Tell me about the Texas A&M cult

In My Humble Opinion
1

For four years, I lived in Las Cruces, New Mexico, next to the Texas border. However, that was near El Paso, so I never got to experience much in the way of real Texas culture.

Fast forward about 15 years, and I’m now living in Austin. Again, it’s supposedly not the “real” Texas, but I am experience elements of culture shock, and the realization that King of the Hill really isn’t that far off from the truth sometimes. In the past few months, I’ve encountered an only-kin-Texas phenomenon known as “The Aggie”. Almost everybody I’ve met who attended Texas A&M has been a fanatic about the school; stickers on their car, rings, wearing school apparel when they’re not at work, and somehow injecting into just about every conversation that they went to Texas A&M. I’ve never seen such a level of fanaticism from the alumni of any other college.

So, what’s the deal with Aggies? Why do they seem so cult-like compared to the graduates of other colleges and universities?

2

Perhaps you have never encountered anyone who attended the University of Michigan or Ohio State… or, god forbid, one of each of them in the same room.

Texas does not have a lock on football fanaticism.

3

Obviously, you’ve never lived around the University of Florida. :smiley:

A few years ago, I watched the Aggies play in an early round of the NCAA tournament. They have male “yell leaders,” dressed all in white, that lead the crowd in cheers. I thought they looked like ice cream men.

4

I grew up around East Coast schools and I can say, yes, there is a difference.

I attended Texas A&M as a graduate student. I lived there, I went to classes, and I taught labs of undergrads, so I have somewhat of an insider (but outsider) viewpoint.

I see Texas A&M as a more concentrated subset of Texas culture. From what I can tell, kids growing up in Texas are taught (I assume since birth) that Texas is the best state ever and that Texans are the best people ever. Anywhere else is just downhill (their case is somewhat validated by being surrounded by Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma…)

I also presume this is what occurs at A&M. From the beginning, all freshmen go to “Fish Camp” which is a several day camp where they learn all the traditions, cheers, etc. My wife and I jokingly call this “indoctrination camp” because this is where we presume that they all get told (repeatedly?) that Texas A&M is the best university ever and all the other universities are lame. All the other students in all the other universities know this but won’t admit it. As a reiteration, when you go to college and have all this school spirit and great experiences, that only happens at A&M!

Of course, I exaggerate somewhat, but the effect is there. This is subconsciously reiterated throughout your time at the university and so it somewhat sticks.

I think the history and the strong emphasis of the Corps of Cadets plays a role. Also, the university has a lot of group traditions that bring the student body together and helps to create a defined cohesion.

Taking all of this into account, A&M is an average, large, top-30 public institution of learning, with nicer than average people and uglier than average campus and buildings.

Before all the Aggies jump on me and rip everything I said to shreds, I really enjoyed my time there. The people that we me there were wonderful, and if I had to live in a medium sized city, college station would be a great choice.

Edit Add: One of my current coworkers grew up in College Station (her father was a prof) and she mentioned that she thought it was very cult-like.

5

Okay, so I’m a grad student at Michigan, and one of my friends in my program did her undergrad at Texas A&M. I’ve heard a lot of her stories of A&M wackiness, and I gotta say, it doesn’t sound any stranger than what goes on here in Ann Arbor. Which could also be described as “cultlike,” honestly. I know it weirds me out when I go to the farmers market and discover that it’s Maize Out day and everyone in town is wearing hideous bright yellow t-shirts. (I took myself off of the athletic department’s email list so I miss out on this stuff.)

As a caveat, my friend is not actually from Texas and therefore did not grow up indoctrinated into some kind of Texasaphiliac religion.

6

I visited A&M when I was looking at schools to go to for undergrad. The first part of the tour was an hour-long army-corps recruiting session. The second part was a tour and information session. We got to learn about a little bit of the school’s history and traditions at the info session. For the tour, we got to do all sorts of fun stuff like looking at a hallway full of portraits of past school presidents and hearing about some of the more important ones. We saw a flag-pole and courtyard where students gather daily(?) to honor dead alumni. We got to see the football stadium, which has a big hole cut in the side so that the dead mascots can watch the games from their graves just outside the stadium.

They weren’t really pushing the academic experience. I didn’t apply.

7

Cornhuskers

:shudder:

8

Being a Texan, I know my fair share of Aggies. A&M does appear to attract the kind of student who is into the rah rah rah kind of college experience (tradition, history, crazy cheers, etc). If you are not, you would probably lean towards choosing one of the many other universities in Texas.

That being said, I know a lot of normal (quiet, unasuming, humble) people who went there for a good education and in general they weren’t bothered by the cultish nature of things and in fact had a positive view of it. I have sat in the home section of Aggies games and in some ways it was kinda fun. I am a Longhorn fan, but I am also a sports fan and I can appreciate their school spirit.

