There are many traditions at A&M, but two stand out among the others: Bonfire in the fall, and Muster in the spring. One of them, Bonfire, is on life support, having been burned off campus since stack fell in November 1999. Those in positions of power on campus are more than happy to keep it that way, as are the hardcore Bonfire loyalists who insist that anything less than the traditional cut-and-stack by students is simply unacceptable.

The rest of us, maybe the majority of Aggie nation, will simply have to be content with another tradition disappearing into history.

To those in positions of power that want Bonfire to be relegated to the history books, I say shame on you. Costs, liability, and the memory of those who were killed and injured on that horrific night can and must be placed in perspective of what Bonfire means to Aggies. The 1999 collapse was a terrible accident, not a deliberate act. Planes fall from the sky, sometimes resulting in hundreds of deaths, but we do not stop flying. If Harrington Hall collapsed, we would not stop teaching education classes. Maybe Bonfire would have to be resurrected on the West Campus, but that's a small inconvenience. The truth is, Bonfire could be brought back with the endorsement of the University.

And you hardcore Bonfire traditionalists, shame on you as well. News Flash # 1 -- it's not YOUR Bonfire. Yes, I know, you are maintaining "tradition" out in the woods off campus. You revel in your belief that only your endorsement can legitimize Bonfire, and you will never do so unless it is cut by students, stacked by students, and wired by students, unencumbered by adult supervision. News Flash # 2: that's what got Aggies killed and injured, a belief in your infallibility. So, instead of looking for a compromise that will restore one of the two most important traditions to campus, you fight to keep it the old way, knowing that it will never be accepted that way, and thereby maintaining the off campus Bonfire as the unworthy substitute for tradition that it is, because it's all about you.

Both groups-- those in power resistant to Bonfire's return and those unreconstructed Bonfire rebels-- can take solace in the fact that every year without our most important fall tradition is a year that we become a little more like t.u. East. Bonfire burning on campus, in the shadow of the classroom buildings, was something to be proud of, something to advertise.

Both sides need to understand that having the Bonfire on campus is part of our identity as Texas A&M. The costs and logistics can be solved, IF WE WANT TO SOLVE THEM. Accepting a lesser role than they had before is something that can be done as well, IF THE STUDENTS ARE WILLING TO ACCEPT A NEWER VERSION OF BONFIRE FOR THE GREATER GOOD.

Do I think this will happen? Of course not. Good thing I have pictures of the old Bonfires to show my grand kids someday.

Maybe we can do without Muster, too... after all, they don't need it in Austin.

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Occupation: county employee
Location: Brazos County

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In the market for a new job, huh?

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One of them, Bonfire, is on life support, having been burned off campus since 2002.

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FIFY.

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Bonfire, that the student body had an intimate connection, to burning on campus, in the shadow of the classroom buildings, was something to be proud of, something to advertise

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fify

If Stack was to just hide in one of the 11 other construction projects on campus, A&M would simply be lining a contractors pocket...

honestly, if they contracted it out, how many business minded contractors would jump on the chance to have work every year where they destroyed what they built? Sign me up for that!

"group a" is a group that doesn't care, to them Bonfire was always a nuisance, and 1999 was a way to get it gone...

"group b" has morphed from a group that felt the responisbility to keep Bonfire alive as best they could into a group of students that know Aggie Bonfire as Student Bonfire. The only ones claiming that it is "Their" Bonfire are the class of 2013 this year, and will be 2014 next, etc.

"Adult supervision" is not what you're looking for, by the way... every participant is 18 or older and defined as an adult.

I think you were looking for "professional supervision" which is also wrong. Give me a plastic bottle, some gunpowder, a match, and a paycheck...and I'll give you a demolition "professional"

"Expert supervision" is what you're looking for... and well... it's already there, especially with the board (thankfully) unwilling to change any method without a stack of paperwork, engineering counsel, and the KO question of "why would this improve safety?"

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And you hardcore Bonfire traditionalists, shame on you as well. News Flash # 1 -- it's not YOUR Bonfire. Yes, I know, you are maintaining "tradition" out in the woods off campus. You revel in your belief that only your endorsement can legitimize Bonfire, and you will never do so unless it is cut by students, stacked by students, and wired by students, unencumbered by adult supervision. News Flash # 2: that's what got Aggies killed and injured, a belief in your infallibility. So, instead of looking for a compromise that will restore one of the two most important traditions to campus, you fight to keep it the old way, knowing that it will never be accepted that way, and thereby maintaining the off campus Bonfire as the unworthy substitute for tradition that it is, because it's all about you.

