Former student oversees MSC plans

Work as an associate vice chancellor involves contruction projects

By: Matt Woolbright

Posted: 2/27/09

The first black graduate of Texas A&M to become a licensed architect has found his dream job.

Vergel L. Gay Jr., Class of 1973, is the associate vice chancellor of Facilities Planning and Construction for the A&M University system.

"When I was asked to come on board here, I obviously jumped at the chance," Gay said.

Gay is responsible for a $2.5 billion facility planning and construction program that features projects in 19 institutions throughout the state.

Projects that fall under Gay's jurisdiction are projects with a bill that exceeds $1 million if it's new, or $2 million if it's a renovation. The most widely known project that Gay is managing is the renovation of the Memorial Student Center.

"The MSC is really like the living room of campus for the students," Gay said, "and it's just like anything else, over time it's due for a makeover."

Prior to working for the A&M system, Gay had a long career that included tenures with Southwestern Bell, A&M, the city of Houston, the University of Houston system and the University of North Texas system.

Gay said one of his fondest memories is from his first stay with A&M while he was the project manager for the system office. While working the position, Gay was responsible for the planning and construction of Reed Arena.

"To be a part of that project and be the project manager of [Reed Arena's construction] as it started to go up was kind of a thrill," Gay said.

Ten years after Reed was opened to the public, Gay was able to speak at his daughter's graduation in Reed and hand her the degree he earned 25 years earlier.

"That was pretty nice, to be on stage and be part of the stage party and hand her her degree," Gay said. "That was really a good day."

While Gay was a student at A&M in the late 1960s and early 1970s, there were very few black students on campus, so Gay decided there was a need for some form of a student union for these students.

"One of the more fun things we did was get a Black Awareness Committee set up," Gay said.

It was at one of the Black Awareness Committee meetings that Gay met his wife, Cynthia.

Gay said it was raining outside, so he brought an umbrella to the meeting, and Cynthia, who was still in high school at the time and attending the meeting with her sister, kept kicking it over.

"Finally I turned around and was like 'who is that that keeps knocking down my umbrella?'" Gay said. "So I saw her and we started talking. I knew her sister so her sister introduced us. We started talking, and eventually one thing led to another, and four years later we got married."

Gay's experiences have left him with strong feelings toward the University.

"The experience of being an Aggie, coming here and getting an Aggie ring is something that just becomes part of you," Gay said. "Regardless of the good moments and the bad moments you know from day one [A&M] is a special place. We're not a university that you come to and go away from without having any emotional tie to, it's the traditions, it's the way people are, it's the Aggie network, it's all of those things."