Better Beutel Rally on Nov.19th, Academic Plaza
YDSA Texas A&M
Our only clinic on campus, the A.P. Beutel Health Center, is not enough to serve 70,000 students. Have you tried to get an appointment at Beutel lately, only to find that it takes days to get in? Do you want better access to healthcare services on campus? Then join us to Better Beutel!
A&M’s student body is the second largest in the nation and continues to grow, but the A.P. Beutel Health Center has not kept pace. In fact, the clinic has not undergone any significant expansion since 1986, when the student population was only 36,000, half of what it is now.
The A.P. Beutel Health Center is the only clinic on campus. It is underfunded, its staff overworked, and constantly operates at 100% capacity. It receives funding almost entirely from students and continues to remove more specialized care each year. This has led to our campaign and, thus, our demands.
Our Demands
EXPAND University Health Services (UHS), so the A.P. Beutel Health Center no longer runs at 100% capacity every day.
RECLASSIFY A.P. Beutel Health Center as a centrally-funded organization and allocate more funds and resources from Texas A&M University.
REINSTATE Gender-Affirming Care and other specialized care* in UHS.
*Specialized care consists of and is not limited to: Gender-Affirming Care, Sports Medicine, Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) Testing and Treatment, Birth Control Counseling, and Pregnancy Testing and Counseling.
Even the student senate has taken note of this deficit in our campus healthcare. Earlier this year, they signed the “Better Beutel Bill” unanimously, 53-0, asking for the same adjustments as our first two demands. Our third demand, then, comes as a direct result of Beutel’s limitations.
Bring Back Gender-Affirming Care
In August 2024, Texas A&M University made the regretful decision to revoke services from 44 Aggies who had been receiving their Gender-Affirming Care through the on-campus A.P. Beutel Health Center. Pressure from The Rudder Association, an alumni organization dedicated to promoting conservatism at A&M, was likely also a factor. The group had emailed several university officials last spring and released a since-removed statement on their website arguing that Gender-Affirming Care was “medical malpractice,” which top medical institutions and research disagree with, a testament to The Rudder Association’s blatant transphobia. Texas A&M, specifically University Health Services, claims that this essential care was removed due to resource limitations, which is the issue we are campaigning to resolve. Gender-affirming care is life-saving healthcare for transgender and gender non-conforming Aggies while also being used to affirm cisgender individuals. Beutel should serve all Aggies.
Our Organization, the Young Democratic Socialists of America, is beginning our Better Beutel Campaign, and we want your help! We aim to expand the A.P. Beutel Health Clinic to accommodate all Aggies.
Sign our petition here!
Join our Better Beutel Campaign.
Share your healthcare story.
Check out YDSA’s Linktree here.
Join YDSA here.
Follow @tamuydsa on Instagram!
Come to our Better Beutel Rally! It will take place on November 19th, THIS Tuesday, from 12:00 to 5:00 PM in Academic Plaza.
In Solidarity,
Young Democratic Socialists of America
At Texas A&M
