When I arrived in Texas for a full-semester of residence as a Faculty Fellow at TIAS, the Texas A&M Institute for Advanced Study three months ago, I wasn’t sure what to expect.  Like many Northerners, I had certain stereotypes of Texas in my head:  men in  ten-gallon hats, possibly sporting pistols in their belts, heavy southern drawls, Cruz bumper stickers everywhere. The reality has turned out to be far more complex, and humanly interesting, than I could have imagined.  The huge, sprawling campus of A&M harbors many colors under its canopy, in every sense of the word, and I have made friendships I treasure. Differences persist, of course:  I’m still not used to being addressed as “Howdy,”or being called “Ma’am” by everyone from administrators to the  barristas at Starbucks!  But I have learned a great deal about Texan hospitality and diversity.  Thank you, Aggies!