rt1725 said:

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Just finished my time in UL as a Greenpot (for anyone who does know this is a new army position for women that's sort of a counterpart to Brownpots) this past year.

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I'm familiar with Greenpots, but this is the first time I've ever seen the position described as "a counterpart to Brownpots".

rt1725 said:

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Now I'm just a dead who hangs around Krueger and Lechner.

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I lived in Lechner as a fish (in 2000-01 when there was no Bonfire). I got involved with Student Bonfire in 2003 (its second year in operation, and first with an actual Stack instead of just a pile of wood). At the time, I was living in Clements (which was "the Nerd retirement home"). We only had a few people doing Bonfire, so we just showed up at Cut to join whichever crew needed extra meat that day, until we ultimately settled down with FHK.

Lechner finally rebuilt its crew in 2006 (with my luck, that was the year after I left A&M, after staying for an M.S.). In 2007 (when I was on campus for a football game and someone noticed my "Nerd Out" shirt), they invited me to join them for Cut, and I continued to hang around until 2019.

Yeah Greenpots have really evolved since the early 2000s, it's been an official position since about 2018/19. I describe it like that cause I don't know how to explain without getting all into the nitty-gritty what our specific jobs are, so that's the best I got.

I assumed based off the name you were a nerd!! Bummer they restarted AFTER you left. Even though I'm not apart of Lechner I absolutely love them, my boyfriend was a Lechner chief when I was a Krueger chief so I got to learn all about the history and got really close with the crew.

rt1725 said:

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Hi again! Part of this disconnect is from the university quite literally blocking us from being able to connect with the students on campus. It starts with Fish Camp where counselors are basically sharing "anti-Bonfire" rhetoric from the get go, telling freshman not to join Student Bonfire or straight up saying it doesn't exist. Then there are the FLOs who do the same thing, and they're able to recruit on campus and do it with ease, yet they also push the "anti-Bonfire" rhetoric. Finally the university itself has stopped us multiple times from being on campus, whether it's taking down posters and information, having us move or completely removed if tabling, etc. I don't seem to see other students unaffiliated with an A&M org who set up tables and have political debates or other convos removed, and same with the on campus preachers. We have a great relationship with the local community through all of our service efforts and outreach, we're able to get in local newspapers, channels, have billboards, etc. But where it matters is campus, we're so restricted.

I've had the pleasure of making great friends who are fish camp chairs/counselors as well as FLO leadership, and I've learned that the anti-Bonfire rhetoric isn't pushed due to people knowing about it and thinking it's wrong, but rather years of misinformation being pushed and passed down. Once I'm able to have a conversation about what it's actually like, all of them seem to love it and want to help.

We don't want to draw lines in the sand with the University or fight them on anything, we're just tired of the University blocking us from all sides. Conversations between Bonfire and the University have been and still are occurring (reminder the only plan being pushed as of now is the construction company building stack plan, which is why it seems a lot of us are against the idea). We know what the university is capable. We're just tired of being the ones that have carried on this tradition for years, cultivating a community and carrying on legacy, engineering an entirely new stack, just for a University who refuses to accept our presence to all of a sudden want to take it over. I know they can do it, it's just extremely frustrating.

**edit: In no way am I trying to be disrespectful or rude to you or anyone else by the way, I simply want to share the current students side of things & modern situation since I don't assume many really know it. I respect your opinion and appreciate your passion!

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I admire what you are dong and don't disagree with it. I'm glad to hear that SB is trying to work with the University and be involved in this. It may well fail but if there is an opportunity for the extremes to come together that would be awesome. I'm also glad to hear that you recognize the power of the school, it simply is what it is. If you can get that power on your side amazing things can happen. If you stand against it they can make an organization like SB's life hell as you have seen.

I think the path is to appeal to the desires of the University while understanding their concerns. The University loves fundraising and money. They love branding. Bonfire can provide both for them. The concern they will have is they absolutely cannot have another collapse or major incident. It was absolutely devastating for the school and they can't put the school at risk like that again. Thus if Bonfire came back they can't let it be 100% Student run again. Sorry but the reality is liability wise they just can't, doesn't matter how great of a job SB has done. Texas A&M is a Multi Billion Dollar organization that simply can't take risks like that. Lots of other politics involved of course but those are the main issues.

