Schedule for April 16-19, 2026
Venue: Texas A&M Hotel and Conference Center. Space for both the hotel and the banquet is limited, so make your reservations now.
- To book your hotel room, click here.
- To buy your banquet tickets, click here and look for “Banquet Fees.”
Thursday, April 16 (Local Members and Early Bird Arrivals)
- 6 PM: Meet for dinner and miniature golf (weather permitting) at PopStroke
Friday, April 17
- 11 AM, Honor Board Room: TIL Council meeting (Council members only)
- 5:30 PM, Block T Lounge: Grab a drink before heading to the Laurel Room.
- 6 PM, Laurel Room: New Members Induction Ceremony
- 7:15 PM, Upstairs, Block T Lounge: Cash bar and appetizers
Saturday, April 18
- 8:30 AM., Laurel Room: Breakfast tacos, coffee, fruit
- 9:00 AM, Laurel Room: TIL “State of Affairs” business meeting
- 10:30 AM, hotel lobby: Field Trip (details to be announced soon)
- 2 PM, Reveille Ballroom: Cookies and coffee, and the opening of the bookfair. Handled by Hyperbole Books, the Bookfair will stay open through the evening. Do your holiday shopping early!
- 2:30-4:30 PM, Reveille Ballroom: OPEN MIC! Take five or ten minutes and share anything old or new, read or recited or sung or danced or slammed. It’s open to all members, old and new and in-between. We’ll have a sign-up sheet. You are on your honor to keep it under ten.
- 6:30 PM, Reveille Ballroom: Annual Awards Banquet
- Presentation of TIL Literary Awards
- Keynote by William “Bill” Broyles, Jr. Winner of TIL Lifetime Achievement Award
- Changing of the Council
Sunday, April 19
- 8:30 AM, Laurel Room: Breakfast tacos, coffee, fruit
- 9 AM, Laurel Room: Panel discussion on censorship and book banning. If you’ve been following the news, you know that Texas in general and Texas A&M in particular have been at the forefront of attacks on intellectual freedom. Moderated by new TIL President Chris Barton, this panel will feature:
- Leonard Bright, president of the Texas A&M chapter of the American Association of University Professors
- Liz Garton Scanlon, TIL member and a member of the Texas leadership team for Authors Against Book Bans
- Frank Strong, co-founder of the Texas Freedom to Read Project and the 2025 recipient of the National Intellectual Freedom Award from the National Council of Teachers of English
- 11 AM: Checkout, hugs, and farewells
