E-1, class of '96 here. This was a hot button topic in my day too. If memory serves E-1 was force integrated the year after I died. I remember being full of piss and vinegar and machismo in my late teens/early 20's about this issue, like many of you.

Now that I'm on the doorstep of 40 and have been "in the real world" for close to 20 years, I cannot adequately communicate how much I simply do not care about this issue anymore. There are so many bigger fish to fry. I will state this though....those of you opposing this are fighting a losing battle. Period.

Not to belittle this, but Ol' Army died long ago! My Spider fish Class started with over 50 (54 is the # I remimbered but others had a few more) that shrunk to 17 by mid-term fish year (all graduated). We picked up a "notorious" frog that came to just survive as a a Spider frog. Survive he did and flunk out in flying colors. He later earned a BS & MS at Angelo State & PhD at Cambridge in the UK. The term "integration" means a difference to some Ol' Ags than Coed. Spider D "integrated" in 1968 to my knowledge. I know Coeds would have been weird in my time. Heck, I made my wife wait 2-3 yrs before I'd let her enroll in TAMU to complete her BS degree when I was in Grad School. My younger son was in D2 that WAS Coed then (& they won GM in 1998). Current Spiders support the outfit as well as we can. I don't think a letter from me will impact the Trigon! I know lots has changed on the Corps in my 49 yr and mostly good. I know if Spiders lived like we did in 1965-1969, most would have been expelled, tossed from the Corps, in jail, or dead (like Tom Hargrove's younger brother that we aimost killed in 1966). SPIDER D, LAST OF THE OL'' ARMY, BEST DAMN OUTFIT IN THE CORPS!!

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I know if Spiders lived like we did in 1965-1969, most would have been expelled, tossed from the Corps, in jail, or dead

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Not much has changed about Spider D honestly. In fact, I beleive that is part of the reason this is happening.

Somebody should start a twitter war with the commandant

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Hell, E-2 was even integrated during FOW of 2000.

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Then after 5 days they decided E2 wasn't for them...WEIRD.

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Hell, E-2 was even integrated during FOW of 2000.

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Then after 5 days they decided E2 wasn't for them...WEIRD.

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Yeah that is why they are talkin about putting a wag 1sgt in to prevent this from happening.

Are you saying they're thinking about putting a wag 1SG in D-1? I wonder what's gonna happen to the grode box/ grode CPL

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Are you saying they're thinking about putting a wag 1SG in D-1? I wonder what's gonna happen to the grode box/ grode CPL

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Correct. I also wondered about that, but given the internet age I don't see that as a huge problem.

SpiDer69, what you said is the exact reason why we do not want the outfit to change. SpiDer is a bunch of hellraisers (and for good reason; work hard, play hard)...plain and simple. What kids get out of our outfit is not replicated in any other outfit, and thus, is in jeopardy when you add that extra element. Our SpiDers come out way more tough than any damn fish on the quad and anyone can feel free to challenge me on that one!

Will you accept this challenge in the form of a checkers game?

Carl Hungus: Regarding your not-so-clever nickname for GVA, I find it disgusting that an Aggie would make such a disrespectful comment about another Aggie on a public forum, especially about a three-star general who served over 36 years on active duty and who commanded infantry companies in combat in Vietnam long before you were born. What have you done? You can't make childish, disrespectful comments like that and at the same time expect the university administration to value your input. You dishonor SpiDer-D, the Corps and Texas A&M, in my opinion. Btw, I can assure you that you didn't make the General's life a living hell your senior year, as you claimed. He had, and continues to have, a very happy and fulfilling life - most of which has been spent in service to our nation and the students of Texas A&M University. Tl;dr - Carl, shut up and color.

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Carl Hungus: Regarding your not-so-clever nickname for GVA, I find it disgusting that an Aggie would make such a disrespectful comment about another Aggie on a public forum, especially about a three-star general who served over 36 years on active duty and who commanded infantry companies in combat in Vietnam long before you were born. What have you done? You can't make childish, disrespectful comments like that and at the same time expect the university administration to value your input. You dishonor SpiDer-D, the Corps and Texas A&M, in my opinion. Btw, I can assure you that you didn't make the General's life a living hell your senior year, as you claimed. He had, and continues to have, a very happy and fulfilling life - most of which has been spent in service to our nation and the students of Texas A&M University. Tl;dr - Carl, shut up and color.

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You mad bro?

Carl, very snappy comeback. No: I am not mad, and I am not your bro. Grow up, you punk.

I'll stand up for Gen. VA although I barely know him. I think he was in '65 or '66. I know my Spiders in '66 never said anything bad about him that I ever heard. I know at my class reunions, he always recognized the Spiders. That might have been because we ALWAYS had more alumni there than ANY outfit including the frickin band that had to "combine" outfits to outnumber us. We learned to stick together & help each other whether it was a P***head trying to harass us (usually they learned it backfired), a trip to the "steam showers," a "silver crapper" for a buddy, or just a buddy in financial needs. I didn't serve in the military, but many Spiders in my class served in VN. Fortunately, all that fought over there came back alive and with just a few minor battle scars. I know many of my classmates in other outfits that paid the ultimate price as well as many good Ags in older classes ('66-'68). I try to respect any Aggie Commandant as that job is important, especially to anyone in the Corps. I know the Spiders put several gray hairs in the Commandant or made some fall out during my 4 yrs. I know my senior yr, I kind of blew off both the Corps Staff and the Trigon. But Spiders were in serious trouble in 1968-1969. My CO and the TAMU SB Pres. (a Spider) on Corps Staff were in the Commandants office weekly with the Corps Commander over our poor performance. In fact Sider D, as I knew it, was disbanded over Christmas break in 1969. I have a hard time seeing how making Spider D Coed solves much. I sure don't have the wisdom or intuition to foresee that helping anything. I really doubt current Spiders in the outfit could be nearly as bad as we were. I know some Spiders in 2014 that individually had more grade points than all 17 of us in some semesters in my class. One of my Spider buddies took Chem 102 six times before he passed it (and he's a former Dean & current Dept. Head now). One of my Spider classmates returned from VN to the farm. But decided to return to TAMU & retake many courses to raise his grades to get into Vet school. That took him 2 yrs, but he's a highly successful Vet.