The key is there is a lot of room in between with the right leadership. Can you get the school to recognize the value of bringing Bonfire back with as much student involvement as possible? The key on the other side is people who are hardcore SB supporters being willing to compromise at all. The issue is for the hardcore supporters they only cared about the Build and experience of the Build and I understand why, for many it was a pivotal memory of their time at A&M and one of the funnest things they ever did. They want it to be about trying to recreate that experience for current students. What they need to remember is they should also think about the majority of students who will not be as involved but can still get a lot of value from the experience.

In short it's about trying to see if there is room for compromise. Personally I doubt it but I have hope. There are good people at A&M to go with the horrible. Keep fighting the good fight!

BonfireNerd04 said:

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rt1725 said:

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We don't want to draw lines in the sand with the University or fight them on anything, we're just tired of the University blocking us from all sides. Conversations between Bonfire and the University have been and still are occurring (reminder the only plan being pushed as of now is the construction company building stack plan, which is why it seems a lot of us are against the idea). We know what the university is capable. We're just tired of being the ones that have carried on this tradition for years, cultivating a community and carrying on legacy, engineering an entirely new stack, just for a University who refuses to accept our presence to all of a sudden want to take it over. I know they can do it, it's just extremely frustrating.

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This. A lot of Student Bonfire participants (current and former) are noticing "You've been against us for 22 years, but now it's suddenly important to have Bonfire back on campus?" and naturally being skeptical of the university's motives.

Out of curiosity, which crew are you with?

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I mean that part is obvious, the tu game is coming back. Enough time has passed that just about everyone involved with the Collapse and the aftermath are gone or not in power. SB has shown it has been able to conduct a safe Bonfire in a positive way.

So you have people in the University that see a tremendous marketing opportunity and chance to build brand and fundraise. You have others that have been hoping for a chance to bring it back to campus because they miss what it used to be. Focus on those folks and it may be possible to overcome the naysayers. Or not.

I have hope too! Student Gov is playing a large role in the process too and I believe (again I'm dead I don't know everything) we will be speaking with them as well, so it will be nice to talk to our peers as they might be more inclined to hear out student involvement and, hopefully, help in comprising with the university.

rt1725 said:

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Yeah Greenpots have really evolved since the early 2000s, it's been an official position since about 2018/19. I describe it like that cause I don't know how to explain without getting all into the nitty-gritty what our specific jobs are, so that's the best I got.

I assumed based off the name you were a nerd!! Bummer they restarted AFTER you left. Even though I'm not apart of Lechner I absolutely love them, my boyfriend was a Lechner chief when I was a Krueger chief so I got to learn all about the history and got really close with the crew.

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I know a few Greens from the '04-'07 era that would attack like hornets if they ever hear someone say they weren't "official".

Haha very very true, again I simplify explaining cause if I were to get into all of that it would be WAAAAY too much info.

TexasRebel said:

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rt1725 said:

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Yeah Greenpots have really evolved since the early 2000s, it's been an official position since about 2018/19. I describe it like that cause I don't know how to explain without getting all into the nitty-gritty what our specific jobs are, so that's the best I got.

I assumed based off the name you were a nerd!! Bummer they restarted AFTER you left. Even though I'm not apart of Lechner I absolutely love them, my boyfriend was a Lechner chief when I was a Krueger chief so I got to learn all about the history and got really close with the crew.

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I know a few Greens from the '04-'07 era that would attack like hornets if they ever hear someone say they weren't "official".

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Yeah, how are they "official" now but not before?

Y'all are both right! There was a lot of controversy in the past, I'm honestly a little hazy on some of the history, but they basically had to restart the Green position in 2018 & developed it into a different position than it was before, so we aren't exactly the same as the Greens of the past. Official isn't the right wording, I'm just trying to find a way to simplify!

I think we're in agreement here.

I doubt that the University will accept a "100% Student run" Bonfire by simply recognizing Student Bonfire as-is as an official student organization.

But the Aggie community will not accept a 0% student-run Bonfire built by an outside constitution company.

