While the organized opposition to Bonfire in the 1990s emphasized environmental objections to the tradition, a strong undercurrent of opposition emerged from those who faulted other aspects of the "Bonfire culture."
The loudest and most visible environmental concerns carried little weight with those who wielded influence on campus and in the community. Most Aggies, to include faculty and community members, were not tree huggers.
But when students didn't show up to class or slept through lectures because they'd been up all night working on stack, that became the focus of faculty objections. Their objections prompted many Faculty Senate debates, but more importantly, many individual expressions of concern to department heads and deans.
Likewise, the community took notice of the alcohol abuse on burn night. In the 1990s, the Eagle wrote a series of editorials about drunk students on Bonfire night, decrying the university's inability to control the tradition.
Here's the point:
If there are ever serious proposals to bring the tradition back to campus, environmental concerns won't carry much weight. Instead, safety, scholastics, and alcohol will dominate the collective memory of all of those who lived through the last Bonfire cycle.
If we can convince the Aggie community that Bonfire can be built and burned safely, that will be only half of the battle.
[This message has been edited by DualAG (edited 5/3/2007 9:20a).]
