Should Bonfire Return?
I was on Michael Berry’s show in Houston a couple days ago and he asked me this. Now, I’m not an Aggie and Michael’s not an Aggie, so what do we know? But his question was: “You’re president of A&M. Do you bring Bonfire back?” This is pretty much the last question you want to be asked on the radio. There’s no good answer. So naturally I tried to dodge it. But he pressed me for an answer so I ended up telling him that considering what had happened, it was impossible to imagine that Bonfire could be brought back to campus without huge changes in how it was built, more oversight, etc. If there weren’t these changes, and god forbid there was another accident, how could you ever forgive yourself? But if you made those changes then Bonfire would be something different, since the whole point was that the students were in charge. As one of the Aggies in this month’s Bonfire oral history put it, to contract any part of the process out to a construction company would be “basically the equivalent of parents doing their kid’s science fair project.” And this is where part of the tragedy lies: That the particular experience of Bonfire (the student leadership, the rowdy glory, everything) was truly old-school, and in a lot of ways fundamentally at odds with the modern obsession with liability and safety and so on. So I told him no. (Plus, Student Bonfire is growing.) But like I said, I’m not an Aggie, so what do I know? There’s an open forum this afternoon at A&M for students to voice their opinions. Let me put Michael’s question to you: “You’re in charge. Do you bring it back?”
GaryH says:
I do not think it should be brought back. The liability on the university would be enormous. Their insurance premiums probably go up just talking about it. I was a 2-percenter transfer student there 1978-1980 and wondered what all the big deal was. Yea it was neat and cool but the sheer size of it, plus seeing Corps guys light their cigars off of it, amazed me that more students had not been hurt or killed. We all learned as kids that you don’t play with fire. I think it was all a macho thing primarily perpetuated by the Corps over the years with younger, impressionable students just following along. If no one had been killed when it fell, it still would have been a national embarrassment because one of the premier Colleges of Engineering in the country is on campus.
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A2Z says:
As a non-A&M grad, the Bonfire article left me both moved and somewhat incredulous. I have always been curious about the obsessive devotion to “tradition” at A&M (my father, grandfather, uncle, cousin and numerous high school classmates went there). After reading the article, I believe I do understand the depth of the bonding experience and how it feels to participate in something greater than yourself. I agree those kind of life experiences are truly important.
But such traditions shouldn’t come at the expense of rational thinking. Alums and students really need to detach themselves from their strong emotions and look at this critically. With each passing year, there appeared to be an unconscious tendency to try to “one-up” the previous year. The size of the bonfire grew steadily to the point that nobody stopped to consider the safety risks they were creating.
How did that happen? Most Aggies I know are pretty smart. I think the problem was getting caught up in the “mob mentality” and not remembering to keep your head on straight, particularly when there was a significant degree of danger involved. These are your friends and classmates – why would you want to put them in harm’s way?
As an outside observer, here’s my 2 cents, for what it’s worth. Every year, in remembrance of the fallen Aggies, students should come together to create a fresh building plan that clearly lays out the leadership roles, construction plans, and above all, robust safety measures. The size and design of the bonfire needs to be carefully managed – okay, by the students. Perhaps you could agree on a specific number of logs to be used, and make that number the “tradition” each year so that it never gets out of hand again.
You Aggies will just have to figure it out. I hope you will choose to balance your beloved tradition with a healthy dose of common sense. It was obvious from the article that was missing, sadly. Gig ‘Em.
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Prince Royal says:
Every year the students should build 12 Habitat houses–in honor of each of the fallen students that the 12th man–as a modern version of building people up, being part of something greater than yourself, and having a tradition and legacy of service.
This isn’t a conservative or liberal thing, it is a modern response to two needs–the need of the tradition and the need of people to have a roof over their heads.
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treehugger says:
I’m not an aggie, but I like the idea of one of the commenters to the magazine article online… Build a bonfire on the 12th anniversery and finish what the students started in 1999. After that come up with a plan. Liability is an issue but alumni can pay for insurance if need be. At this point how much of the pro-Bonfire sentiment is current students and how much is alumni? My opinion? Its a waste of good trees/lumber. Whatever happened to making a bonfire out of waste materials, old lumber, packing crates/pallets, etc.? Sibling university Tarleton manages to have a decent bonfire using pallets. Why not be smart about it?
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Coon says:
Just read this months issue. Of course, way too much focus on the burn, not enough mention of the build, the Dorm, Off Campus, & Outfit unity it generates, and hardly any mention of Student Bonfire. SB is worth at least a mini article linked to the cover story.Texas Monthly has done a disservice to the continuing tradition that is alive and well for many Aggies. I think its very interesting that they needed a computer generated bonfire for the cover. With all the work to be done and the typical poor lighting conditions, it has always been difficult to convey the majesty of Aggie Bonfire without being able to be there to experience it. That is probably as it should be. Building Bonfire can be built safely, by students, with professionally engineered design and consultation. Many of the necessary changes have already been made. The trick is going to be to ensure the safety of the participants without gutting the raucous and at times crass fun that is building Aggie Bonfire. I am 34 years old and still there is almost nothing I would rather do in this life than sit in 1st stack swing on a freezing November night in College Station. I want my children to be able have that utterly unique experience that could NEVER be had building someone a house or raking leaves. That is why A&M has Replant and the Big Event. Bonfire is the place where political correctness is tossed out the window and the focused mayhem of thousands of young adults are harnessed to construct the biggest middle finger to polite society’s imposed constraints and the university of texas. Never will you find the confluence of back breaking work and pure unadulterated fun that Aggie Bonfire. If you have never done it, you will never know the tremendous impact it has on the lives of thousands of Aggies. That is why Bonfire is and should continue to be built. whoop.
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DacusCuss says:
Treehugger is on to something there. I attended A&M (ended up getting my degree elsewhere), really liked it and understood the Spirit of Aggieland and all that. But, it was my understanding when I attended in the late 80s and in years leading up to the tragedy that the preferred fuel for Bonfire was mature post oaks.
This is a tree species that, while traditionally among the most plentiful in the state, is uniquely threatened because it is a slow-growing, long-lived tree whose natural habitat is constantly being diminished due to urbanization and clearing for grazing land.
Aggies are among the most unique group of students and alumni in the country. I don’t think they need Bonfire. In fact, I’d like to see a yearly initiative take the place of Bonfire that involved both Aggies AND the rival at the center of Bonfire.
Bonfire itself is a vestige, and a counterproductive one. Nobody should be as contientious of work safety and conservation as Aggies, at a campus I consider to be the the consummate landgrant institution in America.
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