Matthew Gaines statue set to be erected on Texas A&M campus by end of year Student organization has commissioned sculptors SOURCE: The Matthew Gaines Initiative website SOURCE: The Matthew Gaines Initiative website and last updated 2021-01-19 19:08:25-05 COLLEGE STATION, Texas â Texas A&M students have long been advocating for a memorial of Texas Senator Matthew Gaines, an African American politician who advocated for racial justice in the 1800s, and who was instrumental in securing the land grant for what would become the Texas A&M campus in College Station. âIt wasnât until, I think, 2017 that the Student Government Association, along with other entities, passed resolutions in support of creating an organization which would work on [creating a statue]; and having the university work on this as well," said Erica Pauls, Texas A&M student and president of the Matthew Gaines Society. "The Matthew Gaines Initiative â now the Matthew Gaines Society â was created.â