Muster 2021 will offer a hybrid viewing option where attendees are able to view a live stream of the campus ceremony inside Kyle Field on Wednesday, April 21, at 7 p.m. The Campus Muster Ceremony, held inside Reed Arena, is reserved for families of the honorees and the Class of 1971.
After being unable to gather in-person to stand for the fallen last year due to COVID-19, the Muster Committee felt it was important to find a way to allow students and families to be physically present for Muster this year. However, this was no easy task as the committee did not know until recently that the ceremony could be held in person, Roll Call and Families Executive and psychology senior Alison Richter said.
“The ceremony this year has been tough to put together just because it is a tradition, and we [normally] don’t change much in our traditions as Aggies,” Richter said. “Having COVID[-19] as an obstacle, we had to change a lot of things and do a lot of things differently, but I’m very excited for those changes and being able to offer an in-person component for students to attend in Kyle Field.”
Aside from the family of the honorees, the 1971 reunion class, Muster speakers and event staff, Campus Muster in Reed Arena will not allow guests. Muster Committee Chair and health administration graduate Lauren Kraus said this is to ensure the safety of everyone present, as well as to allow them to experience Muster as normally as possible.
“We really believed that since last year was fully virtual, we needed to give people theability to be together,” Kraus said. “We also knew that for our honored families, there is such power in numbers, and knowing that there are so many people that never met their loved one that are sitting in Kyle Field saying ‘Here’ for their honoree is just very special.”
Awareness Executive and health junior Caroline Pierce said with so many people not on campus, the team adapted awareness week to include a video they made in honor of sharing the tradition of Muster with those who are not on campus.
“We have been very lucky with all of the virtual aspects,” Pierce said. “[We posted the video] to be able to bring extra awareness to the tradition in a year where there might not be as much in-person interactions with our spring awareness week.”
Even though students will not be in Reed Arena, a limited number of people will be allowed inside Kyle Field to watch the live stream together.
“We felt putting it [in Kyle Field] would provide a sense of Aggie community, and we knew people on campus needed the in-person component,” Kraus said. “There are people on our campus that have never seen an in-person Muster before, and we felt it was important for people to see this tradition.”
Pierce said Muster is important because it allows the campus community to take a moment to pause and come stand together as Aggies, representing the spirit of the Aggie Family.
“Muster is very much the pinnacle of what it means to be Aggies; it really encompasses all of the Core Values,” Pierce said. “I feel like it is a tradition that brings everyone together in a world right now that is incredibly disconnected. It connects every student and former student, no matter where you live in the world.”
The Campus Muster Ceremony will be live-streamed in Kyle Field for limited guests on April 21. The doors will open at 5 p.m. and seating will be first-come, first-served. A live stream will also be available at musterlive.aggienetwork.com. For more details on the history of the Campus Muster Ceremony, visit muster.tamu.edu.