Texas A&M did not create Aggie Spirit or Aggie traditions. They exist or do not exist because of the students. I get extremely concerned when I hear students say that the Aggie Spirit is declining because we no longer have Bonfire. I simply do not believe that. If true, the Aggie Spirit is much more fragile than we all believe.
If I were to look into a "crystal ball" for you and tell you that Bonfire will never return to Texas A&M, will you and other students simply write off Aggie Spirit as dead - as a thing of the past? If you do, I would tell you that you are letting down the many generations of Aggies who built and sustained that spirit that you claim to cherish so much.
Aggie Spirit was real before Bonfire ever existed. Aggie Spirit was real while Bonfire was simply something that a few Aggies threw together a couple of days before the t.u. game. Bonfire grew to become a popular and significant Aggie tradition only in the latter part of its existence.
If you truly believe that Aggie Spirit is on the decline then I believe you are asking the wrong question. Instead of asking the University what it is going to do to bring back Bonfire so Aggie Spirit can survive - you and your fellow students should be asking yourselves what you are going to do to assure that Aggie Spirit remains alive and well for future Aggies. The responsibility for sustaining Aggie Spirit rests squarely on the shoulders of Aggies, past, present and future.