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Bullsheet.

And it may be unworthy to your anonymous self, but it's A-OK in my book.

I take zero shame in a smaller, safer, professionally engineered Bonfire that's within the capabilities of student management and construction expertise while including an acceptable level of student involvement.

[This message has been edited by Keegan99 (edited 9/20/2009 11:15p).]

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Both sides need to understand that having the Bonfire on campus is part of our identity as Texas A&M. The costs and logistics can be solved, IF WE WANT TO SOLVE THEM. Accepting a lesser role than they had before is something that can be done as well, IF THE STUDENTS ARE WILLING TO ACCEPT A NEWER VERSION OF BONFIRE FOR THE GREATER GOOD.

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There was a time when a lot of students were willing to accept that. Do you remember how that turned out?

I have found this entire piece to be ignorant and offensive.

I would normally spend an unreasonable amount of time to methodically refute the points raised - detailing the complexity of the situation and going to great lengths to explain how a Bonfire without students is such a perversion of the tradition that no Ag who understands the value and worth of Bonfire could ever allow it to happen, blah blah blah - but every line rings with such ignorance and selfishness that I'm not gonna waste what little energy I have left after a full day at first cut to attack that ivory tower you're hurling down horses hit from in the name of a "majority of the Aggie Nation." And now that I've got that cathartic rant out of the way, I've got just one more thing to say:

If you really care about this, then educate yourself on the matter, figure out how the chips lay, and make an informed opinion - don't get on a soap box and scream revelations on an internet posting board...

In the mean time, just shut up.

I am surprised strong armed didn't mention the opportunities to have a sponsored bonfire. I mean since he wants bonfire to change so it can be held on campus we might as well make a little money off of it right?

it seems to me the OP is suggesting a compromise be met by both sides.

I think he has a great point in saying that you all sometimes believe that there is no bonfire unless it's bonfire sanctioned by you. It'd be a shame to see it come back with no student involvement, but sometimes I feel as if many of you think you have the monopoly on all things Bonfire.

I say for all of those out there that support Bonfire in any way Aggie, it is their Bonfire in any capacity it exists in.

Now quickly, somebody come along and tell me what I believe.

Compromise is one thing. Removing the element that imparts value of any kind into the activity is quite another.

I am simply expressing my opinion that I disagree with what was said, and in fact took offense to being labeled with terms that would indicate a notion of ignortant mass-think on the part of the many, many people in student bonfire whom over the years I have come to respect and love. Not to mention the callous reference to the deaths of 1999 (via an attack no less).

This is my view. I do not apologize for it.

Fitch, would you suggest that there is an absence of "group-think" in this particular situation?

I think student involvement is a citical part of Aggie Bonfire, but do not believe it is the sole determinent. While it goes to accomplish a great deal for those who build it, it probably accomplishes quite a bit as well to those who go out to see it burn. While students build it, bonfire unites Aggies in a very unique way...a way that has been absent for a decade now.

first off, somebody has to tell me how i can get access to all these different symbols, since I've only got the basic 18...

The line I was specifically referring to begins with "News Flash #2," its what really irked me on a couple of levels. Group-think is a hazy subject here, due in large because at the basic level you have fish who have no idea whats going on out there so they almost automatically listen to the older, more experienced, participants. But within the decreased population that remains towards the end of their tenure at A&M, I've noticed more informed or polar opinions, not to say they can't be similar. I'm positive group-think exists in areas of the organization, but in upper leadership and within the dorms I care to interact with people act of their own opinion, serving the dorm/organization with a tertiary opinion or different perspective. I won't argue the point that by and large the same opinions are held, but I would stress that they are self formed opinions. In fact, that they trend in the same direction would lead me to believe there is some legitimacy behind them.

As for the later sentiment, I hold to the opinion that student involvement is the very heart of the reason why bonfire is special or even worthwhile. I agree bonfire binds/unites aggies, but I think the event of burn is perhaps the least of all the reasons why. It isn't hard to make a fire - Baylor has an annual bonfire made of stacked palettes and I'm sure it draws quite a crowd, but I seriously doubt there is an emotional investment that brings pride, passion and sometimes tears like Aggie Bonfire does.

