Ba dum CHING! Can’t get anything past a Doper!
I think that, while Aggies tend to be more conservative than other Texans, there’s tremendous variation within the school itself, and things have changed vastly there, over the years.
Today, the famed “Corps” is only a small, colorful minority within the student body. It’s not like the Fifties, when Texas A & M was, essentially, the Lone Star State’s equivalent to the Citadel.
If you meet a 70 year old Aggie, one who fondly remembers the all-male military school he attended, well, you can correctly anticipate his political and cultural attitudes. But a 25-40 year old Aggie is more likely to be an engineering nerd than a militarist.
And it may surprise you, but… despite its conservatism, A & M has often provided a more welcoming, inclusive environment for minority students than campuses that seem more liberal and progressive. The Aggies took longer to welcome black students than they should have, but once they DID start accepting them, they went all out. A black or Mexican graduate of A & M is likely to have swallowed the Aggie Kool-Aid, and will still wear the ring and sing the school songs with pride.
STILL not a school I’m dying to send my son to some day. But if he wants to be a doctor, scientist, engineer or veterinarian, he could do a LOT worse.
Texas A&M is more than what you see in front of you. It is not just the traditions, the Corps of Cadets, the Yell Practice, Silver Taps, or those things that outsiders look at and point to as ‘a cult’. Texas A&M creates leaders. No, it may not be the most prestigious college in the nation. It may not produce the most sophisticated ‘intelligentsia’ that is favored in our nation’s capitol at this time. Aggies are not impressed with ‘those people’ from the east or left coasts. Aggies are trained to be leaders. The Corps is the core. These are the people who are going to die to save our sorry asses. And there are many of them who have died in battle over the last 120 years, in many different battles on many different continents. They are simple people. Many come from rural areas, traditional values, a belief in God, family, and country. They eschew the ‘cosmopolitan’ life and it’s trappings. These are people who are called upon to lead, whether it’s in war, business, government, or morals. And most of those people, if you asked them late in their lives, would tell you that their basics in life came from two places. Their parents and Texas A&M. The so called ‘fanatacism’ that outsiders see is rooted in military traditions, team building exercises, and a sense of loyalty. Bonfire isn’t about just building a big fire and having what outsiders call a ‘pep rally’. It’s a project, engineering, labor, planning, working together. It’s a team building exercise. The Aggie Corps of Cadets goes through the same training as West Point. It is the largest military school outside the service academies. And as such, produces some of the finest military leaders in American history. Aggies have grown accustomed to mocking from outsiders. But, they shrug their shoulders and say ‘From the outside looking in you can’t understand it. From the inside looking out, you can’t explain it.’
Timely xkcd:
A quote occurs to me . . . something about "you’ve got to remember that these are just simple farmers. These are people of the land. The common clay of the new West . . . "
oh, and hook 'em 
But A&M hasn’t been all white & all male for quite a while now. And membership in The Corps isn’t compulsory any more.
Native Texan Lyle Lovett went to A&M, where he studied German & Journalism. But he was already beginning his musical career. Lyle’s never denied his roots–he still lives on family land. But he’s also spent considerable time on the “left” coast.
Perhaps The Bonfire isn’t the best example of Aggie Prowess. Although the design has been improved since the 1999 collapse that killed twelve, current bonfires are unofficial & built off campus.
One of us…one of us…one of us…
Now, I’m a Longhorn, bleed burnt orange, and I used to be one of the guys who took care of our mascot, Bevo (the longhorn). I hate all things aggy. But, once upon a time when I was 17 or so, I took a trip with my ROTC unit to College Station. I thought it was the shit. What can I say? Young, stupid, and impressionable.
I’ve observed many sport rivalries up close. I think Texas-a&m and Texas-o.u. are up there with Auburn-Alabama. If you grow up in Texas, you either root for Texas or for a&m. Not both. You are indoctrinated into a side, and if you should go to the other school, it will always be a sore spot in the family.
I’ve been to several weddings where there are separate cakes for Texas and aggy fans.
My wife’s cousin was a yell leader in the 80s. He is now a judge in a district not far from here. I don’t doubt for a second that fact was on his campaign platform. The governor of Texas, Rick Perry, was an aggy yell leader. Again, this probably assured his election for half of the state. It should be interesting to see the Republican race for governor shape up - Kay Bailey Hutchinson is going to challenge Perry, and she was a Texas cheerleader…
Here’s a great example of the rivalry: when Texas made it to the national championship game in 2005 vs. USC, a group of aggy fans created a “Longhorn for a day” movement. They had t-shirts made up and everything. They figured because we were all Texans, we could stand to cheer for Texas for that day. As I recall this effort was met with extreme derision. I think that’s the difference between us and a lot of SEC, Big 10 rivals. I always want aggy to lose, especially if it’s on a national stage. My Michigan friends will root for OSU and vice-versa in a bowl game, if the other team isn’t in it. Not here.
The one time I saw (and agreed with) any Aggie love was after the bonfire collapse in '99. Tons of Longhorns gave blood, and I don’t think one Longhorn fan begrudged losing the game that year.
Your friends are in the small, small minority. Trust me. Most Michigan fans would rather stick a fork in their eye than root for OSU or MSU. And vice versa. A couple of my classmates went to MSU for undergrad and still refuse to root for Michigan, even though they go here now. (Except in basketball, but only because one of our classmates was on the team and of course we all rooted for him. Even me.)
