Our Special Aggies

Before coming to Texas A&M, Britni Horner ’14 worked as a caregiver for 11-year-old Elizabeth Payton. “Lizzy has Rett Syndrome,” Horner said. Though a fully present member of the family, the diagnosis of
Rett Syndrome means that the part of Lizzy’s brain that’s responsible for cognitive, sensory, emotional, motor and autonomic function doesn’t perform normally.

Lizzy’s mobility is assisted by a wheelchair and she doesn’t speak, but “she has the sweetest giggle,” Horner said. “She is a one of the happiest kids. Lizzy’s parents, Michael ’92 and Mary Payton ’93, agree. “She’s a bundle of joy, really,” Mary said.

As a caregiver, one of the things that bonded Horner to the Payton family was that they were all Aggies. They talked about it constantly. So when Horner left for Aggieland, she couldn’t stop brainstorming how to honor Lizzy as an Aggie, too.

“You know, there are children of Aggies out there who have special needs and will not have the opportunity to attend Texas A&M as a student,” she said. Special needs students often go unnoticed and are, sadly, overlooked. “As Aggies, we talk a lot about what it means to be an Aggie,” she said. When an Aggie hears that a young person is investigating colleges, it doesn’t take long for them to start recruiting, she said. “But, what about those students who don’t have the opportunity to go?”

It was her love for Lizzy and the Payton family that prompted Horner to answer her own question. She founded the student organization Our Special Aggies this year.

“Our sole mission is to identify special needs children or family members of Aggies and officially make them special Aggies,” she said. She sprinted the path to being a recognized student organization, connected with The Association of Former Students and found dozens of students who wanted to be part of its mission, like Tim Cuccia ’14. 

Cuccia has a twin brother with autism and, when he heard what Horner was trying to do, joined the organization to “be part of something special and put my mark on A&M,” he said. When interacting with special needs people, Cuccia said the smallest things can make the biggest difference. “Whatever we can do, we should do it,” he said.

Lizzy was the first name on the list to become a special Aggie. For the surprise presentation, OSA members came to the Clayton W. Williams, Jr. Alumni Center in late October. Members of Omega Phi Alpha, the sorority that partnered with OSA in its mission, joined them.

It was a secret to Lizzy and her family who were right outside on the Haynes Ring Plaza. The Payton family—which includes two additional daughters, Laura and Katherine—were in College Station to attend a volleyball game. So when Marty Holmes ’87, vice president of  marketing for The Association of Former Students, read aloud a proclamation declaring Lizzy  a special Aggie, and when Reveille walked up, and when all the onlookers erupted in applause, it was due to shock that they were speechless. 

Michael and Mary were high school sweethearts who dated all through college. Texas A&M had always been a special place. Now they had yet another special memory attributed to Aggieland.
Visit http://osaggies.tamu.edu/node/12 for more information on OSA.