Silver Taps is one of Texas A&M’s most solemn traditions — a tribute held for any current graduate or undergraduate students who have died during the year. The ceremony is held on the first Tuesday of the month in Academic Plaza at 10 p.m.

All campus flags are flown at half-mast and the names, classes and majors of the fallen Aggies are displayed on cards at the base of the flagpole in Academic Plaza and on the Silver Taps Memorial. As on-campus lights are extinguished and hymns play from Albritton Bell Tower, students and the families of the fallen Aggies gather in Academic Plaza at 10:15 p.m.

The Ross Volunteer Company marches in at a slow cadence and fire a three-volley salute in honor of the fallen Aggies. After the last round is fired, buglers atop the Academic Building play a special version of  “Taps” called “Silver Taps,” unique to A&M, three times — once to the north, once to the south, and once to the west, but not to the east, as it is said the sun will never rise on that Aggie again. Silver Taps was first held in 1898, and no other university honors fallen students in this way. 

As the student-run paper of A&M, The Battalion tells the stories of Aggies and our beloved community. This includes those of our peers who have fallen. The Battalion’s staff is honored to deliver the stories of students who have passed, and to share the perspectives of the fallen’s friends and families as a way of ensuring their legacies and memories are shared and honored throughout the A&M community.