COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Veo, a mobility company that provides Texas A&M students with different methods of transportation, has appeared in the news for -- oddly enough -- not being fully grounded; and the vice president of Student Affairs has had enough.
While the service is used by many Aggies to cross a school as large as A&M, some students have chosen to leave the service's bikes and scooters in odd places.
If you drive around College Station, you might find a stray Veo ride seemingly abandoned on the side of the road, clearly not where it's supposed to be parked.
However, that's not where this story ends. Some students have chosen to put them in trees.
While students haven't fully questioned why this phenomena occurs, it's become sort of an unofficial inside joke of students to accept Veo rides being put in odd places like that's where they're supposed to go.
Of course, there are some individuals who see this as a challenge to take Veo rides clearly beyond where they're supposed to go.
Evidence of the antics can date as far back as 2019, where some users on the r/aggies subreddit posted pictures of Veo rides on top of water fountains in Spence Hall on A&M campus and above a Corps of Cadets side entrance. However, more recent incidents include someone putting Veo rides on top of a College Station Fire Department firetruck, Rudder Tower, the Zachry Engineering Building and even the central Academic Building.
Texas A&M administration seems to have had enough with the student shenanigans. On Thursday, Feb. 16, Joe Ramirez, the Vice President for Student Affairs at the school, sent out a campus-wide email to students, calling on students to put an end to the "pranks."
"This practice poses a significant risk to those directly involved in placing bikes on buildings, the risk of a bike falling and injuring others and the risk of damaging university property," said Ramirez in the email. "Those involved in these 'pranks' are putting us all at risk and are not upholding the Aggie Core Values by putting themselves and others in harm's way."
Ramirez also noted in the email that students found responsible for these antics may face disciplinary action from Texas A&M.
"Texas A&M will pursue student conduct charges against those found responsible, which could lead to serious sanctions such as suspension or expulsion, as well as having to repay costs incurred by the university to remove the bikes," said the VP for Student Affairs in the email. "Additionally, those involved could face legal consequences."
Veo also sent out a push notification via their mobile app to users at Texas A&M, asking students to ensure that their vehicles are parked properly.