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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Sacred Paths and Places CITE 18 Sp11gg 1999 41 I t ... .. ,.. ,, , \� 4 l, t , , Vi , . 1 \ \t, \, his drawing is best understood as a cognitive map. Common maps, 1 1 ( as society constructs them, select // certain physical features of a locale — "' \\ ��' roads, buildings, streams — and record \ \ \ \� 1 their spatial relationships in terms of lin- j \� jj ear distance, capturing a world by minia- • t \ .. • turization and reduction. Such maps are 1 ' 1 1 suspect because they require selectivity about what gets included and what gets �\ left out. Who decides? The mapped size, 1 _� - +„ ' 1 shape, and elements of Bryan - College Sta- • 1, .r x tion are determined, no doubt, by agencies \ fit\ using accepted engineering practices. Such j maps, however, ignore the three- dimen- sional qualitative knowledge by which Aggies guide themselves through their life - world. Cultural geographers make a dis- unction between the abstract knowledge ' of engineers (space) and the cognitive . 111 \ knowledge of residents (place). Shon • \ Link's cognitive map attempts to represent the knowledge of the Texas A &M campus V s j and College Station that is constructed in �� °' n. 1 '• r —"� y the process of becoming an Aggie. Link . ,\ ' \ • interviewed Texas A &M undergraduates �' - and alumni and consulted several histories s that document the relationship between ..'000Millh ' / events and places. The result is a map of 7 1 - 1 . shared experience. Steven A. Moore .s ue � '' ca,. 4 ^r -- ' , ^• e. ^u r . ' � :..- , ' jli Vf : y'`v Aimi. [wW., in 1975. THE SACRED PATHS AND PLACES r.rl v • • t •.,;!;;;,,;:. CITE Spring 1998 19 • 41 r , fi6' ::.1. i i /U ar li p 1 - V\aelific-O/ D! f il ' . -•_. 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During O Final Review: Simpson Drill Field, the original football field, the summer before their first year, Fish go to Fish Camp to has become significant as the site of the Corps of Cadets Final meet each other and learn lore and yells. Fish Camp is held Review. On the day of Final Review, just before gradua- not on campus but at various Texas campsites and tion in the late spring, the Corps has two parades. ranches. At the beginning of the fall semester, Fish • The first includes all Corps members. During the '� assemble in the G. Rothe White Coliseum for All • second parade, the junior Corps of Cadets mem- ` U Night. The football team is introduced, and bets ceremoniously take the place of the senior yells are rehearsed. This is the on- campus intro - memb ers. The Final Review is an emotional ritual, duction to Aggie tradition for freshmen, who where the seniors bid farewell to the Corps and to arrive at the event as individuals and depart as Y/ Texas A &M. members of the Texas Aggie Twelfth Man. 0 Polishing Sully: The tenure of Sul Ross, former governor of Texas, as president of the university from 1891 to 1898 0 Kyle Field: Much of the Aggie experience is linked to Kyle Field, where A &M football was a particularly significant time in the history of • games are played. For Aggies the game itself is far less important than the spirit, dedica- Texas A &M. Ross brought credibility and tion, and tradition of the Twelfth Man. On January 2, 1922, during a Texas A &M foot- respectability to the university and successfully ball game, the Aggies suffered a series of injuries that left their ability to field a complete strengthened Texas A &M's position as a state team in question. Aggie coach D. X. Bible remembered that he had one player in the university. A statue of "Sully" stands on the west stands. Coach Bible walked over and summoned E. King Gill to the sidelines. Gill never side of the Academic Building. In 1933 two fresh - hesitated; he suited up and stood ready to play. This point in Aggie history defined the man cadets were ordered by upperclassmen to polish Aggie student body as the Twelfth Man. To this day, a member of the student body suits the statue with rags and brass cleaner. To this day, up wearing jersey number 12 and participates as a member of the Aggie kickoff coverage Corps underclassmen symbolically pay homage to "Sully" 1 i unit. More significantly, the student body stands throw y ghouc [he football game, dis- by polishing his statue. playing the loyalty, respect, and readiness to support the team that E. King Gill 0 did over 75 years ago. The collective Twelfth Man does not cheer. Instead, Aggie alumni and 0 The Aggie Ring: The Clayton Williams Alumni Center is friends yell according to scripted hand signals from the Yell Leaders (elsewhere where Aggies go to pick up their college rings. The Aggie