A rain-soaked and mud-covered crowd of 7,000 Aggies gathered Saturday night for the third annual off-campus bonfire burn, watching as the flames struggled to engulf the 45-foot stack of drenched logs. After more than half an hour of uncertainty over whether the bonfire would burn, the flames made their way to the top of the stack, eliciting cheers from the crowd.
Barry Bateman, Class of 1965, has been to all of the off-campus bonfires and said he can’t remember how many of the on-campus Bonfires he experienced.
“The thing about Bonfire isn’t the burning, it’s the building,” he said. “Which is good since it’s not burning too great right now.”
Kendale Young, a sophomore poultry science major and black pot – a rank given to students who have been a crew chief the previous year – said about 1,000 participants helped build this year’s off-campus bonfire. Of those workers, Young said, about 250 worked at almost every opportunity, while others only worked a few times.
First-time bonfire worker Amanda Lampton, a senior aerospace engineering major, said building an off-campus bonfire brought her new friends and a renewed sense of pride.
“It’s not just about burning Bonfire or beating the hell outta’ t.u., it’s about making friends that are going to last forever,” she said.
Lampton said the mud at the rural Bryan burn site – which at some places on the field was as deep as a foot – also made the night memorable.
“The mud is great, it’s one more challenge,” she said. “It’s a little dangerous, (but) the only really bad thing is maybe it’s a deterrent for people coming out here.”
Matthew Maddox, Class of 2004, was one of the original organizers of off-campus bonfire in 2002. He said the financial burden of off-campus bonfire, which is financed entirely by the participants, was another concern.
“It’s expensive for students to run up their credit cards,” he said. “Bonfire should never come down to the money.”
With the Bonfire Memorial dedication just two days earlier, many students present at off-campus bonfire had mixed feelings about Bonfire returning to campus.
Senior construction science major Chris Hammonds said he had thought until recently that there was no chance of Bonfire coming back to campus.
“I went to the memorial dedication and I was really impressed with how pro-Bonfire it was; it seems like there is at least a possibility (of Bonfire burning on campus),” he said.
Junior electrical engineering major Andrew Arnold worked on off-campus bonfire the past two years and said he has reservations about an on-campus Bonfire returning.
“I’ve heard that the administration wants to bring it back with no student cut,” he said. “The whole point of Bonfire is to have students building it and working on it – otherwise it’s just a pep rally with a campfire.”
Maddox said it was rewarding to know that off-campus bonfire is growing in popularity.
“It’s a really good feeling to know that it wasn’t just a one-time shot, but that (off-campus bonfire) caught on and keeps going,” he said. “It wasn’t about the people who were here at the time to start Bonfire up again, it’s about the spirit that doesn’t die and will always be a part of A&M.”