Since 1898, the ceremony has honored all Aggies who died while enrolled at the school. On the first Tuesday of every month from September to April, the campus is hushed, flags fly at half-staff and the list of the dead is posted on the flag pole in the plaza. She says the collapse seemed to happen very slowly and very fast, all at once. WAV sound Dr. Malon Southerland, V.P of Student Affairs, expresses his condolences to the families of those killed. All students proceed silently to the mall, where the Ross Volunteers, a group of junior and senior cadets who serve as the honor guard to the governor of Texas, fire a 21 gun salute to the fallen students.
Taps is played three times, once to the north, once to the south and once to the west.
Talking will not resume on campus until the next morning. The school's many traditions are aimed at building a sense of family among the students. Many of the traditions are rooted in the school's past as an all-male military institution, while others, like the bonfire, are part of the university's athletic program. If it's taken away, I don't know what we're going to do. Students consider the huge fire a part of the Aggie spirit.