9

It’s not really a cult. I’d say the mentality is more that of a fraternity. As Mesquite-Oh said, there are a lot of students who don’t participate in the rah-rah, but most of them don’t have a problem with it. Also, in spite of the library of aggie jokes, it’s a good school.

10

So sayeth the flock! I grew up in/around Gainesville, home of the Gators. I feel this gives me a lifetime pass to hate everything Gator-related.

One of my ex-boyfriends attended and swore when he graduated he wasn’t going to be one of “those” people. He got the auto tags, bumper stickers, joined the alumni stuff, made annual donations. I think they must do something to the water.

Now I live in Bulldog territory and I think they are pretty comparable, rabidness-wise.

11

Any USC alumni here? I figure Texas A&M has nothing on the Trojans. Pretty much everyone I know who attended USC is a lifelong fan. My BIL is an alumni, and has “Fight On” as his ringtone. Naturally, the Diva (his stepdaughter) is rebelling by stating she wants to attend UCLA. :smiley:

12

Yeah, Aggies do seem to be a breed apart, or at least consider themselves so. I like Aggie jokes, though, such as the Aggie who moved to Oklahoma, thereby raising the IQ of both states. It is a quality school, though. Perhaps it’s location deep in the heart of Texas has something to do with it, too, immersing it so in Texas culture.

13

OMG. My uncle (my aunt’s husband) went to USC and is freaking INSANE about it. Like, he has pictures of great USC football teams on his mantle piece. When my cousin (not his daughter) got married, my other cousins (his sons - who got raised in the cult of USC but didn’t actually go there themselves) tried to sneak out of the wedding to go watch a USC game at some bar. (I have no idea how easy this would have been, given that we were in Mexico City.) My aunt found out and stopped them, though. My own dad went to Cal and my uncle is always trying to pick fights with him about football. Except my dad’s devotion to Cal is about 1% of my uncle’s devotion to USC, so they tend to be a little lopsided.

If I ever start behaving like this about Michigan, feel free to smack me upside the head. Of course, given that I’ve never been to any Michigan sporting event and still refuse to admit that “maize” is a color (it’s yellow, goddamn it!), and found it mildly embarrassing when people sang “Hail to the Victors” at graduation last week (complete with fist pumps!), it seems a tad unlikely at this point.

14

http://aggietraditions.tamu.edu/

All you need to know. It’s different than other schools. Seriously. They take the dog (their mascot) to class, and if she barks, the class has to be dismissed. She’s buried with military honors. At the football games, if you leave before the game is over, they spit on you.

15

I am a graduate of University of Texas at Austin, so by default, I hate the hell out of Aggies. I don’t really, but our football rivalry is intense, and it’s awful that our team is so much better, but every Thanksgiving when we play them, if we play at Kyle Field, we tend to suck because their fans are freaking intimidating. Longhorns have tons of school pride, but we got nothing on Aggies. Like friends’ dads that were Aggies a long time ago still buy cars in the freaking school colors, and they always have an “Aggie” room in the house with paraphenalia and stuff.

At Aggie games you have to kiss your date when they score, which I think is kind of sweet.

I would consider UFC and UT to be similar in their dedication, but I don’t know, Aggie is something even more, it’s deeper. Cult like :slight_smile:

16

The General Manager at our Shreveport radio stations was an Aggie Yell Leader.

When he went back to his 40th reunion he bought a full page ad in their circular.

It was an old picture of him in his yell leader uniform (and I do mean uniform, it looks like you’re in the Army). And underneith was the motto:

“I’d Rather Be An Aggie Than An American!”

It was very well received.

But I also agree that USC grads can be fanatics, too.

17

Well, I didn’t say that I liked the Gators! Just surrounded by fans, many of whom didn’t attend UF.

The Bulldogs are my alma mater’s arch enemy. Go Jackets - to hell with Georgia!

18

My optometrist graduated from Ohio State. He’s been my optometrist forever, and I’ve just always known that was his School.

A few years ago he changed his practice’s name to BuckEYE Care, renovated the building and made EVERYTHING scarlet & gray (scarlet walls, gray carpet). There’s OSU memorabilia everywhere you look.

I just now realized that I didn’t find this the least bit disturbing or odd, even though we’re not in Columbus (Cleveland, though 2 hours away, is still OSU territory). I would imagine that someone not acquainted with “cultlike” college football following would find this extremely strange.

19

I don’t know about you, but I kind of expect to have to kiss before and after scoring with my date…

20

I knew a German who got his bachelor’s degree – in German studies, ironically – from Texas A&M way back when. He was quite a liberal and said the whole military aspect struck him as completely bizarre.