy Holiday Season and a Healthy and Happy New Year!

We remain, TIDE Together!

John O.

President, Tide in Texas