Love for Aggies of All Kinds

Photo by Jason Kindig

David Comer ’95 remembers visiting campus as a child in the ’80s. His best friend’s dad was an Aggie and when they had days off, he would drive them from their home in Houston to explore campus and eat at the Memorial Student Center. They also attended Bonfire and football games. “I developed a lot of love for Texas A&M as a young person,” he said.

That love continues through today as David and his wife Tonya ’98, both Mays Business School marketing graduates, stay engaged with their alma mater through guest lectures, special events, advisory boards, and scholarship giving. They are also proud Aggie parents, as their son Jackson ’24 recently graduated with a degree in sports management.

“Tonya and I didn’t have as traditional of a college experience,” said David, as both attended other colleges before coming to Texas A&M to complete their degrees, “but for us to see our son start there as a freshman and grow as a person to when he graduated … for us to see the man that he’s become is pretty cool. To help others achieve that is very rewarding for us.”

The Comers have built impressive careers in technology marketing and sales. Each was launched on this career path by internships with Compaq while they were students at Mays, which led to full-time offers with the company that would later be absorbed by HP.

Today, David is a director solution specialist at Microsoft and Tonya is a senior product marketing manager for the cloud storage company Backblaze. The couple has been engaged on the Texas A&M campus for many years as experts in their field, speaking from their experiences in technology marketing and serving as a resource for students. They have both been involved with the Reynolds and Reynolds Sales Leadership Institute, and David served on the advisory board for the Center for International Business Studies.

One thing the Comers appreciate about Mays is that while it is selective in admitting business students, some of the high impact programs are open to students beyond the business school. Their son was involved with the Sales Leadership Institute, serving in leadership roles and winning sales awards, despite not being a Mays student.

They recently made a gift in Jackson’s honor to support non-Mays students who are involved at the Sales Leadership Institute and Sales Club. “We know that Mays is really hard to get into today, but we want these experiences to be accessible to more students. We believe these programs will open up doors for students of all majors,” said Tonya.

Their first gift to Mays in 2021 was also about ensuring accessibility, but with a different twist. That endowed scholarship gift supports Mays students with physical or learning disabilities. The gift was made in memory of Tonya’s mom, Diana Parker Feierabend, who was a devoted educator with a passion for students of all abilities. She also really loved Texas A&M, though she was not an Aggie. “She was all in on A&M,” said David. “We thought it would be a cool way to honor her memory as an honorary Aggie.” This gift also recognizes their daughter, Carly, whose learning journey has had challenges.

“There are kids out there that need that extra help,” said Tonya. “We intend to keep finding these segments that aren’t served by other scholarships to help students achieve their goals.”

“Our love of Texas A&M is deep,” said David. “Giving back is an honor. If you had told me when I graduated that I would have the opportunity to come back to Texas A&M and be involved and to speak to classes, I would have never believed you…The fact that we can give or provide any sort of a positive impact in a student’s life is pretty neat.”

“It’s opened us up even more, seeing our son go there and seeing the experiences he’s had,” added Tonya. “We want to make sure that every Aggie has that opportunity. Being able to afford college shouldn’t impede any student from having the Aggie experience.”