If Bonfire comes back to campus, I expect it to be "student-built" in some non-trivial way, but with an outside contractor to supervise the project and/or take over "high-risk" parts of the build process. The big question is: Where exactly would/should that line be drawn?

rt1725 said:

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I assumed based off the name you were a nerd!! Bummer they restarted AFTER you left. Even though I'm not apart of Lechner I absolutely love them, my boyfriend was a Lechner chief when I was a Krueger chief so I got to learn all about the history and got really close with the crew.

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Yep, you figured my username out! I can't decipher yours, though.

Lechner had the unique disadvantages of:

1. Being an all-freshman dorm. Well, except for the SAs and RAs, who weren't in a position to promote Bonfire. So the chiefs couldn't live there.
2. Being able to convince the fish that they'd lose their scholarships if they participated. (Never ab issue for me, personally, but as a senior, I had already gotten most of my money anyway.)

But when Nerd Bonfire finally came back, it came back strong! I've heard that the Honors office was NOT happy about it.

Haven't read all the responses but how much are tickets?

CS78 said:

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Haven't read all the responses but how much are tickets?

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To Student Bonfire Burn Night? There's no charge for admission, but IIRC parking is $20 per vehicle, with discounts if you come early.

Membership dues to participate in Cut and Stack are $5 (whether a current or former student).

Yes like the other user said, currently there is no on-campus bonfire, but for off campus Student Bonfire Burn it's admission per vehicle, not per person. For Burn Night admission it's free from 12pm to 4pm, $10 4pm to 6pm, and $20 after 6pm on.

Dues are $5 to Student Bonfire if wanting to participate in cut/stack as a current or former, and the individual provides their own approved required steel-toes and pot/hardhat.

The Green's were always an official position, being the ones who confirmed attendance for the liability aspect of Bonfire, LLC. IIRC in 2018 there was the usual "someone made a big stink about not being chosen for something they felt they deserved", and that someone happened to be connected to either the JRPs or the SRPs. So they gutted it and restarted. I'll have to ask some of my fishbuddies/pissheads about it in the next couple weeks, I'm a little hazy on the details.

NEW: Committee recommends bringing back Aggie Bonfire on campus as UT joined the SEC --- but A&M President Mark Welsh strikes down idea, saying: "it's not in the best interest of Texas A&M and the Aggie Family" https://t.co/2LpugJCrkQ

— 🚨 Rusty Surette 🚨 (@KBTXRusty) June 4, 2024

this should be interesting....

I want to point out that Baylor has an on-campus bonfire every year for homecoming.

No surprise at all.

As one of my professors in 1999 said; Bonfire would never be allowed to come back to campus.

The administration wanted it gone for decades and now they have the excuse to be rid of it.

Eliminating all of A&M traditions is what the leftists in the administration have been working toward for 40+ years now.

Rapier108 said:

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No surprise at all.

As one of my professors in 1999 said; Bonfire would never be allowed to come back to campus.

The administration wanted it gone for decades and now they have the excuse to be rid of it.

Eliminating all of A&M traditions is what the leftists in the administration have been working toward for 40+ years now.

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I think the big issue was the overwhelming amount of Aggies that said they want it back only if it will be student run as in the past. Its not leftists driving the requirement that if its allowed to be held it will be done by an engineering contractor and not students. Its lawyers. The push to bring it back likely involved very few true leftists compared to the force of the huge number of conservative Ags.
So, at least in my opinion, it wasn't a political decision, it was a risk aversion decision. Maybe to some degree its also a pubic image decision bc if it was student run and fell again killing any students...the university would take a beating for a long time.

I am all for bringing it back as student run. I have so many great memories of bonfire both in my youth and college. I met my wife bc of bonfire.

BluHorseShu said:

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Rapier108 said:

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No surprise at all.

As one of my professors in 1999 said; Bonfire would never be allowed to come back to campus.

The administration wanted it gone for decades and now they have the excuse to be rid of it.

Eliminating all of A&M traditions is what the leftists in the administration have been working toward for 40+ years now.

