Editing Texas A&M University (section)

===Sports===
[[File:2007-SBF.jpg|thumb|upright|The 2007 Student Bonfire|alt=Large flames engulf the top layer of a circular three-tier structure of logs; the logs are vertical to the ground.]]

At university sporting events, Texas A&M students collectively are called the [[12th Man (football)|12th Man]]; in the context of football games, this symbolizes students supporting the eleven players on the field and being willing to enter the game if necessary. To symbolize their zeal and motivation, it is traditional for students to stand throughout the sports game.<ref name="12thMan">{{Cite web|url=http://aggietraditions.tamu.edu/12thman.shtml |title=Twelfth Man |access-date=December 31, 2006 |publisher=Texas A&M University |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061229030439/http://aggietraditions.tamu.edu/12thman.shtml |archive-date=December 29, 2006}}</ref> The tradition of standing for games began on January 2, 1922, at the [[Dixie Classic (bowl game)|Dixie Classic]], in which Texas A&M played [[Centre College]]. Texas A&M had so many injuries [[head coach|Coach]] [[Dana X. Bible]] feared he would not have enough men to finish the game. He called into the stands for [[E. King Gill#History|E. King Gill]], a reserve who had left football after the regular season to play basketball, to prepare to play in the game. Texas A&M won 22–14 but E. King Gill was the only player left available on the sidelines for the team.<ref name="beano">{{cite web|last=Cook|first=Beano|title=Ten Days That Shook the Sport|publisher=[[ESPN]]|url=https://www.espn.com/college-football/news/story?id=2615391|date=October 8, 2006|access-date=July 26, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070210025140/http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2615391|archive-date=February 10, 2007|url-status=live}}</ref> In recent decades, the 12th Man is represented on the field by a [[Walk-on (sport term)|walk-on]] player who wears a number-twelve jersey and participates in kick-offs.<ref name="heater">{{cite news|last=Heater|first=Jay|title=LaMantia A&M's Main 12th Man|newspaper=Oakland Tribune|date=December 27, 2006|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-5761605.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120509181413/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-5761605.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 9, 2012|access-date=April 30, 2007}}</ref>

The 12th Man uses a variety of school yells, rather than cheers, to support Aggie teams. Each year, the student body elects five students to serve as Yell Leaders.<ref name="alvaradoyell">{{Cite news|last=Alvarado |first=Nicole |title=Yell Leaders represent Aggie Spirit past, present, and future |newspaper=[[The Battalion]] |date=April 20, 2007 |url=http://media.www.thebatt.com/media/storage/paper657/news/2007/04/20/News/Yell-Leaders.Represent.Aggie.Spirit.Past.Present.And.Future-2870762.shtml |access-date=May 29, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929110448/http://media.www.thebatt.com/media/storage/paper657/news/2007/04/20/News/Yell-Leaders.Represent.Aggie.Spirit.Past.Present.And.Future-2870762.shtml |archive-date=September 29, 2007}}</ref> At midnight before each home football game at Kyle Field, or at a designated location at away games, fans gather to practice yells for the next day's game at an event called [[Midnight Yell Practice]].<ref name="hallett"/><ref name="drehs">{{cite web|last=Drehs|first=Wayne|title=Follow the yell leaders!|date=November 26, 2003|publisher=[[ESPN]]|url=https://www.espn.com/page2/s/drehs/031126texasam.html|access-date=June 30, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070704132114/http://espn.go.com/page2/s/drehs/031126texasam.html|archive-date=July 4, 2007|url-status=live}}</ref> Led by the Yell Leaders and the Fightin' Texas Aggie Band, the 12th Man practice yells, sing the [[wikisource:Aggie War Hymn|War Hymn]], joke about their opponents, and practice celebrating.<ref name="drehs"/><ref name="mugdown">{{Cite news|last=Haskins|first=Maggie|title=The Perfect Week|newspaper=[[Sports Illustrated]]|date=November 4, 2004|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/sioncampus/11/03/perfect1104/|access-date=August 20, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050905205047/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/sioncampus/11/03/perfect1104/|archive-date=September 5, 2005|url-status=dead}}</ref> ''[[Sports Illustrated]]'' named Midnight Yell as one of the "100 Things You Gotta Do Before You Graduate".<ref name="si100">{{cite magazine|title=The 100 Things You Gotta Do Before You Graduate (Whatever the Cost)|date=September 24, 2003|magazine=[[Sports Illustrated]]|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2003/sioncampus/09/24/100_things0930/|access-date=June 30, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070707120928/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2003/sioncampus/09/24/100_things0930/|archive-date=July 7, 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref> At home football games, the 12th Man consists of more than 36,000 Texas A&M students and forms the largest student section in [[college football]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Texas A&M's 12th Man Sells Out Student Section Again|url=https://www.kagstv.com/article/sports/texas-ams-12th-man-sells-out-student-section-again/499-bc61bba0-8143-4bc8-bcf7-17a571bf9064|work=[[KAGS-TV|KAGS-LD]]|date=September 3, 2021 |access-date=April 2, 2022}}</ref> When singing the war hymn, A&M students cause the stands to sway; visiting press are warned prior to the game.<ref>{{cite news|title=Kyle Field reinforcements swaying Aggies' concerns|date=July 4, 2015|work=[[Houston Chronicle]]|url=https://www.houstonchronicle.com/sports/aggies/article/Kyle-Field-reinforcements-swaying-Aggies-concerns-6366773.php|access-date=April 2, 2022|first=Brent|last=Zwerneman}}</ref>

