re: A question for all Ags...

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As far as the Corps block I would be fine with disbanding it because I think the Corps members would actually prefer that

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The Corps never wanted the Corps Block. It was forced on us by the new commandant, the VP for student affairs, and was endorsed by the athletic director.

I wish BG Ramirez would remove it.

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I've been saying this for years. Otherwise y'all have no excuse to not at least be on the level of FSU. The Aggies can't get out of their own way. It's good to see one Aggie understand the image concept.

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Amen. I agree with this wholeheartedly.

It's not hardly just "one Aggie" who understands that, either. I'd say it's pretty much an entire generation of Aggies, or rather, a couple of generations. I'd say, about everyone who has graduated since, roughly, 1990 feels that we're an impedement to our own success in many ways.

Our problem with changing (and we've been inching toward fixing some of these image problems for years but we're rapidly accelerating the change right now with the SEC move and the hiring of Kevin Sumlin who isn't a hick, old, or interpersonally challeneged ) is our cadre of Old Ags. It's hard to explain to an outsider, but we have a unique situation where a lot of our funding and a high degree of influence has come from a group of men who were students back before the Modern Era of A&M, who went to A&M when it was Corps-centered and see A&M as a monolitic instituation that should reflect that experience and those values and never change in the slightest way. We're talking reactionary conservative, and I don't mean politically necessarily, but more accurately, culturally reactionary. These guys have been complaining that Sumlin plays rap during practice. I mean, think about that. That's what we're dealing with.

Now, many of these fellows have served with distinction in the military and have been very, very successful businessmen and pillars of their communities. I'm trying to avoid slagging them too hard, they're good guys, but they are what they are as far as outlloks and beliefs, and their "kind" has controlled A&M for a long time, but that influence is dwindeling as they die. I'm not cheering that, I don't want to be weird or morbid, but it's a fact of life - those generations are passing away from this earth. In their wake, the younger men and women with a much more modern perspective will gain a much larger voice and the university and AD will have to worry about appeasing the Old Ags much less. This will allow us to take steps we haven't been able to in order to revamp our image while still honoring and paying tribute to our past and our traditions.

As far as a dance team, it needs to happen. We should keep our yell leaders: what outsiders don't realize is they have utility, they serve an important purpose - they lead the yells we are famous for. But we need attratcive female eye-candy for the cameras. It doesn't matter what they dance to, or if they dance. They just need to be there. Yes, it's objectivication: that's what all other teams do with cheerleaders and Golden Girls, or what have you, let's be real.

Also, it should be clear to everyone Corps Block needs to be broken up. The Corps didn't want it when it started and it isn't even a tradition. It's relatively new and it's bad PR because all the cameras do (naturally) is focus on that section, giving the public, and most importantly, recruits the impression that A&M is an all military school. I think the Corps would be in favor of this, the AD would be in favor of this, teh marketing guys would be in favor of this, and Sumlin would be in favor of this. The only reason I can figure they haven't done it yet is that all of those folks are newer than the Corps Block "tradition" and don't know it's only been around for 16 some-odd years.

As far as Corps guys, yes, some are absurdly dorky, but I personally knew some pretty awesome guys who happened to be CTs, so all I'll say about them is that they're like any large group or cross-section of society - some are cool, some are jerks, some are dorks... BUT what the commander on down needs to realize is they are VERY PUBLIC representatives of the university - the spotlight is on them and they need to be aware of that, however fair or unfair that is and be very careful to not embarrass us. They need to pass a sure, solid, absolute directive against activites like "the squeeze" and anything else of that nature.

That brought a tear to my eye. You should submit it as an opinion piece to the batt, or maybe zwerneman.

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I have a good friend who I grew up with who is a successful attorney married to a very beautiful girl who I can't imagine doing that stuff.

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My wife was also in the Corps and yeah, neither she nor any of the other female CTs I interacted with ever engaged in many of the stupid practices that the Corps gets railed on for on the internet.

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After all, that bit of weirdness was broadcast live nationally during one of our games for all the world to see.

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I believe that was the '04 texas tech game, so it was before my time at A&M (and honestly, I watched that game live and don't even remember that part, it was so brief, but the internet never forgets, of course )

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it's a bubble, and that's part of the fun, after all; but this is modern life - there are cameras looking on these days.

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Couldn't agree more--and being cognizant of that fact applies doubly to Corps members, of course, but also applies to the general student population as well

Corps Block was part of a program to promote the Corps at A&M in the '90s when membership had dwindled and there was legit fear that the Corps may not survive. The school implemented many things to promote the Corps and to provide benefits to Corps members (scholarships, better uniforms for fish and Sophomores, the Corps Center, etc.) The Corps is a huge marketing tool for donations for the school and Corps members give back to A&M at a much, much higher rate than Non Corps members on average. The school knows that there are a lot of Old Ags especially that love how the Corps makes A&M unique and are very sensitive to those who deride the Corps.

