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re: Tonight, Texas A&M's campus will darken for Silver Taps
Posted on 2/4/14 at 11:06 am to cokebottleag
Posted on 2/4/14 at 11:06 am to cokebottleag
That much is apparent. I'd say my guess is that there has been a pretty concentrated effort to preserve traditions during that era. Moreover, I'm assuming TAMU mimicked military traditions, putting a distinctive twist on them to distinguish from the originals.
I do think the purpose may be somewhat different. I think most military traditions arise out of a sense of the necessity of ritual or regimen to promote unity, uniformity and discipline. I'm sure many of those same factors were in play for TAMU, though I think the relatively young age of TAMU likely led to a more rapid acquisition of unique traditions to mirror the services.
For example, let's the US spun off into a new state, or even TAMU spun off to form a new college. The legacy of being part of the original would probably inspire the relatively quick creation of new traditions inspired by the original. True, a new state's military would want to promote the same things as the original (discipline, etc.) but there would also be a desire to quickly establish your own history/traditions to celebrate and take pride in.
That is what I think happened with A&M. Hence, I don't think they're substance-less at all, but I do think there was probably an intention to create a body of traditions that were unique to the school.
I do think the purpose may be somewhat different. I think most military traditions arise out of a sense of the necessity of ritual or regimen to promote unity, uniformity and discipline. I'm sure many of those same factors were in play for TAMU, though I think the relatively young age of TAMU likely led to a more rapid acquisition of unique traditions to mirror the services.
For example, let's the US spun off into a new state, or even TAMU spun off to form a new college. The legacy of being part of the original would probably inspire the relatively quick creation of new traditions inspired by the original. True, a new state's military would want to promote the same things as the original (discipline, etc.) but there would also be a desire to quickly establish your own history/traditions to celebrate and take pride in.
That is what I think happened with A&M. Hence, I don't think they're substance-less at all, but I do think there was probably an intention to create a body of traditions that were unique to the school.
3
Posted on 2/4/14 at 12:01 pm to Pettifogger
"I suspect this was well orchestrated with the intention of being repeated. "
…and I suspect it's possible you're right in this case. However, it is possible that Silver Taps ceremony did change some in its earliest years. It hasn't changed since my first one in '69, so any evolution of the tradition was before then.
Basically it was worth doing, so sure it was worth putting some thought into. We still do it because it's still worth doing and it's worth doing well to respect those who have passed.
Traditions, however, don't have to emerge from random acts and then evolve over a number of years "to get it right".
…and I suspect it's possible you're right in this case. However, it is possible that Silver Taps ceremony did change some in its earliest years. It hasn't changed since my first one in '69, so any evolution of the tradition was before then.
Basically it was worth doing, so sure it was worth putting some thought into. We still do it because it's still worth doing and it's worth doing well to respect those who have passed.
Traditions, however, don't have to emerge from random acts and then evolve over a number of years "to get it right".
Posted on 2/4/14 at 12:05 pm to Pettifogger
An intention by whom though? The school was run exclusively by former or currently serving military officers and NCOs for a long portion of its early history. When tasked with running a military college designed to build young officers they naturally designed campus life to mimic military life at the time. Over time, the military's traditions have changed a bit, and so have A&M's, which explains the slight disparity. Practicality can have a large part to do with it, in the case of uniforms and general customs. Other traditions were started in the military by Former Students (Muster) and then transferred to A&M as a whole after the fact. Some traditions have entirely been lost, such as the pipeline A&M grads had for certain branches of the military (Artillery) (Other SMCs had their own as well, West Pointers generally, and still do, got the lions share of Infantry and Engineering slots) Its really a patchwork.
I can say that there are some 'forced' traditions on campus, and they were pushed by either civilian students looking to boost their resumes (Big Event) or the school administration attempting to make some kind of safety initiative a 'tradition'. None of those have gone over well and are generally looked on with disdain.
I can say that there are some 'forced' traditions on campus, and they were pushed by either civilian students looking to boost their resumes (Big Event) or the school administration attempting to make some kind of safety initiative a 'tradition'. None of those have gone over well and are generally looked on with disdain.
Posted on 2/4/14 at 2:13 pm to Pettifogger
A&M has a million traditions and each one came about in different ways. Silver Taps started because our most influential President, Lawrence Sullivan Ross, died and they had a ceremony to honor him. The ceremony was so well received that they decided to do a similar ceremony whenever a student died. Of course, back then A&M was a very small college of just a few hundred people that were all male and all going in to the military so Silver Taps was a rare and very special event. As time went on and with the nature of having a student body of 50k there is a Silver Taps almost every month now.
There is a saying at A&M, that if you do something twice it becomes a tradition so you have lots of small traditions. That said, there are the "Major" traditions that are on a different level. Those are Silver Taps, Muster, The 12th Man (ie students standing for the entire game), Yell Practice, and of course formerly Bonfire. There are also lots of smaller but strongly followed traditions such as the Aggie Ring, Reveille, Gig'em, saying "Howdy", etc. Then you have a lot of Corps specific traditions.
The main thing is A&M has a truly defined culture that is designed around bringing Aggies together through common threads. It's not the right place for everyone, especially if you are rebellious and dislike authority. I love it though and love the bond that exists between Aggies. It's a special place.
There is a saying at A&M, that if you do something twice it becomes a tradition so you have lots of small traditions. That said, there are the "Major" traditions that are on a different level. Those are Silver Taps, Muster, The 12th Man (ie students standing for the entire game), Yell Practice, and of course formerly Bonfire. There are also lots of smaller but strongly followed traditions such as the Aggie Ring, Reveille, Gig'em, saying "Howdy", etc. Then you have a lot of Corps specific traditions.
The main thing is A&M has a truly defined culture that is designed around bringing Aggies together through common threads. It's not the right place for everyone, especially if you are rebellious and dislike authority. I love it though and love the bond that exists between Aggies. It's a special place.
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