The proposal to merge the Texas A&M campuses in Corpus Christi and Kingsville might be dead, but the emotions stirred up by the discussion are not. TAMU Chancellor John Sharp held a town hall meeting in Robstown on Nov. 21 to clear up misunderstandings and answer questions. About 300 people attended, including a number of elected officials from Nueces, Kleburg and other nearby counties. 
Sharp’s voice shook at times as he defended himself against a legislator who had called him a liar and a Corpus Christi businessman whom Sharp said wrongly represented the university’s intent in proposing the merger. He also called out a TV reporter for what he called a “one-source” story that he said did not represent the truth. He never totally lost his cool, however, as he first laid out the proposal and then took questions for several hours.
“There was no secret meeting,” Sharp said emphatically, referring to a meeting in Corpus Christi on Oct. 5 with local legislators and others to discuss a possible merger. “Every time a president changes in Kingsville or Corpus Christi, this comes up. We as a board [of regents] just went through a strategic planning process. In that process, we talk about the importance of having another emerging research university.”
Sharp was referring to TAMU-CC President Flavius Killebrew, who announced in September that he will retire as of Dec. 31. An interim president has been appointed until Killebrew is replaced.
Merging the two schools would be a huge economic boon to the region, he said, attracting big businesses and industries to the area as well as large grants. It would not mean changing the mascots of the two schools: Corpus Christi students would be Islanders and Kingsville students would remain Javelinas. It also was not a “hostile takeover” by Kingsville President Steven Tallant. 
“Every faculty member, every dean, would stay the same,” Sharp said. “Everything in Kingsville would stay the way it is now, and everything in Corpus Christi would stay the same.”
Sharp started and ended the meeting by declaring the proposal dead. The only way to resurrect it would be for the community to get behind it and bring it to the legislature. 
“It won’t come from me,” he said, after noting the NCAA had approved the merger idea. “You never read that in your paper or saw that on your TV,” he said. 
He apologized for the way the proposal was handled and said he should have held a town hall meeting before presenting it to the board of regents. That presentation was made Nov. 10 and included remarks by Corpus Christi businessman Philip Skrobarczyk, who Sharp said “changed the narrative.” 
“It’s become an emotional issue, and I get that,” he said. “If you think this is going to fundamentally change Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, it would not have. I bet most of you folks in this room did not know that. The reason is because I never had a chance to explain it until now.” 
He laid out the three goals of the merger that were discussed at the Oct. 5 meeting in Corpus Christi and the Nov. 10 board of regents meeting:
1. Attract more students.
2. Increase athletics, possibly moving the Javelinas football team from Division I to Division II.
3. Build an emerging research university, which would attract more high-quality professors and businesses.
“No one said anything about Javelinas or Islanders,” he said. “No one [at the Oct. 5] meeting said, ‘We’ve got to keep this quiet.’ It didn’t happen at any of the meetings.”
After laying out the benefits of the merger, Sharp read though a written list of misrepresentations and rumors that he discounted one by one. A few, however, he said were true.
“‘You told the King Ranch that Tallant was going to be president,’” Sharp read. “That’s true. I told everyone that. He’s probably the best president in the A&M system. He would be interim president for two years, then we would do a national search for a president. He is the best-qualified person to lead us through this process.” 
He also reiterated that the merger would not happen without support from the community and, ultimately, the local legislators, who would have to present a bill to the legislature to get things started. The next session begins Jan. 10, 2017, but because of the controversy, Sharp said it would never happen in time. Local legislators announced a week earlier that none of them intended to file the necessary bill. 
“Unless the community is for this, it won’t work,” Sharp said. “I am here today because I want an opportunity to talk about this and what a big economic boon this would be to the region.”
He did not, however, come as an advocate, he stressed. He came to explain what had happened and to defend himself.
“I’m a public servant, not a public doormat,” he said as he turned to state Rep. J.M. Lozano (R-Kingsville), who suggested Sharp step down because of the way the proposal was handled. He had told The Texas Tribune the issue was personal and accused Sharp of lying. 
Lozano, who attended the Oct. 5 meeting, was reported as saying he was for the merger at the meeting. When the meeting became public, he said he was against it and that Sharp was not telling the truth about what was said in the meeting. 
“Lie after lie. And that is part of the Aggie code — that you don't lie,” Lozano was reported as saying.
Sharp took issue in Robstown, pointing out the legislator, who was in attendance. 
“In my 38 years of public service, I have never been called a liar,” Sharp said, his voice shaking. “I came away with one thing intact, and that was my reputation. Everyone in that room knows who is lying. Never call me a liar when you are the one doing it. I love you, brother, but don’t do that again.”
He then called out Skrobarczyk, who released notes from that meeting, which Sharp said were misrepresented in the media. 
“Phillip, I did not call a ‘secret’ meeting,” he said. “I was invited to that meeting, and I showed up for it like I show up for 10 others. If you taped it, I beg you to turn it over to the press and let them see everything. No one in that meeting said anything about athletics, Javelinas, Islanders. I don’t understand this whole diatribe.” 
He then said he wished he had not first gone to the board of regents, saying he should have held a town hall meeting with the communities. He said such a meeting was being scheduled when two regents asked that the presentation first be made at their meeting. The presentation was livestreamed and is still available to watch online. 
Although Sharp vowed to stay in Robstown until 7 p.m. to answer questions, the livestream ended after two hours just as some in attendance seemed to come around to the idea of merging the two universities. 
Hugo Berlanga, a former Coastal Bend state representative, came onstage when called on because it was hard to hear his question. He took the opportunity to strongly urge the community to support the merger. 
“We have a history in South Texas of denying ourselves because of our conflicts,” he said. “We should be able to listen and decide for ourselves. We must not lose sight of the prize or the opportunity that lies ahead of us. We should not allow this opportunity to pass us by.” 
He also thanked Sharp for holding the meeting. 
“I’m glad he’s here answering all these tough questions,” Berlanga continued. “Now they are waiting on us, and we should grab that ring and make it happen for future generations to come. We have to be willing to pay attention and quit thinking there’s something evil going on.” 
Questions asked included: 
• Why hold this in Robstown; why not Corpus Christi? Answer: It’s in between Corpus Christi and Kingsville.
• Why not make two emerging research universities? Answer: You need $50 million to be considered an emerging research university, and that takes generations to raise. 
• How long will this take? Answer: About 20 years.
Other questions kept going back to the Oct. 5 meeting and people’s mistrust of how the proposal was handled. One person said Sharp’s promises of no changes to the universities needed to be put in writing. Others questioned Sharp’s account that he did not know who invited him to the meeting, pushing for an answer as to who was behind setting up the meeting if it was not Sharp. 
Another man, toward the end of the formal part of the meeting, stood up and volunteered to be part of making the merger happen.
“Forget about this Oct. 5 meeting,” Joe Quintanilla said. “A lot of things went wrong. I’m glad to see everyone here, but we’ve got to move forward. Let’s learn what we can from it and move on.” 
He thanked Sharp for “courageously standing there and taking this.”
“We need to write our elected officials and say we want this.”