Yell Leaders, doctors, veterinarians, fathers, daughters, grandpas, mothers — all Aggies. The week before April 21, the Texas A&M community is reminded to honor Aggies and “softly call the muster” for the year’s campus Aggie Muster.

With over 250 individual Muster ceremonies occurring annually across the globe, the tradition has continued for 101 years. But the Reflections Display, available in the Memorial Student Center Flag Room, have only been present for a few decades. As both current and former students view the displays, the glimpse of an Aggie’s life before them is more than just what meets the eye, and the heart. 

Made up of six subcommittees focused on different aspects of creating the Reflections Display, the student-run Aggie Muster Committee does its part to make families feel loved, seen and tended to every year. With constant watch, protection and care, the process begins months before the displays are set out. 

Reflections Display coordinator and petroleum engineering sophomore Caiden Stewart said there’s no limit to how much care is put into attending the displays, from setup to takedown, keeping an inventory sheet and checking it several times a day to make sure there are no damages and all items are accounted for.

“We individually bubble wrap every single thing that could potentially be broken before being placed and packaged back to be taken to Reed [Arena],” Stewart said. “ … From my personal experience last year, a lot of the families that whenever we handed back their items, they said it came back looking better than it did whenever they brought it themselves. And so we prioritize these items really, really, really well because these are families’ most prized possessions. It shows their honorees … they’re invaluable. There’s no limit to how much we care about these items because they’re very sentimental to us, to A&M, and then, most importantly, the families.”

Stewart’s first impression of Muster was through Fish Camp. Currently in his second year on the committee, he said he wanted to contribute to the university by giving back, and Muster was the way to do it. He said the best way to do the memorials justice is to foster community awareness in order to promote a greater appreciation for Aggies who have passed.

“We advertise the Reflections Display and we get people to tell their friends, tell their families to come visit and look through these displays,” Stewart said. “Because it takes a lot for the people, for the families to come out and put some of their family’s most prized possessions and achievements and awards out on the table for random strangers to look at.”

The MSC Flag Room is transformed as the displays wrap around the room. By the piano is where you’ll find faculty members and the oldest class years. The middle holds the 50-year class reunion display — this year celebrating the Class of 1975 — honorees from the class reunion and Silver Taps. 

Among the displays, Aggies will find details of personal favorites and paraphernalia of honorees from candy, Corps of Cadets senior boots, degree(s) from the university and photos along with other beloved objects and achievements.  

“Each honoree is different, and they all have different life stories and different things that their families want the student body to be able to see,” Reflections Display coordinator and allied health junior Chloe Timm said. “ … We want the families to have that moment where they look at the display and they feel like, ‘Wow, like this is my loved one’s life that we’re able to portray.’ … It’s just little touches like that that make the families feel special and feel like, ‘My loved one still has a place here at A&M.’”

Making an effort to help as much as possible, the committee serves out-of-state families and anyone who isn’t able to make it to College Station. The displays will get shipped to one of the two Reflections Display coordinators with a list of everything sent and, usually, pictures of how they’d like it set up. 

Timm said if families aren’t able to do a display, the Flag Room also houses a letter-writing station and a Reflections Wall with pictures and links to the honoree’s obituary to put a face to the name.

“I think Muster as a whole, it’s probably the least you could give to these families,” applied mathematics senior Rachel Warren said, who is a part of the roll call and family subcommittee. “ … It means so much to these Aggies’ families, friends. … For the Reflections Display itself, like taking time to walk through the displays, to write notes to these families, you see that these names are more than names. It reminds us that these are actual people that walked the same path to class that you did. And you know, it helps us find that commonality between us all.”

Stewart said what he wants for people to take away from the displays is a better appreciation for life. As thousands of present and former students come together every year to honor those who have passed, it’s evident how the Aggie family keeps the Spirit alive. 

“The thing about Texas A&M is we have a lot of traditions and a lot of people that don’t go here often make fun of us for kind of doing the chants and all that other stuff, but Muster is a tradition that I believe makes A&M, A&M,” Stewart said. “I think Muster is the one thing that embodies what the Aggie Spirit is, and it’s not something that you can describe easily, but if you had to show someone who we are as a college and who we are as students, you would show them Muster.”

The reflections will be on display until noon on April 21, and Campus Muster will be held in Reed Arena at 7 p.m. the same day. To contribute to the Muster Endowment, donate on the Texas A&M Foundation website.