•mo*
1920
May 27, 1912 -
All official files of Texas A&M
publications are lost in the Old
Main fire.
1916-
The Battalion boasts “the
largest college circulation
in the South.”
1918-
The Battalion suspends
publication due to World
War 1, but soon resumes
printing.
Thursday, September 30, 1993
1893 •The Battalion • 1993
Page 3
1909 — Fightin Texas Aggie Bonfire
Bonfire stands tall as one of A&M’s most time-honored traditions
The 1943 Bonfire consisted of heaps of trash and collected rubbish
By Kim McGuire
The Battalion
1 909 as a
e pile of
W hat began
small burninj
trash has evolved into one
of Texas A&M’s most sacred and
beloved traditions.
Bonfire, traditionally held on
the night before the A&M-Univer-
sity ofTexas football game, symbol
izes every Aggie’s burning desire to
“beat the hell outta t.u.”
The 55-foot-high stack of logs is
symbolic of the love Aggies have for
their school and coincides with the
biggest yell practice of the year. The
Bonfire of today is a semester-long
project with over 3,500 students
working on the epic production.
The first Bonfire in 1909 stood
only 12 feet tall and had no center-
pole, but was remembered by most
for the stolen outhouse on top of
the structure.
In a 1964 edition of The Bat
talion, former University archivist
Frank Langford recalled the 1909
Bonfire.
“We made the rounds of all the
buildings and anything loose was
deposited in a pile on the parade
ground,” Langford said. “We
burned it the night before we went
to Austin.”
The tradition began in 1936 af
ter a local farmer complained his
barn was stolen for the previous
year’s Bonfire.
The average height of Bonfire
since 1946 has been 75-80 feet, but
in 1969, Bonfire reached a peak of
109 feet, 10 inches. It was the tallest
ever in the United States and broke
the Guiness World Book record.
Concern for safety has since limited
Bonfire’s height to 55 feet.
Safety concerns also caused Bon
fire to be moved in 1955 from its
original location on Simpson Drill
Field to Duncan Field. Then in
1992, the site was moved to the
Polo Fields near the main entrance
of the campus.
The move was controversial and
in 1992, Battalion columnist
Michael Sullivan opposed the move.
“Sure, having the symbol of Ag-
f ie unity and the desire to beat
exas University at the front en
trance will be inspiring between
October and Turkey Day, but what
about the rest of the year? Do we
want an area that looks like a com
bat zone instead of the lush rolling
green we have now as a first impres
sion of A&M today? No.”
Almost as controversial was the
University’s decision in 1979 to
allow women to work at the Bon
fire cut site.
“For the amount of work they
did, it wasn’t worth the trouble to
set them up a separate area and
keep a supervisor with them the
whole time,” Mark Rhea, Bonfire
senior coordinator, said in a 1979
issue of The Battalion. “They didn’t
cut more than 10 logs.”
In 1981, when civilian women
were allowed on the cut site, head
redpot Art Free told The Battalion,
“Bonfire is mostly a man’s game —
kind of a macho deal where the gu^s
can get away and have a good time. ’
One factor not disputed, howev
er, is most Aggies’ devotion to pro
tect Bonfire. It has burned every
year except 1963, when it was can
celed after President John F.
Kennedy was assassinated. Through
the years, many attempts have been
macle to ignite Bonfire prematurely,
but all have been thwarted.
A headline appearing in a 1933
issue of The Battalion read “Col
lege Radicals Start Bonfire Three
Weeks Early; Fire Quenched After
Student Body Aroused.”
The Battalion reports, “The al
most tragic incident was not with
out its humor; put 500 thinly-clad,
yelling maniacs on a drill field at
two o clock in the morning trying
all conceivable methods of putting
out a fire, and humor is the only
possible result.”
One year students from the Uni
versity of Texas attempted to drop
an incendiary bomb on Bonfire from
a plane. The bomb missed, but Ag
gie guards got the plane’s serial num
ber and notified university officials in
Austin, and the unsuccessful sabo
teurs were apprehended. Also, two
other students tried to demolish
Bonfire with a bomb attached to a
detonator in their car. However, the
bomb missed its mark, and the stu
dents were apprehended.
ran for his act of heroism.
Also, sophomore Wiley Keith
Jopling was killed in 1981 after
falling under the wheels of a tractor.
Efforts to improve Bonfire safety
conditions have since been imple
mented. All students working at
cut sites are now required to take
safety classes.
Concerns over the ecological im
“Bonfire has brought Aggies together for 83 years. May
it continue to do so for 83 more. Build the hell outta
Bonfire!”
—Stacy Feducia, former Battalion columnist
Bonfire has seen its share of
tragedy as well as horseplay. T,vo
students have been killed while
working on Bonfire.