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I think the big issue was the overwhelming amount of Aggies that said they want it back only if it will be student run as in the past. Its not leftists driving the requirement that if its allowed to be held it will be done by an engineering contractor and not students. Its lawyers. The push to bring it back likely involved very few true leftists compared to the force of the huge number of conservative Ags.
So, at least in my opinion, it wasn't a political decision, it was a risk aversion decision. Maybe to some degree its also a pubic image decision bc if it was student run and fell again killing any students...the university would take a beating for a long time.

I am all for bringing it back as student run. I have so many great memories of bonfire both in my youth and college. I met my wife bc of bonfire.

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Every.single.time.

For once I'll agree here with BluHorseShu. I've spoken with many of the people that are involved with Student Bonfire.

The university wanted to have little to no student involvement on the construction of Bonfire if allowed back on Campus. Expect a press release from Student Bonfire in the near future.

This is what Rapier said:

Quote:

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Eliminating all of A&M traditions is what the leftists in the administration have been working toward for 40+ years now.

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100% true yet Blu found a way to disagree with it. Like I said, every.single.time.

Irish 2.0 said:

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For once I'll agree here with BluHorseShu. I've spoken with many of the people that are involved with Student Bonfire.

The university wanted to have little to no student involvement on the construction of Bonfire if allowed back on Campus. Expect a press release from Student Bonfire in the near future.

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Sounds like the folks who killed having it come back were the Student Bonfire folks themselves because they were unwilling to compromise, they wanted to keep it just how they wanted it. That's what I expected. Thus it will remain a small unrecognized event that most students will never know even exists much less anyone not involved with Texas A&M. Another lost opportunity to bring Aggies together and heal the wounds of the past. Bummer.

aggie93 said:

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Irish 2.0 said:

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For once I'll agree here with BluHorseShu. I've spoken with many of the people that are involved with Student Bonfire.

The university wanted to have little to no student involvement on the construction of Bonfire if allowed back on Campus. Expect a press release from Student Bonfire in the near future.

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Sounds like the folks who killed having it come back were the Student Bonfire folks themselves because they were unwilling to compromise, they wanted to keep it just how they wanted it. That's what I expected. Thus it will remain a small unrecognized event that most students will never know even exists much less anyone not involved with Texas A&M. Another lost opportunity to bring Aggies together and heal the wounds of the past. Bummer.

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This shows how off the mark you are. Small and unrecognized??? Over 15k attended in 2023.

Student Bonfire was willing to work with them. But when the school starts with eliminating all the student involvement, it kind of creates a nonstarter.

WTF is the point of STUDENT Bonfire then?

redcrayon said:

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This is what Rapier said:

Quote:

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Eliminating all of A&M traditions is what the leftists in the administration have been working toward for 40+ years now.

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100% true yet Blu found a way to disagree with it. Like I said, every.single.time.

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It's also a pubic image according to bluhorseshu

aggie93 said:

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Agthatbuilds said:

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Sounds good. Students or nothing.

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100% student run isn't realistic if the school is associated with it after the collapse. They have to have safety and engineering standards enforced because they will have the liability if something goes wrong.

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Another acolyte of the woke.

Irish 2.0 said:

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aggie93 said:

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Irish 2.0 said:

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For once I'll agree here with BluHorseShu. I've spoken with many of the people that are involved with Student Bonfire.

The university wanted to have little to no student involvement on the construction of Bonfire if allowed back on Campus. Expect a press release from Student Bonfire in the near future.

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Sounds like the folks who killed having it come back were the Student Bonfire folks themselves because they were unwilling to compromise, they wanted to keep it just how they wanted it. That's what I expected. Thus it will remain a small unrecognized event that most students will never know even exists much less anyone not involved with Texas A&M. Another lost opportunity to bring Aggies together and heal the wounds of the past. Bummer.

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This shows how off the mark you are. Small and unrecognized??? Over 15k attended in 2023.

Student Bonfire was willing to work with them. But when the school starts with eliminating all the student involvement, it kind of creates a nonstarter.

WTF is the point of STUDENT Bonfire then?

