June 22, 2026 Marketing and Communications Update

Howdy, University MarComm Community,

This week, we have two new content packages that showcase how Texas A&M University continues to make an impact through service, innovation and leadership. One highlights a special NASCAR tribute honoring President George H.W. Bush and the enduring values he shared with our university. The other celebrates Texas A&M’s recognition by Fast Company with a World Changing Ideas Award for breakthrough care with the heart patch. If applicable to your audience and area of expertise, we encourage you to publish in your newsletters, on your social channels, on your websites and on any channel that helps tell the Texas A&M story! We are excited to share this content for your use and look forward to engaging with it over the next few weeks.

Honoring the Legacy of President Bush

Texas A&M and Haas Factory Team celebrated the legacy of former President George H.W. Bush this weekend with a tribute car driven by Cole Custer during NASCAR’s celebration of the U.S. Navy’s 250th anniversary. This content package provides the guidance and materials to illustrate Bush’s deep connection to Texas A&M — the university he chose to carry on his legacy through his presidential library and public affairs school. We honored that connection during the Anduril 250 Race the Base NASCAR Cup Series Street race, held at Naval Base Coronado. The specially designed No. 41 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 featured imagery honoring Bush’s legacy of selfless service, which began as a young naval aviator during World War II and which continues to inspire Aggies to stand as a force for good.

View the Coronado Race content package

World Changing Idea – Fast Company Award

Texas A&M has been named a 2026 Fast Company World Changing Ideas honoree for its innovative regenerative heart patch, earning recognition among the top 100 projects worldwide addressing society’s most urgent challenges. This content package explores the groundbreaking research led by Texas A&M scientists, how the technology could transform recovery for heart attack patients and what this national recognition says about the university’s commitment to advancing discoveries that improve lives. It also highlights the broader impact of Texas A&M Health, which serves communities across Texas and beyond through research, education and innovative healthcare solutions.

View the World Changing Idea content package

MarComm Summit Assets and Resources

As a reminder, we’re sharing assets and resources highlighted throughout the MarComm Summit event, including materials connected to the brand platform, 150th planning, content strategy alignment and additional tools to support your team’s marketing and communications work. These resources are intended to help campus communicators continue building brand alignment and applying summit takeaways in their day-to-day work.

View the full presentation

New Campus Aerial and Brand Visual Media Assets

Over the last year, we have been adding to our library of photos that we share with the university community. Linked below, you will find hundreds of new photos and melt reels for all of our brand photography and video styles on campus. This also includes new aerial photos of the main campus taken last month! Thank you to the teams that make these photos and videos!

Texas A&M Photo Library

Texas A&M Brand Video

Texas A&M 150th Celebration Campaign

The 150th Celebration Campaign will reinforce how Aggies have always stood together as a force for good. For our 150th anniversary, we will celebrate in a way that honors our legacy and anticipates our future, while reinforcing our larger universitywide Force for Good Brand Platform. The predesigned campaign assets should complement, not replace, brand platform messaging, tone and visual style. Access to 150th marks and editable templates requires a university login.

View the 150th Celebration Campaign Content Package

Texas America250

In celebration of the nation’s 250th anniversary, The Texas A&M University System has been directed by Texas Governor Greg Abbott to conspicuously display the Texas America250 logo on each university, institute and agency homepage; link to the Texas America250 Commission’s website on each university, institute and agency homepage; and include the Texas America250 logo on each university, institute and agency press release through July 4, 2026.

This has been implemented on the university’s main webpage and by many fellow Texas A&M System member institutions and agencies. For additional examples, please consider referencing the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, Texas A&M AgriLife Research, Texas A&M-Fort Worth and Texas A&M-RELLIS.

The logo options are available through the A&M System’s photoshelter using TxAM250 as the login password.

Digital Content Accessibility Deadline Extended to April 2027

Today, the U.S. Department of Justice published an interim final rule extending the compliance deadline for digital accessibility under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). For institutions the size of Texas A&M, the original April 2026 deadline has been extended to April 26, 2027. While this additional time provides some welcome flexibility, it is important that the university sustains its current momentum in improving digital accessibility. In particular, federally funded grants and programs remain subject to a May 11, 2026, compliance deadline under Section 504. Previously, this date was not emphasized because it aligned closely with the ADA Title II timeline.

As the university community continues to make meaningful progress toward accessible digital documents and platforms, employees are encouraged to continue using the resources available through the Digital Accessibility website to ensure digital content is accessible to all. By incorporating accessibility into everyday practices, the university ensures that the knowledge gained through teaching, learning and discovery is available to the widest possible audience. Questions regarding digital accessibility and related federal requirements may be directed to the IT Accessibility team.

As a reminder, digital content includes websites, online services, PDFs, social media graphics, videos and any other digital content your unit produces or publishes. We encourage you to review the information shared in the Feb. 9 newsletter about these requirements and to learn how Aggie UX 2.0 can help you and your teams produce responsive, regulation-compliant websites and online services as you move forward. Additional how-tos and step-by-step guides are available through itaccessibility.tamu.edu.

Community Resources Available to You

Design Counsel

Design Counsel is a creative space for Texas A&M’s visual storytellers — a place to share ideas, spark inspiration and help shape what’s next for creativity and collaboration across the university. Each meeting dives into a new topic in marketing and communications, with lots of room to learn from one another and offer support.

We will take a break in July and resume regular meetings in August. Be on the lookout for an RSVP form in the upcoming weeks.

For more information, please contact Melissa Loudermilk, Designer for Brand Services, at mloudermilk@tamu.edu or via Slack or Teams.

Register for upcoming meetings

Aggie UX Training and Support

The Division of Marketing and Communications Web team hosts virtual office hours every third Thursday from 10 to 11 a.m. These sessions include a different demo every month for using Aggie UX in Cascade, WordPress and Figma. Other practical advice for creating web content, applying best practices and using the Aggie UX design system is available on the MarComm site, including a list of on-demand online trainings. Be sure to sign up for Aggie UX-specific communications by joining the Aggie UX email list.

View Aggie UX Office Hours

Research Communicators Network

The Divisions of Research and Marketing and Communications cohost a biweekly meeting for communicators to connect, share updates and collaborate around promoting Texas A&M’s research enterprise. These meetings are a valuable opportunity for everyone who attends, and we encourage you to send a representative if you do not have someone already participating from your unit, college or school.

When: Every other Tuesday, 10 a.m.

This informal virtual gathering is open to all communicators supporting research initiatives and researchers themselves. It’s a chance to ask questions, get feedback and align on research messaging across the university.

Contact Tim Doty, Assistant Vice President for National Media and Public Relations, or Rusty Cawley, Director of Research Communications, to be added to the calendar invitation.