Despite concerns expressed by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Elephant Walk kicked off without incident this year with the addition of one new elephant for Texas A&M students to take photos with.
Elephant Walk, a tradition at A&M that honors seniors and juniors, began in 1922 when two Aggie Band freshmen in the Class of 1926 started playing a funeral march after another loss by the Texas A&M football team in an ongoing losing streak the team was suffering, according to the Texas A&M website.
The rest of the freshmen soon joined in, marching in a single file line while wandering the campus. For the rest of that year, the Aggie Band did this after every game regardless if A&M had won or lost.
During their senior year, the Class of 1926 decided to walk the campus one last time to show the spirit they had for Texas A&M.
The name Elephant Walk was coined because, much like dying elephants that wander to find a final resting place, the seniors’ time at A&M is drawing to a close and the walk around campus is symbolic of all their memories on campus.
Soon after, juniors also joined in the tradition, stepping off a minute after their senior counterparts and walking in the opposite direction of them, to represent their last year at A&M before becoming seniors themselves.
Mary Crimmins, junior Elephant Walk director, said this year went very smoothly, although Class Councils, the organization in charge of “E-Walk,” met some challenges such as finding entertainment groups.
Randall Oliver, assistant executive director of Class Councils, said they had received an email from PETA complaining about the live elephants at the event. However the university worked with Class Councils to assure PETA the elephants were not mistreated.
Step off for senior Elephant Walk will take place at 9:15 p.m. from the Quad. Step off for junior E-Walk will take place one minute after, at 9:16 p.m., also from the Quad.