The good news now is the Corps is very healthy. Membership is well over 2k and growing. The school now has many more Corps specific organizations for Former Students to be involved in that simply didn't exist 25 years ago. Other activities such as the Rally to the Guidons and the Block T that they had at the KU game mean a lot to some of those old Ags. BTW, there is no way they will ever let CT's go to football games out of uniform.

Personally I detest Corps Block. They didn't have it when I was in school and I would have hated it as a CT. I think it creates a negative divide between students that we just don't need, especially with the best unifying event (Bonfire) now gone (or certainly not the same). I loved hanging out with my Non Reg friends. I also loved being able to go to a game with my buddies and not have upperclassmen all around. I enjoyed meeting Non Regs and sharing Aggie football with them and answering questions they had about the Corps. I loved the feeling that whether you are Corps or Frat or GDI we are all Aggies. I think it has outlived its purpose and it is far more of a negative than a positive.

BTW, I also hate it when other Ags go and try to blame everything negative at A&M on the Corps. It just isn't remotely true. I also agree with the sentiment on "squeezing" and other "traditions" that either don't really exist or are just something a few idiots do. The best thing about the Corps is anyone can join and you can quit anytime. That also means you get some folks that are outliers, the Corps isn't able to just kick people out for being an idiot or uncool. One thing I will never understand though is why anyone would go to A&M if they hate the Corps. It's not like there aren't other options out there of schools that don't have one.

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Personally I detest Corps Block. They didn't have it when I was in school and I would have hated it as a CT. I think it creates a negative divide between students that we just don't need, especially with the best unifying event (Bonfire) now gone (or certainly not the same). I loved hanging out with my Non Reg friends. I also loved being able to go to a game with my buddies and not have upperclassmen all around. I enjoyed meeting Non Regs and sharing Aggie football with them and answering questions they had about the Corps. I loved the feeling that whether you are Corps or Frat or GDI we are all Aggies. I think it has outlived its purpose and it is far more of a negative than a positive.

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The first four years of Hopgood's reign were very painful as he seemed hell-bent on making the Aggie Corps more like the service academies. Several traditions died just because he didn't see their usefulness.

From what I've heard, Van Alstyne made things even worse.

Like an earlier poster said about generational influence dying off, it's a good thing that we not only don't have any more General Officers in charge at the highest levels that served during Vietnam, but we no longer have any A&M commandants who did either.

Hopgood was Vietnam-era
Van Alstyne was Vietnam-era

BG Ramirez is '79.

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The best thing about the Corps is anyone can join and you can quit anytime.

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The latter part of that statement was the single most difficult aspect of it that, in a way, made it tougher than anything an academy graduate, a VMI graduate, or a Citadel graduate had to go through.

I asked my boss (VMI '94) if he had the option to quit and still be a student on campus would he have stayed a cadet...he didn't know if he could answer that.

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I think it creates a negative divide between students that we just don't need, especially with the best unifying event (Bonfire) now gone (or certainly not the same).

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This.

All it does now is intensify the "otherness" between the Corps and Non-Reg student populations to the point where they have developed a very snarky dislike for each other. I'm not saying it's the sole reason for that, but I think it contributes, and it certainly doesn't help that we have segregated them for what shoud be (now absent bonfire) THE biggest unifying experience they can have.

We could have Corps guys and gals busting their lungs and jumping up and down with-and-alongside Non-Regs, willing their team to victory together, but we've decided not to, and that's a mistake.

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Why do so many alumnus of your institution refer to A&M as a military school? West Point, U.S. Naval Academy, VMI, Citadel come to mind when I think of military academies, not A&M. I see A&M as a state school with a big ROTC program. My nephew graduated from aTm and he is the only one I know who doesn't do this, but then again liberal that he is, I don't see him wanting to identify with the military in any way

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Aside from maybe the occasional blonde sorority bubblehead, i have literally never heard anyone from A&M claim that we are a military school. A ton of outsiders seem to think we are though, even though the corps of cadets make up like 3-4% of our student body. As goofy as many of the corps guys are though, i have a ton of respect for them as roughly half of them end up serving in the armed forces.

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LIES!!!

Jk, good times in Dorm 8

It seems like there was always at least one T-Bird on our deck at all times, and most of the time it was Hager

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Hager is a mess--haven't talked to him in awhile tho. And you know The Ocho was always a good time! Kinda makes me sad they're renovating it, but that building had been needing it for decades before we even showed up.

Aggies, is it also true that A&M almost had to close when WW-1 broke out because most of the men from A&M volunteered for service?