Texas A&M; Puts Student Bonfire Ritual on Hold for Two Years

Texas A&M; University announced Friday that the Thanksgiving bonfire ritual held since 1909 will not resume until 2002 and said the student-run project, a beloved football tradition marred by tragedy last November, will be dramatically scaled down and subject to close professional supervision.

The announcement by A&M; President Ray Bowen comes seven months after last year’s bonfire preparations ended in disaster. A 59-foot-high stack of heavy logs collapsed before dawn on Nov. 18, killing 11 students and a recent graduate who were working on the structure and injuring 27 other volunteers.

Six weeks after an investigative report criticized the university for not adequately supervising the project, Bowen ended intense speculation in Texas about the tradition’s future. A task force of “Aggies”--A&M; students, faculty and staff members--will draft plans for a smaller blaze, following guidelines Bowen laid out.

Bowen said that when the tradition resumes, it will continue as a student-run project, but with much more involvement by engineers, construction professionals and safety experts. The stack will be smaller, in a tepee shape, with all logs touching the ground.