called cheerleaders). Some yells require the Twelfth Man to Hump It (placing Ring is an icon that reminds the wearer of personal and ® our hands on your knees, squatting, and vocalizing an Aggie collective experiences at Texas A &M. The Aggie Ring is y y g ggie yell). But nothing compares to the Texas Aggie Fight Song. At the crescendo of the song, Aggies join also a sign that allows Aggies to identify each other arms over shoulders and sway left-to -right while singing "Saw Varsity's Horns Off!" outside Aggieland. The night before home games, the Twelfth Man assembles at Kyle Field for Midnight Individual parts of the ring provide distinct symbolic Yell Practice (elsewhere, a pep rally). The lights at Kyle Field are turned off and, once the meanings. The shield on top represents the desire to uphold 1• yells have been rehearsed, the Yell Leaders relate how the Aggies are going to beat the hell the reputation of the university. The 13 stripes represent the outta the next day's opponent. 13 original states and the intense patriotism of Aggies. The Midnight Yell Practice and Twelfth Man rituals are not confined, however, to Kyle The five stars in the shield refer to the five phases Field. I remember my first Yell Practice; it was in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The Aggies were ,. c of student development: mind, body, spirit, emo- in town to play Louisiana State University, and thousands of Aggies had assembled on the I tional poise, and integrity. The eagle represents steps of the Louisiana State Capitol for Midnight Yell Practice. My stepfather, an Aggie, power and the ability to reach great heights. On took me. At the rime, I found a lot of humor in the body language and verbiage of the the side of the ring, the seal of Texas shows loyal - yells, but I was awed when we all locked arms and sang the Texas Aggie Fight Song. Even ty to the state. The live oak represents the strength a child could recognize the collective spirit as extraordinary. Kyle Field is an associative to fight. The star surrounded by olive leaves signifies a mechanism that reminds Aggies of their A &M experiences. The steps of the Louisiana desire for peace. The crossed flags again represent allegiance State Capitol hold an equal place in my memory. But few people in Baton Rouge accept to nation and state. The cannon, saber, and title signify a their capital as a piece of Aggieland. ready willingness to defend. The traditional celebration of achieving an Aggie Ring occurs at Ring Dance. When one receives his or her Aggie Ring as a junior, it is placed on the finger with the class num- ber facing the wearer. After graduation, the ring is turned so © Memorial Student Center (MSC): Aggies are aware and respectful of that the number faces outward, symbolizing the readiness of the significant contribution that fellow Aggies have provided in sere- the graduate to face the world. ing this country. The Memorial Student Center was dedicated to the 918 Aggies who died in World War II. The MSC also houses a plaque honoring 104 Aggies who stood in defense 0 Ring Dunking: The Chicken and Duddley's are both bars in of Bataan and Corregidor (December 8, 1941 to May 6, the Northgate Shopping Center. Some say more beer is con - 1942). Now the MSC stands for all Aggie veterans. For sumed in The Chicken than in any bar in the world. Aggies Aggies, entering the MSC is like entering a sacred domain. go to these places to play dominoes (Aggies love Certain behaviors are enforced there as a matter of respect: dominoes) and to perform the Ring Dunking ritual. eiRe no hats are worn, and the surrounding lawn is off limits. If qq c) T Once an Aggie has earned an Aggie Ring, it is tra- I.' either of these codes is broken, there is always someone around to tor- h` ^';' ditional to place the ring in the bottom of a pitch - rect the inappropriate behavior. The MSC remains a poignant symbol 1,i1 .: er of beer and then consume the beer at a rapid of the war experience and sacrifices of fellow Aggies. l '. . pace — or Ring Dunk. 11 . J.i 'l ! .44i,: • • A6. nL1YNngI9! tld& ti�R+ ils MwO-' �wv. A�J. fYMW�Nt NaMfMYk� 'n.