I would like to offer these words to my many friends who have missed Silver Taps. On the first Tuesday of each month at 10:30 p.m., it is easy to tell that out of 58,000 students, only a small portion are standing in Academic Plaza. One might simply dismiss those no-showers as two percenters, but it goes far deeper than that. I have heard the excuses for not showing and the reasons for going, but neither suffices to express the real importance of Silver Taps and the significance of your attendance.
There are many words that people rattle off when discussing Silver Taps, but there is one I wish to focus on: Family. Silver Taps isn’t only about tradition, honoring the fallen and standing as an Aggie family — its most important purpose is to honor and console the family of the fallen. I pray that no one reading this has lost someone truly close to them — someone they remember every day even a decade after they’ve passed — but I know that some have. Worse yet, some have lost young friends and significant others, stripped from them too early, a reminder that death does not wait for convenience. Alone, the new void in their heart can cause depression that expresses itself in many forms. Odds are that if the fallen was an Aggie — rather, is an Aggie — they have moved on to the one place better than Aggieland. However their families are left with only their memories.
In a dark hour on a solemn Tuesday they gather at the center of our campus. There are no words spoken, but there are tears. Perhaps for the first time since their loved one passed, the tears are not from remorse but from overwhelming pride. They are greeted by those who choose to exemplify the Aggie values.
The families certainly know that each student in attendance could be doing something else: studying, drinking, working out, relaxing or better yet, sleeping. So when they choose to gather quietly in the dark at that sacred spot they are choosing to embody the Aggie Spirit. When you make this choice, you become a living, breathing definition of an Aggie.
The families know this. For those who don’t believe me, I urge you stand near them and listen. The next day, I can assure you, while they will be saddened by memories of their dearly departed, the void in their hearts is full of the Aggie Spirit.