Campus Life

R.C. Slocum To Speak At Campus Muster Thursday

Muster, Texas A&M’s annual observance honoring Aggies who have died during the past year, will be held Thursday, April 21.
By Tura King, Texas A&M Marketing & Communications April 15, 2016

Muster candle lightingMuster, Texas A&M’s annual observance honoring Aggies who have died during the past year, will be held Thursday (April 21) at scores of sites around the state and nation and abroad. The campus Muster will include an address by R.C. Slocum, the university’s former head football coach who has since served the institution in a variety of capacities.

The 7 p.m. campus ceremony is expected to pack 12,500-seat Reed Arena.

It is student organized, with the students making the decision of whom to invite as speaker. Slocum headed Texas A&M’s football program from 1989 until 2002, during which time he compiled a 123-47-2 record, which ranks among the best nationally. Since relinquishing that position, he has served as special advisor to the university president and has functioned in various ambassadorial roles for the institution. In 2013 he was named a recipient of the prestigious Horatio Alger Award. For more about Slocum, go here.

Though the Muster ceremony is solemn, the day begins with fun.

Many former students return to campus for Muster, among them those who graduated 50 years before who hold a special class reunion. This year, it will be the Class of 1966.

Muster activities begin with a 7 a.m. flag-raising ceremony and Corps of Cadets formation in the plaza in front of the Academic Building and will be followed at 11 a.m. by the annual Camaraderie Barbecue. This year it will be held on the Kyle Field Northeast Plaza and the entertainment includes several student groups. The cost of the meal is $10. For more information and a list of performers, go here.

muster bbq
Muster BBQ

Organizers say this is an opportunity for Aggies of all ages to gather and share fun and tell stories and “live over again” their days at Texas A&M. They add that it also gives current students a chance to spend time with the anniversary Class of 1966.

The doors to Reed Arena will open at 5 p.m., and seating is on a first-come, first-serve basis. Parking information, including maps of West Campus, can be found by going here.

At each Muster ceremony around the world, a speaker will be followed by the “Roll Call for the Absent.” Names of those from that area who have died in the past year will be read, and as each name is called, a family member or friend will answer “Here,” and a candle will be lit.

Following the candle-lighting ceremony at the campus Muster, the Ross Volunteer Company will march in to fire a rifle volley followed by a special arrangement of “Taps.” In addition, the ceremony also will include performances by the Singing Cadets and the Aggie Band.

A relatively new addition to the Muster tradition is the Muster Reflections Display. Its purpose is to more fully recognize the lives of the Aggies being honored by displaying personal items of the Roll Call honorees as a memorial to them. These items will be on display in the MSC Flag Room during the week leading up to the ceremony April 21.

Muster was first held on June 26, 1883. Former students of Texas A&M, then called ex-cadets, were to gather and “…live over again our college days, the victories and defeats won and lost upon drill ground and classroom. Let every alumnus answer a roll call.”

No matter where Aggies are, whether they are as few as two or as many as the thousands who will gather at Reed Arena, they come together each April 21 for Muster. In recent years, many Aggies have lost their lives in service to their country and are honored during Muster.

“Sadly we lost one Aggie in military service this year, USMC Major Shawn M. Campbell, Class of 2001,” says Kathryn Greenwade with The Association of Former Students.

Planners say the exact number of Muster ceremonies being held is difficult to determine because some are spontaneous, including some held on battlefields, just as happened during World Wars I and II and in Korea and Vietnam. They say more about the known Muster ceremonies can be found on a searchable map showing the locations of off-campus Musters. The map also has links to more information about Muster and the “Roll Call for the Absent.”

“A few groups, such as chapters of the Texas A&M Mother’s Clubs, have their meetings on Thursdays and this year will be hosting a Muster ceremony during their meeting,” notes Amy Hale, coordinator of Former Student Programs. She adds that these gatherings are not necessarily open to the public like other Musters.

Muster at the mouth of the Malinta Tunnel in 1946.
To honor the Aggies who Mustered on the island of Corregidor in 1942, these Aggies returned to Muster at the mouth of the Malinta Tunnel in 1946.

The most famous Muster was held in 1946 after World War II when Aggies who were present among the American armed forces on Corregidor once again held Muster on the island. A memorial honoring those Aggies who served on Corregidor is now on the island. Using a series of four panels, the monument lists nearly 200 names. Simple in design, the monument represents the sacrifice, bravery and spirit of those Aggies.

Muster was held in Europe during World War I, where thousands of Aggies were serving. During World War II, Gen. George F. Moore, Texas A&M Class of 1908, was the commander of Fort Mills on Corregidor Island in the Philippines. He, along with 25 other Aggies on the island, held a Muster celebration on April 21, 1942. By May 6, the island had fallen to Japanese forces, and all of those Aggies were either captured or killed.

For more on the history of Muster, go here.

Media contact: Tura King, Texas A&M News & Information Services.

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