It unites not simply because they work together in the woods sweating and laughing and striving as a team for a common goal, but also because years on they can walk into a different set of woods and see the very pot they wore being treated like a crown, or hear the dorm yell that they wrote with their friends still being shouted, and know that some worth came of their involvement and is being kept alive. This is made most apparent at burn because old ags who make the pilgrimage are able to check in and see that for all the changes at A&M, at least one chain remains unbroken.

If I were to tell the truth, having been through three burns I would tell you now that I don't care about burn for any other reason than the it is a highly rewarding experience for freshmen (or pots) who invested their time and energy into bonfire's construction. Burn my fish year was special for that reason, burn my chief year was special because I gave up so much to see it through and my parents were there and proud, last year's burn was special because I got to see my kids succeed; I would not have felt that if I had not been involved and were simply a student spectator. I have had roommates come out to burn and while they are thrilled with the experience of seeing a massive fire burn and enjoy the yell practice, they don't hesitate to join the bus lines once the ceremonies are done with - there's no real emotional attachment to keep them wanting to stay through the end.

The reason I do bonfire these days, after having pretty much gotten everything I can out of it (which is a substantial amount) is twofold: I find a unique enjoyment in walking the woods and visiting old friends in other dorms, in effect a kind of e-walk, and because I want the next generation of aggies to have the same opportunities I was allowed. These days its all about passing it down.

A lot of what I've said and believe has been influenced by a blog I found a couple of years back, so for the benefit of the discussion here: http://fuwjax.blogspot.com/2006/10/repost-what-do-you-think-about-bonfire.html

[This message has been edited by Fitch 10 (edited 9/22/2009 12:37a).]

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first off, somebody has to tell me how i can get access to all these different symbols, since I've only got the basic 18...

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You have to pay for a subscription.

thats what i figured. pass for now

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News Flash # 2: that's what got Aggies killed and injured, a belief in your infallibility. So, instead of looking for a compromise that will restore one of the two most important traditions to campus, you fight to keep it the old way, knowing that it will never be accepted that way, and thereby maintaining the off campus Bonfire as the unworthy substitute for tradition that it is, because it's all about you.

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This is pretty funny. You'd figure I'd know about safety at bonfire, being the yellowpot of one of the larger participating crews (Hart), but rather this guy is the expert, having most likely never attended cut or stack with student bonfire. But I'll feed him anyways and give the rest of you who read this a few lines to consider.

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that's what got Aggies killed and injured, a belief in your infallibility.

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Would you care to point me to an example of us preaching infallibility? There is a reason pots are required now (they weren't in the 90's). I saw a friend of mine get care-flighted out of cut site because he broke his leg at the last cut last year. What happened as a result? Immediate changes were put into place affecting how dorms treat "dorm logs", which are the trees chopped down that final day. Is bonfire dangerous? Yes. We wholeheartedly understand that. But we are willing to do the work anyways because it means that much to us. We make changes when there are unsafe procedures, and many things are no longer the same as they were in the old days because of that. No longer do you see trees stacked on top of other trees. No longer do you see groding in the woods. No longer do you see people running around without pots on, sticking their heads in open wedges.

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instead of looking for a compromise that will restore one of the two most important traditions to campus, you fight to keep it the old way, knowing that it will never be accepted that way, and thereby maintaining the off campus Bonfire as the unworthy substitute for tradition that it is

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The problem with your statement here is that you think that a bonfire built by engineers and a construction company that then charges you a hefty admission fee keeps the tradition. You could not be farther from the truth. My parents both attended UNT, and I have several friends that go there now. Every year they have a "bonfire" comprised of tons of discarded pallets. No one cares. If Aggie bonfire is built by professionals, it will just be a bunch of logs burning. How could it symbolize our passion, our "burning desire" to beat t.u. if it was someone else's livelihood that had been put into building it? It wouldn't. And, as I am sure many other dorms would, Hart would continue to build it's own bonfire, with the approval of every dead crew chief still in contact with the dorm (we have some 10ish yellows we still talk to alone, 3 from the 70s!) and probably a lot of the dead leadership (reds and browns).