•.:nv r � /' CITE • '` 41 Spliog 1999 21 i i. 4 *f • ��� ' , �i ' ,t 1 1 . , _ a.., 11 1 11 R `f '� a ,. — fl t 0 Prexy's Moon: Prexy is the nickname given ® Train Rides: The railroad station originally 0 Muster: Every April 21 (the anniversary of to the president of the university, and labeled "College" was the stop on the pri- Sam Houston's victory at San Jacinto over Prexy's Moon is the light on the mary source of transportation to and from Santa Anna), Aggies, wherever they may be, , j -- 7 dome of the Academic Building. the university in the early years. The gather to honor their fellows who 1 " 4 "` In a discontinued but not for experience of riding a train with have died during the past year. ° gotten tradition, cadets used to hundreds of other Aggies must Muster begins with a roll call regularly shoot out Prexy's have been interesting. Accord- for the absent, during which ) 1 Moon with their Corps rifles. _ • ing to Amtrak, the last train ` a friend or family member ' stopped in College Station in jJ , illi answers "Here" when the November 1996. name of their deceased Aggie 0 Silver Taps: The ceremony honoring deceased is called. This signifies that the Aggies. On the first Tuesday of each month ' spirit endures, even after the names of those to be remembered at Silver P death. Candles are lit for each of the Taps are placed at the base of the flag- honored dead, and on campus, a firing pole in front of the Academic squad gives a 21-gun salute, and bug leis Building. At 10 p.m. students 0 The Wedding Tree: The Wedding Tree, or q g g g b p Century Tree, is a giant, sprawling play Silver Taps three times. gather at the flagpole with mm r c( friends and relatives of those live oak near the Academic Build- ing. It is Aggie tradition to pro - who have died recently. All 0 Bonfire: Members of the student body • lights are out, and the carillon A pose marriage beneath the spend three months building the Bonfire. in the Albritton Bell Tower ` g; ' canopy of the Wedding Tree. The original fire stack was a relatively short plays. The Ross Firing Squad \ / pile of haphazardly assembled wood, but delivers three volleys, then buglers v today Aggie students rise at dawn to cut play Silver Taps from the dome of the Acade- logs of precise measurements. After the logs • mic Building. All present leave silently as the have been transported to the Bonfire field, firing squad marches in and gives a 21 -gun ® Fish Pond: Fish Pond is located across from students gather for the ceremonial salute, and Silver Taps is played once more. Sbisa Dining Hall. After Aggie football p P y victories, freshmen in the Corps of raising of the Center Pole. Then they work around the clock �,�p Cadets capture the Yell Leaders Albritton Chimes: Albritton Bell Tower �" carefully aligning and stacking psi .. from the field, haul them over to marks the west gate entrance to the campus. logs as high as 60 feet off the the Fish Pond, and toss them in. The tower houses a 49 -bell carillon. l. - ground. The Bonfire is finally It is also tradition for seniors to The bells ring distinct tunes for prepared for the evening prior to L significant Aggie events such as march throu the Fish Pond the t. u. (University of Texas) foot - Silver Taps, Commissioning, Mil- during Elephant Walk (see below). ball game. The ceremony begins as students itary Review, and Graduation. march in behind the band. Around 60,000 L All Aggies within earshot of the Aggies assemble annually for Bonfire. Senior bell tower can identify the occasion football players are introduced, the head by the melody of the chimes. yell Practice at the Y: After the Fish Pond coach makes a speech, and then the Yell dunking, the soaked Aggie Yell Leaders conduct a Yell Practice. Finally, to the dramatic pulse of a drum brigade, select m The Grove: The Grove is the outdoor Leaders and their entourage hold cadets march in with torches and circle the theater brilliantly placed across from a post -game Yell Practice on the the railroad tracks. Performances Bonfire stack. The cadets, evenly spaced p_ steps of the YMCA Building. around the stack, hurl their flaming torches E are traditionally interrupted by onto fuel- soaked logs. The Yell Leaders and Aggies shouting "Whoop!" as °°31". trains pass. assembled until the crowd, yelling all the while, remain , bled il the center pole falls. Bonfire mo symbolizes a love of the university and a ! "burning desire" to defeat t. u. m March to the Brazos: A while back it was ® March In: This ceremonial parade, consisting of believed that a couple of Corps members the Corps of Cadets and the Fightin' Texas Aggie were responsible for several explosions Elephant Walk: A ritual performed by u. foot Band, begins a[ the Quad and ends at seniors during the week before the t. u. foot - Marching Q on campus. Corps superiors con- ball game. After gathering in front of Kyle Field. March In precedes all home football M ducted an inquiry, but no one the flagpole on Military Walk, they games. The band, called "The Pulse of ` would admit responsibility. The wander around campus without Aggieland," is a precision military suspected unit was ordered to • • direction, like elephants on the marching band that Aggies claim has march from campus towards the f • verge of death. During Elephant never been