09.06.08 Culture War: Aggieland versus Baylor
Yesterday at Philadelphia Biblical University (92 kids sponsored, by the way!) Ben and I had dinner with the director of student life. She asked me if there was a place I love to play more than any other. ”Texas A&M,” I answered without hesitation. She seemed a little surprised so I explained why.
Texas A&M is a school with a fearless culture of participation. I know from having an Aggie for a father that students are indoctrinated into this culture. They’re told that Aggies don’t sit at football games, that it’s not a fight song but a war hymn, that it’s t.u. and not U.T. and they learn a secret language made up of hand signals and strange words like “whoop”, “hump” and “hullaballoo caneck caneck” - and I don’t even know if that’s spelled right because, how could I, I’m not an Aggie?
Students at Texas A&M don’t see bonfires and homecoming and football games as elective. These are things real Aggies do and if you’re not willing to assimilate into that kind of culture, to give yourself over to that kind of involvement, well, then you can go down the road to Baylor and get a fine education and do whatever the heck you want outside of the classroom. You can sit at football games, huddled around with the folks from your sorority, and have no idea what the score is. Seriously, Baylor will score and a large portion of the crowd won’t react at all, because they didn’t see it. But don’t try that crap at Texas A&M - you’ll be deported from Aggieland real quick like.
And this makes for a very different kind of student body. Aggies aren’t generally afraid of being judged by their peers for making some noise, for showing a little enthusiasm, and - this is radical - actually singing along. In short, they participate. Fully. It’s what’s accepted (expected) by their culture - you’re a dork if you keep your butt in the seat and your mouth shut. WHOOOOP!
But at Baylor (my alma mater), the culture is a bit different. At Baylor, you generally don’t stand without being told to, sing along without being bullied into it. It’s a culture of non-participation. Great education - fantastic! - but the most apathetic and stoic student body I’ve ever played for...four times. Ever. In seven years. And I’m not the only one who’s noticed: Shane and Shane, Ginny Owens, and Bebo Norman have all gone to Waco with me and commented on the chilliness of the crowd.
At A&M the crowd is deafening. At Baylor the crowd is texting. That’s the impact of culture on behavior.
Why is it that smaller schools are more likely - in my experience - to have a culture more like Aggieland’s. At Philadelphia Biblical University, Emmaus Bible College, Taylor University - these places are so small that a student can literally know half of the student body by name. Maybe there’s comfort in that, the ability to loosen up a bit. Maybe it’s not comfort at all but a more positive (for an artist) form of peer pressure forcing students to conform to an expectation of exuberance. I don’t know, but exuberant participation does seem more common at smaller schools.
But somehow A&M pulls off the same sort of participation culture with - geez, how many students now?
So, I’m thinking about the kind of culture we’re creating in my neighborhood, in my church community, and family. Can we even create a culture? Or does it just happen?
An entire culture of enthusiasm and participation is downright miraculous. Have you found that kind of place/people? Brag a little. Who? Where? What’s it like?
Oh, and sic ‘em bears. (I just raised a bear claw high in a crowded airport. Yes, I did.)
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I’m getting on a plane to Indiana now Then I’ll drive to Illinois. I’ll join the conversation here when I arrive there. See you this evening.
elijah said:
I have found that kind of culture before - I’m an Aggie.
There are around 44,000 students, to answer your question. LIke one of the pastors from my home town stated, “If we could figure out what they do down there (in College Station) to create that kind of community and apply it to the church, we could take over the world.”
Your dad is an Old Ag? I knew you were good people.
And you’re dead on too, Shaun. It’s all about community. They make it seem hard to get in, always build up the “Aggie Network,” grant you more and more privileges as a member of the community over time (like “Whooping” and the Aggie ring, you have to earn those things), and absolutely immerse you in the culture. Throw in some good ol’ Texas rowdiness, and that’s Aggieland.
It is a big place (both in enrollment and land area), but it feels small because of the widespread sense of camaraderie
anon4him said:
I haven’t found that culture yet, but once I do, I know some people who 100% need to be there!
thecachinnator said:
Oh, the shame… the shame… so true… the shame…
Seth Ward said:
I think that another reason for the stoic response is that half the guys in the crowd want to be you. More Christian music artists/cool-guy worship leaders come out of Baylor every year than anywhere else.
It is also the homeland of David Crowder and his loyal followers as well as a long list of other CCM artists. Shoot, its even a popular place for CCM artists send their kids. I taught Wayne Watson’s son in one of my theory classes there. (Great kid!)
Most guys are a bit cocksure and feel that the stage should really be theirs, and that someday, somehow, they will score a hit that will make Shaun Groves, Bebo, or Shane and Shane beg for their autograph.
They don’t respect CCM artists, but ironically they want to be them.
That could be part of it. A gross generalization, but just a general observance.
To their credit, I also think that Baylor, more than most schools, gets saturated with CCM artists. And I hate to say it, many CCM artists have left legacies of being real peckers. The one time Amber and I went on tour, we spent half the time convincing the student activity reps that we weren’t total jerks. They were so darn gunshy it was disturbing.
The stories they told us about how visiting CCM artists (FAMOUS artists) treated them would make ya’ cringe. When we played Baylor it was no different. They were just used to it. So maybe the Baylor kids and student activity folks are a tad numb to it.
You gotta know how easy it is to get jaded when saturated by something, every week, all year long.