Furthermore, you act like nothing has changed in the transition from on campus to off campus bonfire. Things have. The current stack design in use was designed by a professional engineer with a licence to operate in Texas. Unlike pre-99, the design does not change year to year. There are firm plans, not just oral tradition and memories. The height does not exceed 45 feet, or 52 with the t.u. frathouse included. The centerpole is supported by 4 perimeter poles now, held together by "windle sticks". Each log touches the ground now and is held together at the top and bottom to 3 different logs by a set of wire. A super-set is wrapped around each layer of stack, further strengthening the ties. The stack is now designed to collapse around itself (in an onion bloom type deal), rather than on itself, which is a far safer situation. Whether the university decides to endorse it is one thing or another, I don't care. I know that without the university's endorsement, BQ's still show up, CT's still come out, even some of the RA's who are "university employees" and therefore are expressly forbidden from showing up still come. A university stamp of approval is hardly neccessary for bonfire to continue off campus, and the fact that it still persists and grows larger every year means that it is definitely a worthy substitute for an on campus bonfire.

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it's all about you.

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That's the line that really sold me on a response. Why am I a yellow? I was asked that once by a dead yellow in my line. I wasn't quite sure then, but I know now, having experienced the first few weeks of school and first cut. It's because of them, the freshmen. I want all of them to experience the same joys, the same camradarie, the same teamwork, the same appreciation for backbreaking labor without wages, that I found when I was a freshman. If it wasn't for bonfire, I would be just another nobody, looking around for things to do on a weekend, not venturing far past my dorm room. Bonfire helped me meet people, gave me an outlet for my frustrations (cutting down trees = perfect way to get rid of pent up anger), and it just gave me a feeling that I was a part of something bigger than myself. I wanted them to experience that as well.

You can respond to this message, or you can not. I'd like everyone who reads this message to understand something though. "From the outside looking in, it's hard to understand it..." They say that about A&M in general, but bonfire is the heart and soul of that statement. Unless you have been to cut or stack (and preferably both), my words above have probably fallen upon deaf ears. I would encourage each and every one of you to attend at least one before making predetermined judgments about what student bonfire is like.

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There is a reason pots are required now (they weren't in the 90's).

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That's not true. Pots were required when in the woods and inside perimeter. Not required at Load. When moving the bigger logs in the woods, it was acceptable to remove your pot.



Scott Coker '92

[This message has been edited by COKEMAN (edited 9/22/2009 10:50a).]

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I saw a friend of mine get care-flighted out of cut site because he broke his leg at the last cut last year. What happened as a result? Immediate changes were put into place affecting how dorms treat "dorm logs", which are the trees chopped down that final day.

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To be fair, this isn't a good thing. Reactive changes after an accident has occurred are an organizational shortcoming. Risks should be assessed and addressed proactively.

Keegan, that isn't always possible. If one can forsee every single possibility for an accident, I have an idea for a multibillion dollar foolproofing business...

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Keegan, that isn't always possible.

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Of course not, but what were the particulars of what happened last year?

My guess is a crew was carrying a log they had no business attempting to carry.

Rebel, is it unforseeable that a person could break their leg while lifting and transporting a log? What sorts of changes have been made with regard to how heavy logs are currently being treated?

I'm not certain of specific changes, but we got yelled at for taking a tree that was "too big". Maybe 18" diameter and about 12 ft long, with more than enough meat to carry it. They're really stressing "coffee can" sized trees so there's less waste and i'm guessing less chance of getting hurt swamping logs. That said, I kind of think that if the crew had been using swamp sticks rather than trying to carry it like normal trees, the accident may have been avoided, it's really just such a rarity they're needed these days that not everyone knows of them

Square, yes, but that is also an accepted risk with having a lot of independent bodies lifting over half a ton...

As it unfolded last year and the years before, that tree was too big in the first place. Somebody broke a rule and it bit them by injuring their crew.

That is part of the unpreventable aspect... The rule can't stop the physical act, and the only obvious deterrant is the punishment... If you get a headstrong individual with too large of an ego, even the punishment won't deter them, as they don't feel they are doing anything wrong... When I passed, I hoped my boys would understand this, too, and I've offered my advice to both reds and browns since... But I can't make them listen to it...

I've never understood what the fixation on the 200 year old trees is anyway... Those are the ones that should stay... They won't burn anyway...just smoulder.

If it was up to me, no outfit log would surpass centerpole in diameter...

I will also be one of the first to say, some of the leashes need to be tightened, and many participants need to be reminded that right now, especially, "red ass" is doing this thing safely, and not trying to see what you can get away with in the woods or at stack...

I haven't heard anyone say this in a while, but Student Bonfire is only one negligent injury away from not existing... There were 9 of us in 2006 that would repeat this at least once a day when the crews showed up in the mornings...