out - performed during a Brazos River until someone con- , iO1 Walk the marchers go through 4) 4 half -time show. Rice University's fessed. No one confessed, and to V V, • the Fish Pond, down Military .... I y Marching Owl Band (The MOB) was this day cadets annually march all the Walk, and eventually to Kyle Field - once held at swordpoint by cadets for way to the Brazos River. for Yell Practice. This ritual recognizes • performing a satire of the Aggie Band at half -time in Houston. Wherever the Aggie the termination of the seniors as part of the Band plays, that location becomes Aggieland. Twelfth Man. • CITE 22 9pliog 1998 Polishing Sully. • , '-' 1 trek C �, it I!, J • 7 1! r t i. 3 .. r , IM Twelfth Man , � - ` /r y a , t • • c� 1 4 . s i ou Ili 44, it ?) , .....-4......:-,... • • 1 ri "i7f/ •: , 4 ti I 411 ' / - "--44%4% i 1 1 i I II , \ i('' 'it * 1'.1 41 i ; ,,, -•,, ,, _ i 1 r, Sir i i 11 . .. f ,,,--, , . 1‘ - , # ,,) t s 4... 1 iir tt. 0......., - ..., , 1 41 1 i • Ring Donn, ca. 1980. 1 RIM Dan, ca. 1960. I • 2!. y. Q: `: X115 U'.. .,.,......... ,. , t4•e,:t o:n: t r ..'. , .. , �i fJ,�11;• CITE 40 Spill! 1999 23 I T here was a time, a long, long time ago, when there was little to From 1887 to 1891 Ross was an immensely popular governor of Texas, be proud of at Texas A &M. When Texas's first venture into the only war -hero governor Texans had enjoyed since Sam Houston. The higher education began (a mere 15 years after President Abra- respect with which he was held was legendary. ham Lincoln signed into law the Morrill Land Grant College Act of Sul Ross accepted the presidency of the college immediately after his 1863), the first cadets enrolled into a college with only one building, no governorship, a decision that in itself signaled the emerging importance of kitchen at all, primitive outhouses, and a remarkably undistinguished Texas A &M. Fathers at the time spoke of sending their sons not to college , and tiny faculty. The school was equidistant from the three most popu- but to Sul Ross. His seven -year tenure, which ended with his death in 1 51 IT lous centers in late- 19th -century Texas (Galveston - Houston, Dallas, and 1898, was as distinguished as he was. Texas had to take A &M seriously ,' San Antonio), a political decision guaranteed to make A &M forever because Sul Ross did, and under his leadership the university grew and J ii; feel like it was located in the middle of exactly nowhere. prospered as never before. In time, our time, Texas A &M would distinguish itself among mod- After Sul Ross, tradition at A &M continued to be molded by the ' ern American universities as a leader in research, as one of the top ten Corps of Cadets, which became a single fraternity, encompassing all stu- 1 universities in number of National Merit Scholars, and also in the size dent life at the college. Its colorful traditions developed early in the 20th of its endowment. It has provided its country with more than 200 indi- century: the large military -style precision Aggie Band; the Silver Taps cere- viduals who achieved the rank of general or admiral, and now with mony in memory of students who died while enrolled; the Aggie Muster • more than 43,000 students, it is the seventh largest university in the on April 21, when Aggies gather together, wherever they may be to United States. How it got from there to here is a story worth knowing. remember their deceased comrades; Final Review, when the senior class Texas A &M began in the 1870s, the same decade that saw the start passes authority to the junior class; the Bonfire, the largest in the world, • '' of the great Texas cattle drives, when trail- driving cowboys guided vast on the eve of the football game with the University of Texas (t.u. in Aggie • herds to market by way of the railheads in Kansas. They quickly cap- parlance); the Twelfth Man tradition, which goes back to a 1922 football tured the imagination of the entire country, ry, and the cadets of the Agri- game when student E. King Gill answered the half -time call of a desperate - cultural and Mechanical College of Texas profited immensely by the ly worried Aggie coach. Gill volunteered, then suited up for the second coincidence. Two great Texas myths began together. half. To this day Aggies at football games do not sit, but remain standing From the beginning there was the Corps of Cadets, who wore uni- in honor of the Twelfth Man and his readiness to serve the institution. forms and marched everywhere. But the Corps in itself was not enough The cult of Texas A &M was ultimately shaped by two forces: the spirit to build a legendary university. For that, A &M needed a hero, and of the Corps and the Southern military code of honor, personified by Lawrence Sullivan "Sul" Ross, more than anyone, fulfilled that role. He Lawrence Sullivan Ross, an ideal model for success. This articulated sprit shaped the myth of Aggieland during his tenure as president. and code of honor drove a mediocre Southern military college to become t' Sul Ross came of age in Waco at the dawn of the Civil War, becom- one of this country's great universities. Barry Moore ing one of the youngest brigadier generals in the Confederacy, and immediately thereafter he served as a second - generation Texas Ranger. 