Texas A&M Aggies

“THE SPIRIT OF AGGIELAND”

While all schools have traditions that are in some ways unique, few if any match the storied ones that have developed at Texas A&M. When the school opened as a land grant college in 1876, the student body adopted a military structure. A&M stayed on the same path until 1963, when the first women were admitted. However, the school has maintained its Corps of Cadets and strong emphasis of military training since then. A visit to the College Station campus will make you quickly realize how important honor and heritage is to those that proudly call themselves “Aggies.”

Non-sports related school customs include Silver Taps and Muster. The former is a solemn ritual that is held in front of the academic building on the first Tuesday night of every month. The purpose is to pay a final tribute to an Aggie who has died. Depending on the situation, the ceremony often includes the dimming of all campus lights, chimes from Albritton Tower, rifle volleys and Silver Taps played three times.

Muster is a ceremony that salutes students and former students that have died during the past year. A&M’s Rollie White Coliseum is filled every April 21st with Aggie faithful that answer “here” to the roll call for their friends that have passed on.

THE TWELFTH MAN

This Aggie tradition is the reason A&M students stand for the entire football game. The gesture is symbolic of their readiness in case they are needed to go into the game, like the legendary E. King Gill.

The old Dixie Classic in Dallas was the location of the story’s setting. The Aggies were playing Centre College in what is now the Cotton Bowl. Working in the press box that January day was an Aggie athlete named E. King Gill who had represented the university in both football and basketball. With the hoop season well underway, Gill’s all-SWC basketball talents had taken him away from the football field.

Before the first half was over, the Aggies had suffered a series of injuries that put A&M’s ability to compete in jeopardy. In a moment Gill had rushed to the field and donned the uniform of an injured player. Even though he was never called to action, Gill’s readiness to be the Aggie’s “Twelfth Man” is still honored today.

The twelfth man finally made on the football field for the A&M in 1983 when a special kickoff team was formed. Currently one player from the non-scholarship group participates while wearing a special No. 12 jersey.

YELLS AND HUMPING IT
Cheerleading is a tradition that is common throughout college football. However, the Aggies have transformed the motivating actions into what they call yells. Each year the student body selects five Yell Leaders. The group that wears all-white uniforms with A&M lettering, is comprised of three seniors and two juniors.

According to 1998 Aggie yell leader Sam Bluntzer, it’s a tremendous honor to serve your school. “It’s amazing that people put their trust in your carrying out a tradition that’s over 100 years old, he said.” It’s great being out here with a group of people that love this school so much. It’s really humbling.”

Instead of using a booming microphone to communicate with the "Twelfth Man" contingency of students, the Yell Leaders use hand signals to convey what yell is coming next. The students along the front pass the signal upwards until everyone knows what yell is next. It's not until the "Twelfth Man" properly assumes the humping position, (bent over with the hands placed just above the knees, properly aligning the back, mouth and throat for maximum volume) that the yell begins. You might say there's quite a contrast between an Aggie Yell and the frat party atmosphere found in many stadiums.

Win or lose the action continues for the Yell Leaders. Following an Aggie victory they are thrown into the Fish Pond and then a Yell Practice is held. If A&M has been defeated, students remain in the stands and a Yell Practice is held to get fired up for the next game.
The Friday night prior to Aggie home football games, Midnight Yell Practice is held at Kyle Field. As the Aggie band marches through campus, as many as 20,000 students line their path and fall in behind the band. The spirited activities continue when Yells are practiced and the Aggie War Hymn and the Spirit of Aggieland are sung.

Once the singing is completed the "lights go out" and Aggies practice kissing their dates for the upcoming game. It's a tradition for A&M students to kiss their dates after an Aggie score.

BLAZES AWAY

Texas A&M faithful display heated passion when it comes to beating the University of Texas . Elvis once sang about "A hunk a hunk of burning love," and those words seem symbolic of the action Aggies have been taking since 1909 to get 'fired up' for the game.

The buildup for the bonfire takes nearly two months as enough wood is gathered to build what is dubbed as the world’s largest bonfire that rages for thousands of fans. The great inferno is lit the night before the Texas game when it's held in College Station, and two nights before if they travel to Austin. To help raise Aggie spirits, the A&M Corps of Cadets stands at attention to the music of "The Spirit of Aggieland."

