Texas A&M, Auburn Share Heritage, Strong Traditions

When the Texas A&M football team takes to the road this weekend to meet the Auburn University Tigers and begin a three-week stint of SEC games away from Kyle Field, the first stop will be a historical one: It will mark the first time that the Aggies will play in Auburn, Ala.

While the road trip will go down as a historic matchup for Texas A&M and Auburn on the gridiron — the Aggies and Tigers have met only twice on the playing field, in 1911 and 1985 —  it’s also one that brings together two institutions with similar backgrounds and cultures.

Texas A&M and Auburn have a proud land-grant heritage. Both schools were the first land-grant colleges in their respective states and even shared similar names in the early days: Texas A&M’s original name was the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, while Auburn — which was first established in 1856 as the East Alabama Male College — was renamed the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama when it was designated as a land-grant college by the Morrill Act of 1862. Both institutions changed their names to what they are today in the 1960s.

The two universities also share another significant similarity: They are two of a handful of higher education institutions in the country that are designated as land-, sea-, and space-grant universities.

Academic programs at Texas A&M and Auburn share many similarities. For example, both institutions have produced NASA engineers, scientists and astronauts through their various engineering programs. Additionally, Texas A&M and Auburn are recognized as having two of the top agriculture programs in the United States.

Much like Texas A&M, Auburn is steeped in traditions, many of which can trace their origins back to the earliest days of the university’s existence. Auburn is known officially as the Tigers, but visitors to Jordan-Hare Stadium this weekend will witness firsthand the school’s “War Eagle” tradition.

Like the hazy origin of Texas A&M’s Reveille, there are conflicting accounts on how the War Eagle tradition was established at Auburn. The phrase is Auburn’s battle cry: It acts as a term of support for Auburn’s athletic teams, as well as a way to greet a fellow Tiger, like Texas A&M’s “Gig ’em.” More than just a phrase, however, the War Eagle is an actual golden eagle that takes to the skies prior to kickoff of every Auburn home game, circling the stadium and eventually landing in the middle of the field. Aggies at the Texas A&M-Auburn game will watch War Eagle VII — also known as Nova — carry out the time-honored tradition.

Texas A&M and Auburn both like to celebrate their athletic wins in unusual ways. After an Aggie victory, freshmen in the Corps of Cadets capture, carry and then toss the Texas A&M Yell Leaders into Fish Pond. The Yell Leaders will then head to the YMCA Building to lead fans in a short yell practice. Auburn fans prefer to “roll the corner” after a Tiger win. Fans head to Toomer’s Corner to cover two historic oak trees outside of Toomer’s Drugs in toilet paper — a tradition that has grown past only celebrating football victories and has extended to anything good that has happened involving the university.

Aggies will also find that the city of Auburn will feel like home. College Station and Auburn are regularly heralded as top “college towns” in various national rankings. Each city has a reputation for its small-town feel, and each is also located close to major cities in its respective geographic region.

“Out of the 13 other SEC schools, I think Texas A&M and Auburn may be most similar,” said Jason Cook, Texas A&M’s vice president for marketing and communications. “There is a tremendous sense of family and common purpose among Auburn students and graduates, like you will find among Aggies, and Auburn has a great college feel to the campus.”

This Friday’s edition of tamutoday will also feature research collaborations and other connections between the two universities.