Students are putting two weeks of hard work into a large project, just to set it on fire and watch it burn.
The annual burning of the Aggie is only a few days away, and the Associated Students of the University of New Mexico Lobo Spirit Volunteers said they are all fired up for this year’s Sept. 18 event.
Tyler Wafer, a junior nursing student and head of the ASUNM spirit volunteers, said this event is in its 11th year, and celebrates the rivalry between the Lobos and the New Mexico State Aggies. The schools square off for their annual football game Sept. 20.
“I don’t know who came up with the idea (to burn the Aggie), but it’s grown,” Wafer said. ”It’s gotten to be a bigger event, a staple event, that’s going here with ASUNM.”
A member of the Lobo football team will be chosen to light the Aggie, he said.
“One of the coolest parts is walking it through campus the morning of, at 7:30 and seeing it in the daylight, but watching it burn is obviously the best part,” Wafer said.
Every year the Aggie is built in a different way and the changes have started to become their own tradition, he said.
This year’s Aggie is built with two-by-fours, chicken wire, newspaper, napkins and spray paint, he said.
“We want to make sure it will burn, but we want it to burn slowly. We don’t want it to go up in five minutes,” Wafer said.
The Aggie itself stands 12-feet tall and, once placed in the structure, it will raise another seven feet, he said.
“There are regulations we follow every year, the Physical Plant Department and Albuquerque Fire Department are out there, so it not us like, ‘Let’s do a fire,” Wafer said.
The process of building the Aggie’s form normally takes 30 to 50 people over a two week span, said Ashley Hawney, a sophomore sign language major and spirit volunteer.
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“Normally it would be a really sad thing to watch all of your work burn, but due to our rivalry, it really just brings up our spirit for our school and our hatred for theirs,” Hawney said.
An estimated 500 people will arrive in the afternoon with a grand total of 1,500 by the end of the night, she said.
“I plan to hopefully move up in Lobo Spirit, so this will be something that is under my control in the future but I would like people to take part in it in any sense,” Hawney said.
Brenna Kelley, a sophomore journalism major, said this process is a lot of work, but she thinks it will turn out well in the end.
“I definitely want it to look bigger and better this year,” Kelley said. “I don’t really have steam to blow off, but this is a really great way to get involved in my community.”
Kelley is also a member of the UNM Marching Band and loves playing the fight song as the Aggie burns, she said.
“UNM students should definitely come out and be prepared to have a lot of fun,” Kelley said. “I like seeing all of the glow sticks lighting up and seeing the Lobo spirit.”
Stephen Montoya is the culture editor for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at culture@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @StephenMontoya9.