Have to agree. Hippie Hollow is talking crazy talk. That’s like saying Yankees fans root for the Red Sox every now and then. Has it happened? Maybe. Is it common? Noooo way.
In fact, there are often entrepreneurs on campus selling t-shirts with lame slogans like “OHIO IS THE WORST STATE EVER” or whatever. And then people from other schools come here for games wearing t-shirts that say “ANN ARBOR IS A WHORE.”
They just jealous cause we awesome.
^^^^ Quoted for truth ^^^^^
the “husker” cult is all pervasive.
I am a Red Raider. I am a sworn enemy of the damned Aggies and the damned Longhorns. TCU, SMU, and Rice are beneath contempt. Texas Tech was a college in my day, none of that sissy university crap for us. My cousin was an Aggie; he and I had to be kept separated at family gatherings. (Those are all lies, but I have to say them—my cousin was an Aggie, though.)
Anyway, back in those days, Texas A & M was an all-white, all-male place, in spite of being funded by State money. Membership in ROTC was mandatory and A & M was legendary for hazing underclassmen. Serious injuries and the occasional death were mostly overlooked and that isn’t much of an overstatement. Men sent their sons to A & M in order to “make men out of them.” A fair number of those sons were driven to breakdowns because of what they had to endure. Drop outs were scorned for life by other Aggies although I could never feel contempt for anyone leaving that hell hole. Graduates of A & M were stamped out by cookie cutters; you could predict what they would do simply because every damn one of them would do the same thing. Even so, graduates of that place could take pride in having stuck to it through at least three years of hell; seniors had it whipped. I think a lot of that spirit still sticks to the place, albeit well tempered with lies.
Now, the place is a very good school, open to all; some things in Texas have changed for the better. My grand-niece, for instance, is now a senior at Texas A & M; she had a full scholarship due to her equestrienne skills. (Texas Tech used to give scholarships to members of their trampoline team and that’s no bull.)
I would have sworn this was copypasta from FreeRepublic or some such place. But no, according to Google, the words (if nothing else) are original.
I’m a USC alum - and I couldn’t give a shit about the football team. I don’t broadcast my loathing of football lest somebody get violent about it.
I used to volunteer for tailgates on campus, for the free food and beer and then go home. I did go to to watch them play twice at the Colloseum, and I left after 30 mins cos I was so bored.
However, I am British - so make of that what you will…
Roll tide
Declan
Maybe so. But the Big 10 has been so horrible in big bowl games lately I think there’s this idea that whatever team comes out on top and ends up in the MNC, they’d better win, or your loss to them is doubly bad.
I have to admit I’ve only ever heard “they gotta win to help the conference” from Big 10 and Pac 10 fans.
I agree that it’s different from other schools, and has strong traditions, but it’s not near as crazy or bad as you make it sound.
Reveille, the mascot, is taken care of by one student and that student takes her pretty much everywhere he goes, including classes. There is a tradition/legend that if she barks during class, that the prof has to let everyone go. But it’s like the 5-minute rule- that if a professor is 5 minutes late, everyone can go. It’s a rule that a lot of people tell each other and wish was true, but it’s not at all the case that it must be followed. Especially with the last Reveille who would bark all the time and if that rule was followed, every single class she was in would have to be let go early.
Also about the football games, students are very devoted to football and most of campus that’s not the stadium will be a ghost town when a game is going on. But no one will spit on you if you leave a game early. I went to pretty much every football game when I was at A&M, and left several of them early, and I don’t remember anyone having any problem with it. No one I know ever got spit on. A few times when people left I would hear someone yelling, but usually more in a “come on, show some school spirit!” way, rather than in an angry, spit flying way. And during afternoon games in September, huge numbers of people will leave because of how ridiculously hot it can get.
I’m saying this as someone who went to A&M from 2002-2006, don’t have anything maroon in my house other than some old t-shirts, and don’t know if I could remember any of the yells or the fight song unless someone prompted my memory. It’s a good school in a lot of ways, and a bad school in a few ways, but I’m guessing that’s how almost any school anywhere is.
True story, I had a friend in college who kidnapped Reveille. He got booted from school for at least a semester and some ag FBI/CIA guy was on the case.
I have a tale of great stupidity to share. Along with some friends, we snuck into the bonfire probably around '94. We brought a Texas flag, went around the backside, snapped a photo of it, and proceeded to hightail it out of there. You guessed it, we ended up walking on a patch of sacred grass and were summarily chased by some inebriated ags… no doubt, they wanted to “explain” to us the consequences of walking on the grass.
The year after I graduated, the Silver Spurs (the gang of Bevo-handlers, of which I was a member) got into a small scale riot at Kyle Field with some corps types. No idea what set it off, but anyone picking a fight with guys with a steer is pretty much going to inflict some damage.
Oh, bullshit. You corps turds think that the 2000 or so of you define the school and are the most important thing out of 44,000 other students.
Get a grip… yes, A&M produces a great deal of leaders, most of which are NOT in the Corps of Cadets. In general the real leaders don’t spend 4 years playing Army (most cadets are D&C - Drill and Ceremonies, not actual contract ROTC guys).
Bonfire is a hideous example… it was a combination of booze, hazing, peer pressure, and general stupidity. The bonfire guys in my dorm (2 crew chiefs and a yellowpot) were generally useless as leaders, in that all they led the residents to do was to disobey the staff, fuck things up, and be generally hostile toward people who weren’t part of bonfire.
I say good riddance to bonfire- we can do better without it.
(and I’m Class of '95, BTW)