Considering that the bonfire tradition was sparked by A&M’s intense dislike of their UT rivals, it seems natural that the Longhorn faithful would take steps to extinguish the flames. In 1933 and 1948 Texas students were accused of dropping firebombs from an airplane in failed attempts to ignite the bonfire early. A more conventional land attack by Longhorn fans was thwarted in 1956.

A replenishing effort takes place each spring, to replace the trees that are sacrificed for the bonfire that's held on the school's campus. Students from all aspects of campus volunteer their efforts to give back to the environment.

Texas A&M’s bonfire tradition endured tragic results in 1999 when the structure collapsed and killed 12 students after 800 pounds of lumber fell on the workers. The shock waves extended far beyond A&M’s campus as the nation asked how and why. The bonfire was replaced with a candlelight vigil to honor the victims as the debate raged on whether the tradition should continue.

REVEILLE

When a group of Aggie Cadets accidentally ran over a dog in 1931, the incident became a driving force in the development of the school’s proud mascot tradition. After discovering that the black and white dog had survived its encounter with the Model T, the students took the injured animal to their dormitory. The dog’s response to the next morning’s bugle call helped the excited animal claw her way into A&M history.

When the bugler sounded reveille, the dog reacted to the military tradition by barking and instantly earned the “Reveille” nickname. The Aggies Corps of Cadets quickly transformed their new pet into a school mascot. Reveille took a liking for the A&M band and followed them to all formations while leading them when they marched. The first football game that fall marked Reveille’s first official mascot appearance, when she took the field with the band.

After nearly 13 years of service to the university, Reveille died in 1944. Her memory was honored when she was buried at the north entrance of Kyle Field. Additional Reveilles that have passed on after serving the school are also buried outside the stadium. When the north end zone was filled in with stands before the 2000 season, the view of the field from the Reveille monument was suddenly blocked. In an effort to keep Reveille ‘spirits’ in the game, a scoreboard was placed on the outer stadium wall so that the former Aggie mascots could always stay involved.

Aggie mascot tradition evolved into an American Collie being the breed of choice to represent the school. The “Lassie” look alike is a regular at A&M ball games and sports a blanket with an Aggie logo and colors.

Because the “eyes of Texas” seem to be constantly on Reveille, the Aggie cadets keep watch over their mascot to prevent Longhorn fans from dognapping the A&M symbol.

“Being Reveille’s caretaker is a 24 hour job because she’s never left alone,” said mascot corporal Craig Serold. “There’s always somebody watching her, either myself or one of my buddies. It’s a great honor to represent something that’s such a symbol of the spirit and tradition at Texas A&M,” he added.

Serold points to an incident during the 1993 holiday season that serves as a constant reminder that Reveille is a constant target. “It was About 5:50 the morning after Christmas,” Serold said remembering the moment that took place while a previous mascot corporal had kept Reveille Five and Six at his house during a break from school.

“The mascot corporal was asleep and his dad let the dogs out to use the bathroom. He took his eye them for a minute while he got a cup of coffee.” Serold said. Some guys called the rustlers, a spirit group at Texas, had been staking out the backyard waiting for their chance. They took Reveille Six who was just a puppy at the time, and kept her for several days before giving her back.”
“AGGIE WAR HYMM”

The A&M-Texas Longhorn rivalry was first played in 1894 and ranks tied for third on the list for most consecutive years played.. The intenseness of the series has struck such a strong chord with the Maroon and White that the Longhorns are featured in A&M’s fight song.

“Every time we sing the “Aggie War Hymn” it starts off like this, no matter who we’re playing,” Aggie Yell Leader Brandon Neff said. Neff then sang,
“Good-bye to Texas University.
So long to the Orange and White.”
If Neff had continued singing the verse would have continued with these words:
“Good luck to the dear old Texas Aggies
They are the boys that show the real old fight
“The eyes of Texas are upon you…”
That is the song they sing so well
So good-bye to Texas University
We’re going to beat you all to H---.”
As the song suggests, Aggie faithful take pride in calling the University of Texas, by the name Texas University.
“We refer to Texas as tu, lower case t and lower case u, because they’re not the University of Texas, we are,” said Neff. "They’re just a Texas University.”

Those associated with Texas A&M gleam when calling UT students and alumni “tea-sips.” The nickname is based on A&M pride for the many American soldiers with Aggie backgrounds. The belief in College Station was highlighted by their perception in World War II that while many Aggies engaged in battle, the privileged boys from UT were home sipping tea.