1 t / , 1 THE MYSTIQUE OF AGGIELAND i i :. A VIEW OF TRADITION I first arrived in College Station in the spring of 1992 as a Aggieland has become Aggieworld, a kind of collegiate theme park crafted to I I prospective graduate student from up north. Sean, an old friend capture the imaginations of undergraduates in the same way that Disneyland from my undergraduate days who was living in College Station, dazzles children with plastic elephants and robotic pirates. This phenomenon ' offered to show me around. After the obligatory campus tour and cruis- is illustrated by recent initiatives of the Old Main Society to create a replica 4 1 ing the north, south, and east gates m an Alamo rental car, I presump- of the original College Station train station, which would neither function as I tuously said to Sean, "I've seen enough of this commercial strip stuff. a train station nor occupy the original site. Let's go downtown." Sean looked at me like a parent trying to find Instead of creating the opportunity to authentically experience train trav- appropriate words to tell a child that there is no Easter Bunny and said, el, something that is now practically impossible in Texas, the College Station "Well, this is downtown." I exclaimed, "This isn't a town, this is a station would merely symbolize the Aggie rail heritage. This nostalgic dispo- franchisescape!" sition ignores the realities of a community that is overrun by automobiles Now, six years later, 1 have become acculturated to the extent that 1 and desperately needs transportation alternatives. It also treats local heritage, I have learned enough Aggie lore to form an understanding of the com- such as rail transportation, as a series of static vignettes instead of under - plexities and contradictions between the physical presence of College standing that history as part of a dynamic process. Why not create a new rail Station and the intangible cultural construct (mythical image) that is network and station that is fast, efficient, and grounded in the contemporary, Aggieland. For thousands of undergraduates and former students, high -tech, research - driven processes of Texas A &M? , Aggieland is the magical setting where the glorious rites of passage Both the citizens of College Station and the student body of Texas A &M afforded by university life are played out. Aggieland should not be con- are becoming more heterogeneous, and the days of the infamous two -per- fused with new American suburbia, where the best coffee house in town center (slackers who give only 2 percent as opposed to real Aggies, who give • is in a strip mall and has a drive -thru window. But there is an inauthen- 110 percent) are long gone. Thus, this budding urban center can no longer ticity in the disparity between the symbolism of Aggie traditions and the rely exclusively on the symbolism of Aggieworld to define its identity as we experience afforded by the generic monotony of College Station's self- enter the third millennium. In order to become vital, the physical character proliferating sprawl. of College Station as well as the rituals and traditions of Aggieland must be Historically, the majority of sacred places and paths of Aggieland adapted to the challenges posed by this new era. Citizens of College Station have been a manifestation of inculcated doctrine rather than lived expe- need to be prompted to question the validity of a franchise- dominated land - rience. Beginning with Fish Camp, undergraduates at Texas A &M have scape, and the Texas A &M student body needs to be educated to respect the been brainwashed to believe in the superior significance of a plethora of university's heritage, while being encouraged to express the spirit of its time. monuments and rituals. While this conditioning has been applied to Timothy J. Cassidy things such as the statue of Sul Ross, it could just as easily been direct- ed to a rock in the parking lot of a nearby McDonald's. The point is not to belittle Aggie traditions but to illustrate that the mental attitude produced by them is not one of spontaneous, first -hand experience. Through official university rhetoric and corporate marketing practices,