COLLEGE STATION, TX — Today thousands of Aggies and their supporters will remember those who have passed on, answering the roll call of Aggie Muster.
It’s been said, “If there is an A&M man in one hundred miles of you, you are expected to get together, eat a little, and live over the days you spent at the A&M College of Texas.”
That’s the quote used by the Texas A&M Student Government Association to describe Muster – a gathering of the Aggie community all across the world each year, honoring those who have recently died.
"We remember those that we’ve lost in the last year, and we answer ‘here’ for them," said Kathryn Greenwade, spokesperson for the Association of Former Students – Texas A&M. "So it’s a day of celebration, it’s a day of reflection, it’s a day of remembrance.”
For A&M junior Batia Guido, Muster 2021 is going to be more emotional and special than ever before. A Reflections display coordinator, she’s been in charge of arranging a display of personal items from nearly 40 Aggies in this year’s roll call.
“A lot of people this year decided to send in their items, so my partner and I had the privilege of setting up the display for them," Guido said. "It was really cool. A lot of the families had at home sent a photo of how they would like the display to look, they just couldn’t be here physically.”
The task of organizing this two-day Reflections exhibit inside the Memorial Student Center was emotional enough, but when Guido was told her own grandfather could be honored in the display, the young Aggie was even more moved by the sentimental tradition.
“I had to be a shoulder to cry on and someone who was putting on the logistic process of Muster," she said. "And then when I found out my grandpa could be honored, I was immediately an honored family. So I've been teeter-tottering around this line of - how am I supposed to put on this beautiful ceremony for those being honored, while also being one that is honored?”
The Reflections display, which will be available to view on campus for the rest of the day, shows just a few of over 1,000 current and former A&M students who passed away since April of 2020. For those whose names didn’t make it into the display, they will be honored at Muster roll call gatherings taking place all over the world today.
"There’s one place where every one of those names will be called in a single roll call, and that will be at 6:51 a.m. the morning of Muster," Greenwade said. "That call will originate from the Clayton W. Williams Jr. Alumni Center, and it’s conducted by the Association of Former Students.”
For anyone unable to attend one of the 220 Musters hosted in person, they're invited to watch the campus Muster online through the Aggie Network website. The event starts at 7 p.m., and visitors can even type in a roll call response for a person they wish to honor. That in-person campus Muster is free to attend at Kyle Field. To watch online, visit here.
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