Kolin Loveless

Even before stepping foot on campus, Student Body President Kolin Loveless possessed an unmistakable amiability toward Texas A&M University.

Loveless was raised in Lubbock, Texas, and most of his extended family and his parents attended Texas Tech University. The Red Raider loyalty, though, did not pass on to Loveless.

“For some reason, I’ve always liked A&M,” Loveless said. “I remember I was eight years old, and Tech was playing A&M at College Station. My parents and some family friends were at some function, and we were watching the game on pay-per-view, and I wanted A&M to win. I just didn’t know why. Inexplicably, I’ve just always liked A&M.”

What eventually drew Loveless to attend A&M was his desire to pursue a degree in engineering.

“I wanted a good engineering program where I’d have the opportunity to do engineering, but also where I could develop outside of engineering,” said Loveless, a senior mechanical engineering major.

It took a little bit of time before Loveless found his niche outside of engineering. Though Texas A&M boasts more than 800 student organizations, Loveless had trouble finding his.

“I came to A&M, applied to four organizations, and didn’t get into a single one of them,” Loveless said. “I kept getting turned down, but I always believed in A&M, and I believed that while I was here, I was to going to learn core values; I was going to learn about leadership.”

In spring 2007, Loveless was elected to the Student Senate, and he found his place at the University through the Student Government Association, SGA. He was elected as Academic Affairs chairman for the 2008-2009 Student Senate, and then was elected as Speaker of the Senate in April 2009.

Loveless had considered running for Student Body President in the April elections, but decided against it after weighing his other options.

“I thought about running [for Student Body President] last year, and decided not to. I felt like I could give back to A&M in other ways where I would be more crucial,” Loveless said. “I felt like running for Speaker was where I was a better fit.”

However, when Eric Beckham resigned as Student Body President in August, Loveless assumed the office as second in line to the position. Even with a change in title, the main focus for Loveless is to serve the students he represents.

“My ultimate goal with speaker was to move it into a little bit more of an external role, where you could interact with the students and actively represent the student body,” Loveless said. “Not a lot has changed – the ultimate goal is to serve students.”

Although he did not originally plan to become the chief leader on campus, Loveless has the support of many of his friends and colleagues as he takes on the challenge.

“Kolin is doing a great job of being SBP because he is fair-minded and level-headed,” said SGA Campus Liaison and junior history major Mark Womack. “No one expected this turn of events, but Kolin is handling it by jumping in and working hard to serve others.”

“[Loveless] is very smart, conscientious, and a hard worker,” said Harry Hogan, associate professor and undergraduate coordinator in the department of mechanical engineering. “I think his engineering background could very well be a big advantage as student body president because engineers learn to become analytical and systematic problem-solvers, and these skills can be readily applied to non-engineering things.”

After Loveless graduates from Texas A&M in August 2010, he will attend graduate school in Saudi Arabia. He hopes to one day achieve a doctorate degree in mechanical engineering and a master’s degree in international development. His dream job would be to act as a consultant for countries in developing energy resources within their economic and public policy infrastructure.

Until the day he achieves his loftier goals, however, Loveless will settle for making a difference in Aggieland, one student at a time.

“Kolin knows that being a student leader means serving the students first,” said sophomore communication major and SGA Executive Director of Communication Robert Scoggins. “He knows that in order to do his job properly, he has to make things happen and not just talk about what needs to be done.”

Students play an active role in Texas A&M proceedings, Loveless said.

“If the only thing I ever really do is show a bunch of students that I care, that the process of A&M, the decision-making process of A&M, is something they’re involved in,” he said, “then we’ve got a success.”