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However, looking at it from a completely grammatical view...well it's a very basic rule not to change verb tense (I was taught never to change tense within a paragraph). It looks pretty bad to change tense in one sentance. Therefore since they usually say they attended University of Texas, it only makes sense that they would continue using past tense. Who knows, copy editors may notice it and make the change.
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"I went to SMU and I have blue eyes" - I didn't have to say I HAD blue eyes, because that still holds true, get it?
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OK, actually BOTH of you are right, because you are giving different examples. In the first one, the sentence was: "She went to College X and was a Mu Mu." The second half is not a stand-alone sentence because "was a Mu Mu" does not have a subject in front of the verb. In this case, you probably COULD switch tenses, but it would sound awkward "She went to college X and is a Mu Mu."
But in the second example, where both halves of the sentence have subjects, "I went to College X, and I am a Mu Mu," switching tenses is more natural. However, it makes a longer sentence by repeating the subject, and journalists hate longer sentences than are necessary.
You could just get around all this by saying, "She went to College X, where she joined Mu Mu." (I suppose this leaves open the possibility she was kicked out, but then let's HOPE she isn't mentioning it in her announcement.)