Rebel, what you say about being one serious injury away from non-existence is very true I believe...SB is still on a sort of "probationary" period, and who knows what it will take to no longer hold that status.

To say that it only takes "one headstrong individual" to break this sort of rule is not only a little incorrect, but somewhat concerning as well. You see, to lift a log weighing a ton, it doesn't take one headstrong Yellow to make it happen, but it take his entire crew willing to break that rule as well. This is why I referenced the "group-think" mentality a few posts prior.

I'd like to see them start repeating that "one injury away" statement every day myself. Like we told the kids at pass, their actions determine the future existence of the organization, so don't f up.

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You see, to lift a log weighing a ton, it doesn't take one headstrong Yellow to make it happen, but it take his entire crew willing to break that rule as well

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this isn't entirely true, either...

while it would be great to see an entire crew that was able to look at a log, and then their yellow and say "no", that is not only a long shot, but not really what you want (large numbers of "meat" disobeying the person immediately in charge).

That right there is the sign of a leader that doesn't have the best interest of his/her crew in mind.

Keep in mind that Bonfire is still structured in a semi-military style. It's not so much "group think" as it is following orders. This is also why you might notice that while cheifs sometimes joke around with the crew, the yellows rarely do... and the ones that try, quickly find out that you can't really keep the respect of a crew that doesn't know when you're serious and when you're not.

Had to leave town for a few days, and figured the vitriol and the personal attacks would be there when I got back. You didn't disappoint in that regard. At any rate, I didn't intend to start this thread and then cut and run.

Let me clarify a few of my original remarks. I referred to "infallibility". Maybe I should have said overconfidence with a twinge of arrogance, brewing over many years, starting way before all or most of you ever got into Bonfire. Think about it-- year after year, you're building a huge structure on the campus of a world class university with one the the top engineering schools in the country, and no one-- either in the administration or on the Bonfire Committee-- thinks that maybe the structure's design and building site ought to be vetted on a regular basis with professional engineers? Hindsight is always 20/20, but back then, everything was viewed through a haze of "good bull". No one in the Administration had the guts to cry "foul", and none of the students building stack wanted them to. So maybe it wasn't infallibility, but if not, why did no one recognize the risk for what it was?

So why do I care? I care because A&M has not been the same without a campus bonfire. One of the previous threads was spot on when he said that many Ags -- like me -- care less about the "purity" of the Bonfire process than we do about the pagentry and traditions of Bonfore night. I'm not arguing that the special bonds formed during cut and on the stack can or will ever be replicated if Bonfire returns to campus. And maybe you are forging those bonds with other Ags during the buiding of the Student Bonfire-- I'l take you at your word that you are; however, I'll stick to my argument that we need the Bonfire back on campus, even if it lacks the construction process of old. Thousands of Ags attend the Student Bonfire, but tens of thousands will flock to Bonfire if it comes back to campus.

As to someone calling my reference to those who died as callous, let me relate a story about that tragic night. The phone rings around 3:30 am, and a groggy father hears his son telling him that he (the son) is okay. Why wouldn't you be okay, says the father? Because stack fell, Dad, and there's Ags trapped-- gotta go. Turns out the son was on the stack the previous night, accidentally dropped his pliers into the stack, and as a sanction was denied permission to go back up the next night by one of the pots. Thank God for that pot, and for my clumsy son, who is now 30 and recently returned from Afghanistan. He never finished his degree, but he is a Former Student just the same. He and I don't agree on the future of Bonfire, and we don't have to agree. He does agree with me, though, that A&M has not been the same since stack fell and comrades were killed and injured.

You love Bonfire as only a creator can. I love it for what it does for the spirit of Aggieland. And I'm arguing that the rekindling the spirit of a great university takes precedence over what the building process does for the minority who actual cut and wire the logs into the stack. I know you disagree, but I am also confident that many more agree with me.

Good luck with the Student Bonfire-- have a safe cut.

Semper Fidelis.

I try very hard to stay consistent in my views and post only along the same lines. That said, I don't pretend that I'm an infallible beacon of truth and wisdom, just a guy with some views and a whole lot of passion.

I would like to retract my previous statement, and extend my apologies for my remarks. It was perhaps callous of me to over read the line that you have now clarified, but in my defense, discussion of Bonfire, on and off this forum page, often tends to attract posters who hide behind anonymous ID's and put forth often derogatory comments with seemingly no provocation.

