Name-a-Day Calendar, August 27: Texas A&M Aggies
Page 294 of 365
Chosen in: c. 1910 unofficially; 1949 officially
Chosen by: Local sportswriters as an alternate form of “Farmers”
The Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas first opened its doors in 18761 and began playing football in 1894. By the early 1900s, most print sources referred to this team as the Farmers on account of the school’s agricultural roots.
Around 1910, several Texas papers began alternating between “Farmers” and “Aggies” as the A&M moniker, and by 1920 or so, the latter was used almost universally.
Funnily enough, Texas A&M’s yearbook at this time was known as The Longhorn, as it had been since 1903. This somehow lasted until 1949 despite A&M and Texas always having been bitter rivals. Then, the student body finally voted to change the title and then voted again between several title suggestions to decide on “Aggieland”. The university lists this point as the moment the “Aggies” nickname became official, though it had already been all but official for decades.
Texas A&M introduced a live dog named Reveille as their mascot in 1931, and they’ve since almost always had some sort of live dog as their mascot, all named Reveille. Since Reveille III, all of them have been Rough Collies. They’re currently represented by Reveille X.
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Became Texas A&M University in 1963