Several UT student organizations carry a certain level of prestige. After just one year in existence, the suede jacket-clad Texas Trailblazers have their sights set on joining those ranks.
“There are the Texas Cowboys, the Silver Spurs and the Texas Orange Jackets, who have had that decade-long or more impact around campus,” said Parker Bondy, a sports management senior who became the Trailblazers’ first president, or “Trailboss,” last semester. “We want to be in that conversation as well.”
The organization, which Bondy said is the only coed leadership program at UT that invites applicants from all fields of study, selects a cohort of 40 upperclassmen — known as the “40 on the 40 Acres” — each year from a pool of nominees. Founder and former Texas Exes President Gay Gaddis said she was inspired to create Texas Trailblazers by a perceived lack of such institutions at universities across the country.
“If I’m an engineer, I probably think (about) things differently than somebody in the art department,” Gaddis said. “It’s really fascinating to watch them come together and start to appreciate that. Better solutions come out.”
The 14-week program, administered by the McCombs School of Business, includes a series of opportunities for students to connect with high-profile guests, culminating in capstone projects Bondy said aim to serve the UT community. During the program’s first semester in operation, guests included University president Jim Davis, athletic director Chris Del Conte and Maj. Gen. Jeannie Leavitt, the first female fighter pilot in the U.S. Air Force.
“This program is about pure, strong leadership from all different aspects of life,” Gaddis (UT ‘77) said. “I want students to understand that and hear what those people think it takes to live a lifetime of leadership.”
Gaddis, a 2020-21 inductee of the McCombs School of Business Hall of Fame, made her name as the founder of T3, a nationally successful advertising agency she sold in 2019. In 2021, she partnered with McCombs to start Women Who Mean Business, a leadership program for professional women, which provided the framework for Texas Trailblazers. Gaddis provided the endowment for Texas Trailblazers.
“A lot of people … give great gifts to the University, and they entrust whoever they’re going to entrust with the reins to go deliver and execute,” said Will Florer (UT ‘24), who Gaddis invited to work as program director for Texas Trailblazers. “That’s not really her style. She gave the big gift, and then she’s been very hands-on ever since. The program is where it is because of her watchful eye.”
During their first year, students in Texas Trailblazers started a podcast called “Tales from the Trail” and organized a 135-mile ruck to honor victims of suicide. Trailblazers made up three of the six 2026 recipients of the President’s Leadership Award.
“These are really ambitious and hard-working students that are doing excellent things across the board,” Florer said. “We’re just proud to be part of their journey and offer them community and resources where we can.”
