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Cold rain, warm lips at True
Aggie Night
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By Mikaylie Kartchner
October 9, 2006 | About 200 students gathered
Friday, despite off-and-on rain, to smooch their
sweetheart, friend or person they just met atop
the "A" statute all for the sake of tradition.
The occasion: the semi-annual True Aggie Night,
held after the formal Homecoming dance.
The night was cold, with rain falling most of
the time. But that didn't deter the students from
creating four long lines surrounding the blue-and-white
"A" and shuffling through the process
of becoming a True Aggie.
"It's part of the college experience," said
Cheryl Lloyd, a first-timer at the A.
True Aggiehood has been "part of the college
experience" since the construction of the "A"
statute in 1916. It was built by a group of young
men called the Be-nos for the purpose of kissing
girls at midnight, a tradition that kind of stuck.
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TONSIL HOCKEY:
The True Aggie tradition continues
Friday at the "A." / Photos by Mikaylie
Kartchner
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To become a True Aggie, a person has to kiss another
True Aggie at midnight on the A -- or he or she can
kiss another person who isn't a True Aggie, but only
on Homecoming night or "A" Day.
To make sure the tradition is carried out correctly,
the A is guarded by member of the True Aggie patrol,
a group of students clad in white sweatshirts marked
with a red cross. Besides making sure the integrity
of the event remains unspoiled, True Aggie Patrol members
also pass out the office's True Aggie membership card
that explains the perks of becoming a True Aggie.
And the perks of True Aggiehood are?
"Supposedly I have rights and privileges," Lloyd said.
"Don't ask me what they are. Mostly, when people ask
me 'Are you a True Aggie' I can say yes."
For Ashley Reeves, her True Aggie experience led to
marriage to her husband, Justin.
"It was Oct. 28. Justin asked me to be his True Aggie,
and we weren't dating at the time," Reeves said. "We
actually got the prize for kissing the longest." Justin
and Ashley Reeves were married not too long after.
"Being a True Aggie is good because you get married,"
said Reeves.
Reeves and her husband return to the "A"
every Oct. 28 to relive their True Aggie experience.
Despite the happiness and excitement that seems to
float around True Aggie night, there is a certain downside,
embraced by some members of the student body.
"I thought it would be more personal," said Lloyd.
"Not such a big show."
Another downside for some students is that the True
Aggie tradition has over the years developed into other,
not so traditional traditions, such as True Blue Aggies.
Becoming one of the True Blue Aggies requires riding
the bull statute at the corner of 1000 North and 800
East streets at midnight in the buff. Although not a
tradition supported by Utah State, it is commonly heard
of and debated among students.
"There's nothing like getting an STD from a steel
bull," said Amanda Chester, a freshman majoring in photography.
She was against the tradition.
Lloyd felt the same way saying, "I would never do
it."
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