Kelly @ Love Well said:
Best community I’ve ever found? The TGI Friday’s where I was a waitress (with FLAIR) in the early 90s. It was one of the top 10 Friday’s in the country, at the time, and every single person on staff exuded teamwork, enthusiasm and community.
It wasn’t uncommon to show up for work to find a fellow employee out in the bushes, picking up cigarette butts and napkins that had blown off the deck—just because they wanted the place to look cared for during the dinner rush. And the managers? They delighted in taking care of the staff. I still remember the day I arrived to open, to find that every manager we had (even those who weren’t working that day) had gotten to the restaurant early to set up. So instead of prep work, we spent the next 90 minutes eating free appetizers and playing Trivial Pursuit.
Amazing.
Shaun Groves said:
Good points, Seth. There’s probably something to all that.
Texas in Africa said:
I’m not sure the culture in Aggieland is 100% healthy. It’s pretty well known to be hostile to minorities and to anybody else who doesn’t conform…
said:
I prefer us 50,000 Gators.
Just sayin’.
Jen said:
HOOK ‘EM!!
That’s all I’ve got to say.
euphrony said:
TIA, you are at least partially right in your hesitation about Aggieland - and I say that as an Aggie. There are plenty of jerks who take it way too far in insisting that total conformity is the only way. And every year there are plenty of stories of people insulted or assaulted for there non-conformation.
But Shaun has a great point, too, that at A&M a lot of the personal barriers and masks are taken down. The simple fact that every is expected to great everyone else passing by tends to draw people out of their shells. I’ve sat in the student center with dominoes and played a game of 42 with perfect strangers, just cause the opportunity was there to play. People are, perhaps, a bit less reserved - and this comes from the sense of brotherhood, the sense of sameness, that we all share. This is something I carry with me - an ability to converse with just about anyone because I can find something, no matter how trivial, where we share interest and build a bond from that. In many ways it is an awesome environment to be a part of, with people brimming with passion and enthusiasm.
Of course, there have been many times in history where this kind of passion has described the church, but the good aspects Shaun talked about the the bad aspects TIA mentioned. Can anyone remember the Crusades, or the Inquisition, where non-conformists to the church were treated poorly (to say the least)? Or how about the Branch Davidians - full of zeal, totally misdirected. Passion can be a great thing, but can be easily made to serve a mans purpose and not God’s.
All that to say GIG’EM AGGIES!
Kristin D. said:
Hi Shaun!
I’m a PBU’er and just wanted to thank you for coming to my school on Friday. What you said truly impacted and challenged me. I’m excited so many children were sponsored as well(I sponsor 2 girls in the Dominican Republic) and feel blessed to be part of Compassion! Also glad you enjoyed Chick-fil-a (the one by PBU is the BEST)!
I completely agree with you regarding what you wrote about communities and smaller schools. I’ve been to smaller Christian schools most of my life and do agree that the overall culture is one of participation and enthusiasm. And while this is not always the case for every single person/event there, I do think the ‘smallness’ contributes to the closeness and overall excitement of the student body.
Thanks again and God Bless!
elijah said:
Thank you, euphrony. You said that with the grace that I was searching for, the grace that I was lacking and which kept me from responding.
Also, unless I’m mistaken, as per TIA’s blog, TIA attends the University of Texas.
We better be careful or this really could become a culture war.
said:
I would have to strongly disagree that “personal barriers and masks are taken down” at A&M - because I have many friends from there that would disagree. Just being loud and obnoxious and friendly is not going to draw everyone out because not everyone has a loud, obnoxious, friendly personality. Personally, I don’t know anyone that needed counseling after attending Baylor just because they didn’t fit in. But I do know some ex-Aggies that had to actually go to therapy because of what happened at A&M. I’ve always seen A&M as a drone factory.
I guess if you only went to mellow concerts and football games for the entire time you were at Baylor, you would see a pretty narrow view of the school. Go to a women’s basketball game or Sing or some other event and you will see a whole other side of things. I really just don’t understand why people have to take their narrow experience somewhere and stereotype an entire school based on their small experience. I even hate to stereo-type A&M as a drone factory, but all of friends that went to A&M and liked it seem to love the idea. You can actually insult them o their face with the clone-liness of A&M, and they’ll respond that “clone-liness is next to godliness, right?” Too weird for me.
Baylor doesn’t have a good football team. So they probably aren’t going to attract rabid football fans. A&M does have a team that can win. That will draw in different students. CCM music just isn’t popular at Baylor. I know some swear it is - but I grew up in Waco. CCM just tanks anywhere is Waco. ust ask any one of the owners of the 10 failed Christian bookstores that have tried to make it there.
Have I ever found that kind of culture of enthusiasm and participation? Sure - at every single church, school. college, workplace, group I have ever been a part of. Enthusiasm and participation spring from personality traits. Not from cultures around us. It’s people - not the society. You will find these types of people every where if you are just willing to look. “You find what you focus on” is what I used to tell my students when I was a junior high teacher. If you focus on negative stuff - that is all you are going to find. Sure, you might run face first in to some good stuff, but you are not going to see it because you are focusing on the bad. But if you focus on positive stuff - that is what you are going to find. Sure, you might run face first in to some bad stuff, but it’s not going to take you down because you are focusing on the positive.
said:
LSU fans are a noisy, enthusiastic lot. I’ve not seen one whoop but they can say “Tiger Bait” any time they want. Nobody has to wear pajamas to the games and they do not stage large pre-game fires.