Aggie Bonfire will never be the same.

Camaraderie of "Cut" will be lost.

Although present plans call for students to engage in "Stack", the phase known as "Cut" will now be carried out by a hired contractor that will cut down the trees, collect the lumber, transport it to the Bonfire site and unload it. Cut was probably the most team-building (and bonfire buddy bonding) activity due to the necessary teamwork required in carrying the logs from the Cut site to the trucks and unloading the trucks on campus. The "spirit" and bonding of past Bonfires will be supplanted by the activities surrounding "Stack", and of course, the burning itself. In short... it just won't be the same. I've seen C.T.'s openly crying as Bonfire burned in the past. I doubt such emotion will be witnessed under present designs, as student participation will be significantly reduced.

Bonfire's structure will change.

Probably not a big deal, but it is a fact... Bonfire won't look same as it has in the past. Furthermore, instead of being a [usually] self-supporting structure, the three proposed designs rely upon a pre-constructed framework of "foreign" (not Cut site) lumber... in some sense, I believe that makes the Bonfire a bit less "pure".

Safety Rules will drastically change the atmosphere at the Bonfire site.

The proposed organization structure and safety requirements will make for drastically different Bonfire site in the days leading to its burning. A chain-link fence, limited access, safety guidelines, and other considerations will force the majority of students away from what is supposedly a campus-wide student activity. It will be hard for those Aggies that don't actively participate in Stack to feel they are really a part of the process when a chain-link fence separates them.

And it won't be just administrators and student leaders that will be scrutinizing activities in future Bonfires (a great deal more than they have in the past for sure), you can rest assured that the press will be on hand and watching every move as Bonfire is assembled and burned. Whereas it might have been fairly easy to sip a cold beer during the long hours of construction in the past, you can be assured that anyone with any amount of alcohol anywhere near Bonfire during construction will be scholastically crucified before the press and administration.

We will have to remember 1999.

I think it will be difficult to sweep the deaths of 12 fellow Aggies under the carpet as Bonfire burns. Some mention will have to be made... not just in the immediate years, but for years to come if the tradition continues. Aggie Bonfire will no longer simply represent our "burning desire to beat the hell outta t.u.". At the very least, those who were here in 1999 will remember the 12 friends we lost as they watch future Bonfires burn. Reconciling emotions for those we lost during a spirited event such as Bonfire will be difficult for some. [I, personally, think "the 12 we lost" (or similar) should be added somewhere to "The Last Corps Trip".]

I, personally, will never forget 1999.

Since sometime in the mid-nineties, I've resided in a house next to what used to be married student housing (before it was condemned and torn down). Bonfire is practically across the street from me. When my windows are open, I can hear the cheers at Bonfire during construction. On the night that Bonfire burns, I can see the flames from my house.

On the morning of November 18th, 1999, after being wakened by the sound of more than a couple helicopters hovering overhead, I turned on the local morning news to hear that more than a dozen of my fellow Aggies were trapped under the logs of what was then the collapsed Bonfire. There is a certain frustration in knowing that some of your comrades are suffering just outside your front door and there is damn little that can be done as the safety crews play a very delicate game of "pick-up sticks". Worse yet was going past the site on my way to whatever campus dealings I had that day (probably research). It is difficult to continue normal day-to-day activities when a tragedy of that scope is occurring just outside the building in which you work.

I, for one, can not support an activity that could cause future Aggies to experience such frustration and sadness. Those feelings are my primary motivation for creating this page. If I were to continue to go to Aggie Bonfire and another tragedy should happen in the future, I think I would feel a great deal of guilt about supporting the activity that killed those future Aggie victims. Therefore, I won't and am encouraging my fellow Aggies to do the same.

Last updated January 23rd, 2002