Aggies and Longhorns come together for Bonfire Memorial cleanup
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) – The annual cleanup of the Texas A&M Bonfire Memorial was held Friday.
The Bonfire Memorial honors the 12 students who lost their lives in the 1999 bonfire collapse. It features 12 ‘portals’ oriented in the direction of each students’ hometowns.
According to Aggie volunteer Brady Howell, the tradition of the bonfire extends past the campus.
“The bonfire was more than just a Texas A&M student thing. My dad, who was a UT student, came here,” Howell said.
For the first time, members of University of Texas alumni group Texas Exes joined in the cleanup.
“It was wonderful. They enjoyed it and I enjoyed them,” UT alumni Ann Hays said.
Hays grew up an Aggie before ultimately attending the University of Texas. She said she remembers when the collapse happened.
“To know what happened to them, I still think about it,” she said.
For her, taking part in the cleanup was about honoring her connection to both schools. She said her and other Texas Exes members were there in support of one of their members who recently passed away.
“One of our member’s sons, Michael Ebanks is here, and we wanted to help,” she said.
Howell said it’s heartwarming to see students and alumni from both schools coming together in support of each other.
“It’s pretty wholesome. It’s kind of nice to put the rivalry aside regardless of if we hate each other or not,” he said.
The Bonfire Remembrance Ceremony takes place on Nov. 18.