I stand by my belief that a Bonfire without students isn't worth having, as it would do nothing to strengthen the attachment existing and future students form with Texas A&M (the spirit gained at bonfire is not restricted only to the woods and stack site, it permeates and diffuses across all of campus). It very well may please older former students to see bonfire again on campus, but I cannot see a reason why current students would feel the need to come back decades down the road to watch a fire they originally had no part in.

Please understand my view on this and accept my apology for the earlier attack. I'm sure we both care very deeply about A&M's future and for that which can ne'er be told.

And I may be over-reading again, but if your son was in Afghanistan on active duty, please extend my gratitude and thanks for his service.

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I stand by my belief that a Bonfire without students isn't worth having

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perhaps to you it isn't, but maybe to the tens of thousands of other Aggies and non-Aggies it would. Maybe by simply being there in communion with Aggies, that bond would be formed. Maybe it has nothing to do with Bonfire, maybe it has to do with togetherness. Make an excuse to have 40,000 Aggies gather around a damn green tin cup, hell I don't care, but you know what? It'd probably still be special to everybody who came. Do you think any of them would care whose cup it is? I do not. I think what's wanted so badly is a reason to get together, a reason to come together again.

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(the spirit gained at bonfire is not restricted only to the woods and stack site, it permeates and diffuses across all of campus)

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I believe you prove my point here...for the people who show up, the majority of people affected by Bonfire, it has little to do with what happens in those woods, but so much to do with what happens that night.

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I cannot see a reason why current students would feel the need to come back decades down the road to watch a fire they originally had no part in.

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Just because you can not see it doesn't mean it is not there. It's there, they'd come, they still do. They come to your fire in which they have no part in. They come because it's there. They don't come because you built it, generally speaking of course, they come because it's there.

Please read the link I posted several days ago if you haven't already. I regard it very highly, especially when the author discusses his view on the importance of the physical stack.

We come together for taps. We come together for muster. We come together for yell practice and on game days at Kyle Field. We gather and are moved by the numbers of people who attend, but we find pride, and build Spirit, because it is Aggies who are involved in the principle of each of these. Taps commemorates current students lost. Muster celebrates the life of those Agg's that we've lost and still have. Sports games are OUR team, Aggie students, competing. And I believe that the greatest sense of pride that comes from Bonfire is the knowledge that we Aggies, maybe not me directly but the people I go to class with and are friends with, have created this epitome of pride to be "burned in an arrogantly flamboyant ceremony that sa[ys], We are the Aggies, the Aggies are we." [Chip Theil]

In the line you mentioned where I discuss the spirit gained at bonfire, my intent was to explain that the Spirit grows through the shared experience of hard work and laughter in the woods and at stack (the construction process), and spills out onto campus via those impassioned individuals who make their way across it daily. Cut out the student interaction and I feel Bonfire will become like a baylor or UNT bonfire.

A parallel to this would be like removing the student section from Kyle Field and telling the current students they can only watch the game from a distance. Former students can still go, but it drastically changes the entire environment at football games. And after a couple of class years, why would any of those graduates want to come back to watch a football game at the stadium when they never did while at school here? They would probably go hang out with the students who were still doing their yells and cheering on their team in some far off field...

[This message has been edited by Fitch 10 (edited 9/24/2009 12:38a).]

For reference:
The link I was referring to:
http://fuwjax.blogspot.com/2006/10/repost-what-do-you-think-about-bonfire.html

And others by the same that I've found insight from:
http://fuwjax.blogspot.com/2006/03/like-i-need-another-hole-in-my-soul.html
http://fuwjax.blogspot.com/2007/05/texas-building-lunatics.html

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Maybe by simply being there in communion with Aggies, that bond would be formed

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know how I know you don't get it?

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So maybe it wasn't infallibility, but if not, why did no one recognize the risk for what it was?

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In a word, complacency. A luxury that we post-1999 Aggies have never had.

I get it Rebel, believe me, I do.

But It's not SquareOne Bonfire, or Rebel Bonfire, or Fitch Bonfire. I've said it before and I'll say it again now. I really don't want Bonfire back on campus if it costs "us" our ability to build it. However, I do respect and understand the desires of people who dow ant it back on campus at any costs. This faction of people want it back on campus because of the way that it unites people who didn't work on Bonfire. And most people don't work on Bonfire.

But believe me, I get it.