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Carl, very snappy comeback. No: I am not mad, and I am not your bro. Grow up, you punk.

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You sure? You seem mad. Is it because you've never been licked? If so, try craigslist

I never liked GVA since I thought he was always out to get us, but I wish he was still around. The new commandant is a total s***bag. He's the one behind all this.

I have too many reasons for not liking him to list in one thread, regardless what other people think of him. Nobody is just one thing, as I am sure most people are old enough to realize, but he was a total dick to us. We are used to it, and we will fight back as always and do everything we can to keep our culture, toughness and spirit. Regardless how many anonymous people on the internet tell us how we should think and behave.

[This message has been edited by Carl hungus (edited 12/19/2013 11:51p).]

Props to you, Carl, for standing up to your convictions. The Spider family sticks together. I still don't think there's anything we can do. If nothing else, the spiders should disban, retire the spider flag, and start up something new.

Carl, what year are you?

Carl, you have every right to like or dislike whomever you choose, and to think whatever you wish. However, if you anonymously insult a fellow Aggie on a public forum - especially one who is considerably older and more accomplished than you (as well as tougher and more spirited) - I have the right to call you out on it. I know, like and respect many guys from Spider-D, past and present. I probably know you, too; but I don't respect or appreciate the way you are speaking of others on this forum. Your immature and disrespectful comments remind me of why I rarely visit Texags.

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Carl, you have every right to like or dislike whomever you choose, and to think whatever you wish. However, if you anonymously insult a fellow Aggie on a public forum - especially one who is considerably older and more accomplished than you (as well as tougher and more spirited) - I have the right to call you out on it. I know, like and respect many guys from Spider-D, past and present. I probably know you, too; but I don't respect or appreciate the way you are speaking of others on this forum. Your immature and disrespectful comments remind me of why I rarely visit Texags.

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[This message has been edited by Carl hungus (edited 12/20/2013 7:24a).]

Carl, I appreciate you forthrightness and honesty, but even you have to admit it takes real courage to attend graduation on the stage, when there is a risk of falling asleep.

[This message has been edited by Business Time (edited 12/20/2013 11:37a).]

Carl, guess I admire your sense of humor and your passion for Spider-D. I've had enough of this discussion. Wish y'all good luck.

Never understood the beef people had with GVA. He was a great commandant.

[This message has been edited by Jfadious08 (edited 12/20/2013 10:40a).]

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Never understood the beef people had with GVA. He was a great commandant

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That's how I know you do not know what you are talking about.

GVA's mission appeared to be cutting back on hazing issues. He punished those outfits that had issues in the past by giving them few fish every year (either in an effort to let the outfit destroy itself or give it a chance to turn around (My outfit, D-2, had 9 fish when I got there in '04 and only 5 made it to Final Review. I even had one fish prospect who was told by the commandant not to go to D-2 because of past issues and low grades)), disbanding the outfit, or re-branding the outfit (take B-2 for example. They used to be Boozin' B-2 but now are the Patriots). I can't speak for previous commandants, but that appeared to be his goal.

This commandant's mission appears to be to grow the size of the Corps, even if that means taking away some traditions (Corps games) that may or may not seem to be hazing for some, resulting in things being "easier" than when we were there. He also appears to be pushing for diversity across the board: race, gender, etc. (Pushing for diversity might also be in line with the University's goals. He might not even have a say in this)

Either way,each commandant has a different vision and goals for the future of the Corps. Also, it seems he wants to make it more like West Point's model when we've been closer to VMI's model. My two cents.

[This message has been edited by HBCanine08 (edited 12/20/2013 1:14p).]

It's clear the last commandant wanted to turn the corps into West Point South. I had hoped Ramirez would recognize the strength of the Corps is in its uniqueness and the closeness of the cadets brought by the class system and their traditional outfits. Weakening those bonds, solely for misguided attempts at someone else's idea of diversity and size for the Corps, is a huge disappointment.

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Weakening those bonds, solely for misguided attempts at someone else's idea of diversity and size for the Corps, is a huge disappointment.

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Church!

Sorry, old Spiders, but you had to have seen this coming at some point. You can't continually put minimal effort into recruiting, into competing for awards, not show up for Bloody Cross, teach your fish to ignore and not whip out to wags, and somehow expect your outfit to be around forever.

I don't know what the current commandant is trying to accomplish, but I don't like a lot of it. I can see good intent behind some of is actions, but he's just taking away so many things that make us unique.

I still don't know why they hired him. Probably another Murano pick. The guy's a facking tool.

[This message has been edited by TexAgs staff (edited 12/23/2013 4:31p).]

If you were around that time you probably know my cousin. He was K-1 when they were huge and glorious.

I like how you edited out the sexual assault you were bragging about. I'm just glad you were too cowardly to join the military. Worthless fraternity bull****