Aggie Yell Leaders

The Aggie Yell Leaders are composed of three seniors and two juniors, with one senior designated as "Head Yell Leader."[7][8][9] They are elected annually, making A&M one of the few schools that still elects spirit leaders.[7] Sometimes, more than twice as many students vote for yell leader candidates than vote in the Student Body President elections.[7] Traditionally, the Yell Leaders are members of the Texas A&M University Corps of Cadets in keeping with A&M's military history, though "non-reg" students have occasionally earned election. The first "non-reg" elected as Yell Leader was John David Garner, class of 1961. Although women have campaigned for Yell Leader at the main Texas A&M campus in College Station, none have ever been elected. In 2005, however, a female was elected as Junior Yell Leader at Texas A&M University at Galveston, which is an extension school of the main campus in College Station.[10]

NCAA rules prevent the Yell Leaders from participating in athletic practices, but the Head Yell Leader can usually be found during two-a-days, running and lifting alongside the football team. The Yell Leaders, along with junior and senior cadets of the Fightin' Texas Aggie Band, and Seniors of the Fightin' Texas Aggie Singing Cadets are the only students on campus who receive a varsity letter without playing a sport.[11]

The Yell Leaders attend all home and away football games, all home basketball games, some away basketball games, and selected home and away games for other sporting events. The 2019-2020 yell leaders are Head Yell Leader Karsten Lowe '20, Senior Yell Leaders Reid Williams '20 and Kenny Cantrell '20 and Junior Yell Leaders Keller Cox '21 and Jacob Huffman '21.[7]

Junior Yell Leaders perform pushups and the Aggie Band plays a tune. Junior Yell Leaders are required to do a "class set", which is 100 push-ups plus their class year. (i.e. 2012 would be 112)

Besides their game-day duties, the Aggie Yell leaders are the Masters of Ceremonies at the Aggie pep-rally-type event known as Midnight Yell Practice. This event is held the night before a football game, at midnight, at Kyle Field for home games or at a designated location in the opposing team's city for away games. During these events, the Aggie Yell Leaders tell stories about ways in which "Ol' Rock" the prototypical Aggie defeats the upcoming opponents' mascots and lead the crowds in yells, so that all attendees know what to do in the coming game.[12] They lead an additional, smaller, Yell Practice on the Thursday night before all away games (even bowl games), called Arch Yell, which is held in front of the 12 arches at the entryway to the Corps of Cadets quad area.

At the various yell practices, the Aggie Yell Leaders wear either maroon (seniors) or white (juniors) T-shirts and denim overalls that they decorate with maroon paint, often featuring their graduation year and various depictions of the A&M traditions.[13][9] During sporting events, they always wear a white button-down shirt and white pants.[8]

Freshmen (in khaki) from the Corps of Cadets chase down and tackle the Yell Leaders (in white) after a victory

During a game, the Yell Leaders signal the crowd to start a yell by flashing pass backs.[7] Once the signal is passed throughout the crowd, the Yell Leaders give the signal for the crowd to "hump it," or lean forward with hands just above their knees, and the yell begins. The theory behind "humpin' it" is that it aligns the back, neck and throat in the proper position to maximize the noise.[9] They also use pass backs to signal when to sing the various school songs, in much the same way as cheerleaders lead songs at other schools.[9]

When the Aggie football team is defeated at home, the crowd remains in the stands at the end of the game while the Aggie Yell Leaders conduct a short yell practice, including the singing of the song 12th Man, in preparation for the next week's game. If the Aggies win a home football game, the freshmen in the Corps of Cadets chase them around Kyle Field behind the 20 yard line, and, once they are captured, carry them across campus and toss them into Fish Pond, a fountain full of cold water. Meanwhile, the Aggie fans follow the Aggie Band as they leave Kyle Field and congregate in front of the Sbisa Dining Center, the current location of Fish Pond, for another Yell Practice.[14][13] After the last Yell Leader has been thrown into Fish Pond, the soaking-wet Yell Leaders lead the fans in a yell practice against the following week's opponent.[15]