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It's Aggie Bonfire not Student Bonfire we are talking about. The videos I have seen of Student Bonfire also look like there are maybe a few thousand people there, I know when I went there was nothing close to that number. I think it's fine and the best we can have without the school but it is nothing remotely like what it would be if it was on campus. The mood is also completely different. It's very somber and a lot of time is spent talking about it as a memorial for the 12.

It is also unrecognized and not mentioned or supported by the school. That's a simple fact. It's basically a glorified club now compared to what is was. If you had it on campus you probably have 100k there with the Band, the Yell Leaders, and the Football Team just like it used to be.

The quote in the article also talks about being Student run not eliminating student involvement. Very different things. "Therefore, if students weren't organizing, leading and building the Bonfire, then they didn't think we should bring it back."

So basically the Student Bonfire folks drew a line in the sand and said they have to have all control or they were out. That was never going to happen, the liability for the school was far too great and that attitude made it an easy choice for Welsh.

Anyway, folks like you won so congrats. Student Bonfire will continue to be something only a fraction of students will ever attend or work on and become less and less connected to the school. That's what you wanted and you got it.

If the school paid for a construction company to build it...it would defeat the whole purpose...let the kids do their thing instead of trying to sell football tickets...

Better that than some corporate, soulless reverb of the past put on by a bunch of bureaucrats trying to skim another dollar from former students.

Best to let the tradition die, formally anyway.

A and M, give us room.

93- try showing up this year to help at cut, or at least burn, and quit moaning on every thread about how there's not enough participation.

ETA- that was a bit too harsh of a response on my part.

P.H. Dexippus said:

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93- try showing up this year to help at cut, or at least burn, and quit moaning on every thread about how there's not enough participation.

ETA- that was a bit too harsh of a response on my part.

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I'm not complaining about participation at Student Bonfire. It's an event off campus that isn't recognized by the school and doesn't have the team, the Yell Leaders, or anyone else that traditionally was a major part of Bonfire is never going to be anything but a shadow of what it was. That's better than nothing I guess. Just wanted an opportunity for it to be back on campus with 100k people there

Student Bonfire is just kind of somber and sad to me and has very little resemblance to what I thought of as Bonfire. Lot of folks seem happy with it though and I figured this was how it was going to go. I assume you are one of them so congrats I guess.

I think Welsh made the right call, although it doesn't seem like it at first glance. The only way for Bonfire to continue being student-led and student-built is for it to continue apart from the university. The restrictions which would be placed on it to return to campus (contractor sourced and built, namely) and be covered by insurance would change it so much that we wouldn't recognize it any longer.

Today's announcement was Welsh subtly saying the university wouldn't compete with the off campus Bonfire, in my opinion.

The student bonfire is of course much smaller but the bonfire culture is still very much the same.

redcrayon said:

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BluHorseShu said:

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Rapier108 said:

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No surprise at all.

As one of my professors in 1999 said; Bonfire would never be allowed to come back to campus.

The administration wanted it gone for decades and now they have the excuse to be rid of it.

Eliminating all of A&M traditions is what the leftists in the administration have been working toward for 40+ years now.

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I think the big issue was the overwhelming amount of Aggies that said they want it back only if it will be student run as in the past. Its not leftists driving the requirement that if its allowed to be held it will be done by an engineering contractor and not students. Its lawyers. The push to bring it back likely involved very few true leftists compared to the force of the huge number of conservative Ags.
So, at least in my opinion, it wasn't a political decision, it was a risk aversion decision. Maybe to some degree its also a pubic image decision bc if it was student run and fell again killing any students...the university would take a beating for a long time.

I am all for bringing it back as student run. I have so many great memories of bonfire both in my youth and college. I met my wife bc of bonfire.

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Every.single.time.

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Never have anything to add do ya? Which part am I wrong about? Or would it hurt to much to string together a thoughtful reply? Or you just here for stars?

Brother Shamus said:

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aggie93 said:

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Agthatbuilds said:

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Sounds good. Students or nothing.

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100% student run isn't realistic if the school is associated with it after the collapse. They have to have safety and engineering standards enforced because they will have the liability if something goes wrong.

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Another acolyte of the woke.

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How in the world is this related to being 'woke' (if you can even define what 'woke' means bc the left can't)? Sound just like another poster who only agrees with the groupthink.