Sharp leaves after having transformed the institution, embedding it into state government, expanding its reach and boosting its academic and athletic reputation.Texas A&M Chancellor John Sharp looks at a shelf with photos mementos outside his office on March 27, 2023 in College Station.
“It’s an understatement to say we have giant boots to fill,” Regents Chair Bill Mahomes said in a statement. Sharp also elevated the football team, overseeing a nearly half a billion dollar expansion of Kyle Field and moving the Aggies into the Southeastern Conference. The team has risen in the ranks earning six bowl game wins since 2011, compared to just one bowl win in the 14 years before Sharp took the reins. However, Sharp has fallen short of his promise to deliver a national championship.
“We wake up every morning and don’t limit ourselves on ideas,” Sharp said. “Some of them are good and some of them turn out bad, and the ones that are good, we go to the Legislature and ask for money, and they’ve been great to us.”John Sharp speaks holds a press conference during a Texas A&M Board of Regents meeting on May 19, 2022.
But even his detractors concede that his tenacity and penchant for showmanship have transformed the A&M System in a way no previous chancellor had done. He added the “Texas A&M” brand to several government agencies within the system, including the state’s emergency management department.
Sharp said A&M is anything but a haven for leftists. He challenged critics to find another public university where thousands of students gather in the basketball arena for weekly Bible study, as they do at A&M. The system sent out a press release, with a glowing quote from Sharp, when A&M was named the 13th most conservative college campus by Niche College Rankings.