In 1955, James E. Sarran, an
A&M sophomore working as a cof
fee truck attendant for Bonfire
guards, was killed when he was
struck by an automobile after push
ing two of his fellow cadets out of
the way. The Battalion reported
that the 1955 Thanksgiving Day
football game was dedicated to Sar-
pact of Bonfire peaked in 1992.
This concern led to the creation of
Replant, a campus-wide effort to
replant trees used for Bonfire.
An editorial appearing in a
1992 issue of The Battalion com
mended Replant.
“The fact so many Aggies came
out for the event offers encourage
ment for those in charge. With a
little forethought and a lot of
planning, A&M s newest tradition
has the potential to become its
most productive.
Still, with the emergence of Ag
gies Against Bonfire in 1990 and
other protesters, the controversy
surrounding Bonfire burns as hot
in Aggieland as the flames leaping
from Bonfire itself.
In a 1992 column, Shawn Ral-,
ston called Bonfire a “ridiculous
waste of time, resources, manpower
and money.”
“All of those macho lumberjacks
and their Bonfire buddies can get to
gether and burn whatever they want
on private land as long as they don’t
break any laws,” Ralston said.
“However, on public property, at a
state university, Bonfire is a travesty.”
Columnist Stacy Feducia coun
tered Ralston with, “Every au
tumn legions of bunny-kissing,
tree-hugging paranoids converge
upon Bonfire chanting mantras of
environmental apocalypse. Bon
fire has brought Aggies together
for 83 years. May it continue to
do so for 83 more. Build the hell
outta Bonfire!”
Love it or hate it, Bonfire will
burn for the 84th time at dusk on
the night before Thanksgiving Day
this year.
Kennedy assassination prompts A&M to cancel 1963 bonfire
By Kim McGuire
The Battalion
The campus was numb.
So was John Gabbert, a senior at Texas
A&M on Nov. 22, 1963, when President John
F. Kennedy was assassinated. The tragic event
had a chilling effect on his life and the life
around campus.
“Our commander in chief was dead,” Gab
bert said. “We were all stunned. I think every
one can remember exactly where they were
when they first heard the news.”
The assassination had such a profound effect
on A&M that President J. Earl Rudder and stu
dent body leaders decided to cancel Bonfire in
memory of the slain president.
“Nobody had the stomach to go through
with it,” Gabbert said. “We were all so
drained of emotion that the general consensus
was Bonfire shouldn’t happen.”
Gabbert said the redpots had already erected
centerpole and the stack was almost complete.
A 1963 issue of The Battalion reported Rud
der as saying, “In a unanimous agreement, it was
decided to cancel the bonfire in light of national
mourning following Kennedy’s death. We should
do what is in good taste for Texas A&M since we
are a military school, in a sense our commander
in chief was slain.”
After the announcement, Rudder met in
Guion Hall with all the juniors and seniors to
explain the decision.
Mike Marlow, yell leader in 1964, said in a
Battalion article me cancellation had not hin
dered student body spirit.
“We realize that tnis Bonfire would probably
have been one of the largest in A&M’s history
but, that is all the more tribute and sacrifice we
are making for the death of our president,” Mar
low said. Hf the students show as much spirit as
they have shown in the past week, we are sure to
beat the t-sips Thursday. ’
A yell practice was held around the center-
pole of the bonfire that never burned, and the
band played the fight song and school song.
The Battalion commended the cancellation
in an editorial that ran Nov. 23, 1963.
“The cancellation of the traditional Aggie
Bonfire in memory of the late President John
F. Kennedy was no small sacrifice for Aggies,
in fact, it was a monumental sacrifice.
Probably no group of A&M students have
made such a great sacrifice as this; other than
members of the Class of ’17, which volun
teered to go and defend their country in war
and the Class of ‘41, which walked off the
A&M campus directly into military service
and a war.
“The cancellation of the Aggie Bonfire should
not be thought of only as a way to pay respect to
a former president of the United States or to the
office which he held, though either would be de
serving of that sacrifice. It should be remembered
as a sacrifice for the wound that has been inflicted
on our way of life.”
Marlow said, however, that the cancella
tion wasn’t really a sacrifice.
“It was the most we had,” Marlow said. “It
was the least we could give.”
This year, however, the Class of ‘64 might
have its Bonfire after all.
The Class of ’94 is planning to dedicate this
year’s Bonfire to the Class of ‘64 and invite
them back for the event.
After 30 years without having a senior Bon
fire, Gabbert said the Class of‘64 would welcome
the Class of‘94’s invitation.'
“I can’t think of a more unbelievable, un
selfish, considerate gift someone could give,”
Gabbert said. “I have to give credit to the Class
of ‘94 for a fantastic idea. I can’t think of any
thing better than finally having our Bonfire af
ter all these years.”
Congratulations to the Battalion on your 100th Anniversary
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