Almost every year since 1909, Texas A&M students have built a large bonfire to celebrate their rivalry with the [[University of Texas at Austin]].<ref name="smith2007">{{cite journal|last=Smith|first=Jonathan M.|year=2007|title=The Texas Aggie Bonfire: A Conservative Reading of Regional Narratives, Traditional Practices, and a Paradoxical Place|pages=182–201|doi=10.1111/j.1467-8306.2007.00530.x|journal=Annals of the Association of American Geographers|volume=97|s2cid=144443161}}</ref> Aggie Bonfire was traditionally lit around [[Thanksgiving (United States)|Thanksgiving]] in conjunction with the festivities surrounding the annual college football game between the universities.<ref name="bernstein"/> Although it began as a trash pile,<ref name="as">{{Cite news|title=Vanities of the Bonfire |newspaper=[[American Scientist]] |date=November–December 2000 |url=http://www.americanscientist.org/template/AssetDetail/assetid/23826/page/2;jsessionid=aaa5LVFO |access-date=February 28, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090624200603/http://www.americanscientist.org/template/AssetDetail/assetid/23826/page/2%3Bjsessionid%3Daaa5LVFO |archive-date=June 24, 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Aggie Bonfire evolved into a massive, six-tiered structure, achieving a then-world-record height for a bonfire of {{convert|109|ft|m|-1}}.<ref name="bernstein">{{Cite news|last=Bernstein |first=Alan |title=Aggie Bonfire holds distinction as Texas symbol |newspaper=[[Houston Chronicle]] |date=November 18, 1999 |url=http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/special/bonfire/386353.html |access-date=February 28, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071225220124/http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/special/bonfire/386353.html |archive-date=December 25, 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="WorldRec">{{cite news|url=http://www.salon.com/books/it/1999/12/08/bonfire/index.html|last=Morris|first=Dave|title=Memories of an Aggie bonfire boy |work=[[Salon.com]] |access-date=August 14, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070211063748/http://www.salon.com/books/it/1999/12/08/bonfire/index.html |archive-date=February 11, 2007 }}</ref><ref name="SixTier">{{cite news|url=https://www.statesman.com/story/news/2021/11/18/texas-a-m-university-remembers-nov-18-1999-bonfire-collapse-aggie-accident/8665016002/|author=American-Statesman staff|title=Virtual tour commemorates Nov. 18, 1999, Texas A&M Bonfire collapse |work=[[Austin American Statesman]] |access-date=January 8, 2022 }}</ref> On November 18, 1999, the Aggie Bonfire collapsed during construction. Eleven enrolled students and one former student died and twenty-seven others were injured. The accident was later attributed to improper design and poor construction practices.<ref name="homeland">{{Cite web|last=Cook|first=John Lee Jr. |title=Bonfire Collapse|publisher=[[U.S. Department of Homeland Security]]|url=http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/downloads/pdf/publications/tr-133.pdf|access-date=March 3, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080917170255/http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/downloads/pdf/publications/tr-133.pdf|archive-date=September 17, 2008|url-status=live}}</ref> The victims' family members filed six lawsuits against Texas A&M officials, Aggie Bonfire officials, and the university. Half of the defendants settled their portion of the case in 2005,<ref name="kapitan">{{Cite news |last=Kapitan |first=Craig |title=Bonfire case under scrutiny by court |newspaper=[[The Bryan-College Station Eagle]] |location=Bryan-College Station |date=September 3, 2006 |url=http://archive.theeagle.com/stories/090306/am_20060903005.php |access-date=April 2, 2009 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130411222254/http://archive.theeagle.com/stories/090306/am_20060903005.php |archive-date=April 11, 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref> and a federal appeals court dismissed the remaining lawsuits against the university in 2007.<ref name="vanderwerf">{{Cite news |last=Van Der Werf |first=Martin |title=Appeals Court Upholds Dismissal of Lawsuits Over Texas A&M Bonfire Accident |newspaper=[[The Chronicle of Higher Education]] |date=April 25, 2007 |url=http://chronicle.com/news/article/2169/appeals-court-upholds-dismissal-of-lawsuits-over-texas-am-bonfire-accident |access-date=May 24, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930180559/http://chronicle.com/news/article/2169/appeals-court-upholds-dismissal-of-lawsuits-over-texas-am-bonfire-accident |archive-date=September 30, 2007 |url-status=live }}</ref> Following the collapse, the university suspended the official sanction of the bonfire, but the tradition continues off-campus.<ref name="milloy">{{Cite news | last=Milloy |first=Ross E.| newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E03E5DA113DF936A35751C0A9649C8B63 | date=February 5, 2002 |access-date=March 3, 2007 |title=Southwest: Texas: Aggie President Cancels Bonfire |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071112085122/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E03E5DA113DF936A35751C0A9649C8B63 | archive-date=November 12, 2007 | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="badger">{{Cite news|title=Off-campus Texas A&M bonfire brings out thousands |newspaper=[[The Badger Herald]] |url=http://badgerherald.com/news/2002/11/26/offcampus_texas_a_m_.php |date=November 26, 2002 |access-date=March 3, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071110225606/http://badgerherald.com/news/2002/11/26/offcampus_texas_a_m_.php |archive-date=November 10, 2007}}</ref>