MAROON LIFE 8
BEST TRADITION: MIDNIGHT YELL
Kyle Heise — THE BATTALION
Yell Leaders celebrate history and eccentricity of Aggie tradition By Sydnei Miles @Sydnei_M04 “Hump it, Ags!” For the newbies unbeknownst to the phrase, you may think it’s some kind of weird, unwanted sexual innuendo. It’s not, I promise — let me explain. When the clock strikes midnight the night before football game days, Aggie students, parents and guests come together at Kyle Field for the most infamous and unique tradition at Texas A&M: Midnight Yell. Although Yell Practice originated in 1913, the first Midnight Yell was held in 1931 before the t.u game. Head Yell Leader and construction science senior Trevor Yelton said this famous tradition attracts many supporters and is meant to ignite the Aggie spirit. “The crazy part is 10,000+ people show up at midnight, and that just shows the spirit and passion people have for this school,” Yelton said. “Essentially what it is, is a pep rally for the day of the game … What we do is yells. We don’t have
cheers or anything at A&M; we have yells. And fortunately enough for us, everybody understands them. So as much as they might look weird to the outsider, people know how to do them and people know what they’re doing.” Senior Yell Leader and philosophy se-
said. “He went to the current Yell Leaders at that time and they basically were like, ‘Look, we can’t officially approve this, but also, if you’re gonna do it, go ahead.’ … So he got everybody together, and then on the steps of the YMCA building, the first official Midnight Yell
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The crazy part is 10,000+ people show up at midnight, and that just shows the spirit and passion people have for this school — Trevor Yelton
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nior Thomas Greve said this tradition has been remarkable since its origin. In the 1930s, a freshman in the Corps named Peanut Owens organized the first Midnight Yell, Greve said. “It was the night before a game, and he wanted to get everybody together at the YMCA building to practice the yells as soon as it struck midnight,” Greve
practice was held.” Getting ready for Midnight Yell isn’t as quick and swift as some may think, junior Yell Leader and finance senior Jake Carter said, with preparation starting as early as the summer. “The summer is when we write all of our speeches,” Carter said. “So all of our fables, the stories that we [use to] make
fun of the other teams … I spent a lot of time this summer just sitting down and just writing through all different speeches … People think we’re always practicing our yells, but really we don’t. We practice them a lot in the summer, but as a Yell Leader, you do them so much that it just becomes kind of second nature.” The rush of adrenaline is not only felt by the participants, but the Yell Leaders as well, Yelton said. “We get in our overalls and we practice in our rooms,” Yelton said. “All people are in one room, all together. Then we’ll walk over to the arches on the Quad of the Corps of Cadets, and then from there, we walk with our families and some other cadets and we walk from The Quad all the way to Kyle Field. It feels like a long walk, you’re going all the way to Kyle Field, and you’re getting all nervous and stuff, and it’s just building up and building up and building up and then you walk down the tunnel. The tradition is the head Yell Leader turns around and high fives everybody as they sprint out. That just opens the experience. Like it’s just — it’s electric.” A first experience of Midnight Yell can feel foreign, Carter said, as his first time was an unfamiliar one but drew him