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125 Years Of The Aggie Ring

Scot Walker '90 January 7, 2015 9:37 AM updated: April 20, 2016 11:54 AM


2014 marked the 125th anniversary of the Aggie Ring,
one of the oldest traditions of Texas A&M University
and the most visible symbol of the worldwide Aggie Network.
 
   In recognition of this milestone, The Association of Former Students throughout 2014 featured Aggie Ring stories, photos, videos and multimedia content on AggieNetwork.com, in Texas Aggie magazine and the AggieNews newsletter, and on the Aggie Network social media accounts. 
 
   Some were new or never-before-told stories, but we will highlighted some of the best Aggie Ring stories from our substantial archive. 
 
Do you have an Aggie Ring story to share with the Aggie Network?
Email us at AggieNetwork@AggieNetwork.com.
 
Subscribers to Texas Aggie magazine received a poster celebrating the 125th anniversary of the Aggie Ring in their May/June issue of the magazine.

Story by Laura Sanders '07; photography by Patrick Danielczyk '03. From the March-April 2014 Texas Aggie magazine.
   This photo essay takes you through the changes and events in history that affected the Ring design that is so widely recognized today. It also highlights the four collections of Aggie Rings on display in the Clayton W. Williams, Jr. Alumni Center.
 
 
   The design of the Aggie Ring is as deep in symbolism as it is in tradition.
 
 
By Brady Creel '03 
   Making an Aggie Ring is not unlike wearing one: Not just anybody can do it.
   At Balfour, the company that has manufactured Aggie Rings since 1947, the best 12 of 400 jewelers make the Aggie Rings. It’s the most prestigious job in the plant. 
   In 2011, The Association’s staff returned to the Balfour factory and gathered new video showing in greater detail the making of the Aggie Ring.
The Haynes Ring Plaza
In 2009, campus got a new backdrop for Aggie Ring Day in the 12-foot-tall bronze replica of the Aggie Ring located on the Haynes Ring Plaza. Located behind the Clayton W. Williams, Jr. Alumni Center, the large Aggie Ring is a replica of the actual Aggie Ring of Harold J. “Bill” Haynes, distinguished alumnus and namesake for the plaza. The seal at the top of the ring bears his Class year, 1946, and a time capsule inside to be opened 2046. The creation and reveal of the Ring replica was documented with a series of videos available on YouTube. Watch them here.

By Homer Segovia '14
The Battalion, Texas A&M's student newspaper, reports on the 125th anniversary of the Aggie Ring.

 
Story by Laura Sanders '07; video by Michael Harrison '13
   Curtis Childers '98 was on the fast track to success, a former Texas A&M's student body president with a career in software consulting in Los Angeles. But the rising star developed a drug addiction, fell three stories from a building, landed on his head and suffered a traumatic brain injury.
   Today, he  travels throughout Texas to speak to high school and college students on his new platform: Just One. He believes that if he can keep just one person from starting down the path that he chose, then his mission will be a success. 
   In 2013, Childers’ spirit of leadership and self-motivation inspired a group of high school students to give Childers back something special that he had lost years before. 
 
By Jerry C. Cooper '63. From the January 2001 Texas Aggie magazine.
   "I have come a long way to honor a brave son of this country and graduate of this university--a man who brought honor to his nation, to his fellow countrymen, to his school and to his name."
   With those words, German Army Lt. Obit Volker Lossner returned the Aggie Ring of World War II Medal of Honor recipient Lt. Turney W. Leonard '42 to his family on November 11, Veterans Day.


By Joan Fithian Tatge '92. From the January 2003 Texas Aggie magazine.
   On Oct. 4, 2002, the family of Col. William E. Campbell '52 dedicated his Aggie Ring to The Association of Former Students. Col. Campbell's Aggie Ring is the single personal item returned to his family since he was declared Missing In Action in Laos on Jan. 29, 1969. 


From the March 1997 Texas Aggie magazine.
When The Association received a stack of letters from St. Paul's fifth-grade class, it was the beginning of an Aggie Ring reunion 32 years in the making.


From the March 2002 Texas Aggie magazine.
A columnist in the Victoria Advocate compared efforts to return a lost A&M Ring to the story of Bilbo Baggins in J.R.R. Tolkien's book, The Hobbit.


By Chris Carter '01. From the January 2002 Texas Aggie magazine.
Aggie Rings are valuable to those blessed enough to earn them, but they are desired by many others--including a German shepherd named Kristie.

Fourth Time Is The Charm
 
By Kylene Helduser ’11. 
Sometimes it’s as if an Aggie Ring turns into a Flat Stanley of sorts–seeing the world and meeting new people until some good Ag interrupts its adventures and sends it home to its rightful owner. 

By Stephanie Jeter Cannon '06. From the July-August 2010 Texas Aggie magazine.
Inspired by an old Ag, the New Boston FFA chapter came together to buy him a new Aggie Ring.

Aggie Ring Surprise
By Roberto Molar Candanosa '13
After a brief interaction with some Ags at the Houston-based Cintas Corporation, a former student was surprised with his Aggie Ring.

Written by McKinney ISD
After 31 years of not having an Aggie Ring, Suzy Woodard '82 was surprised with one of her own in a heartwarming ceremony.
By Stephanie Cannon'06 Originally published in June, 2010 on AggieNetwork.com.
When Christie Farrar '08 ordered her Aggie Ring, she set up a very special surprise. A circle of gold, stamped with symbolism and history—it was her day and her Ring. "But it's more than that," she said. Her mother, Julie Farrar '82, received her Aggie Ring, too. As an undergrad, Mrs. Farrar had earned the distinction but didn't have the money for such a large purchase. In the early '80s, high gold prices pushed the cost of a woman's Aggie Ring too high for her budget. almost $300. So, as a surprise, the family made the 25-year-postponed purchase together.

After losing his first Aggie Ring on the beach in Galveston, Alex Hinn '11 purchased a replacement Ring a few weeks later. The day after he received his replacement Ring, he answered a curious phone call. He wrote The Association to share the story of how he came to have two Aggie Rings.

Originally published in June, 2010 on AggieNetwork.com.
 John Comstock '03, the last survivor pulled from the 1999 Aggie Bonfire, gets his Aggie Ring. His is a story of triumph over adversity with unique twists and turns.

Aggie Ring Survives House Fire
by Trey Bodwin '13
A pleasantly cool vacation ended in flames for one College Station family, causing them to lose everything in sight—except their Aggie Spirit.

Economics major Pristine Remolona ’12 grew up in a military family. Using her familiarity and appreciation for military veterans, Remolona created the "Aggie Rings for Veterans Fund," a fund that will eventually partner with the Association of Former Students to ensure the perpetual funding of Aggie Ring scholarships for student veterans.

Sacrifice, Service & Spirit
Story & photos by Trey Bodwin '13
   Patricia “Patty” De Veyra '14 is one of many students whose families were affected by Typhoon Haiyan in 2013. Although she had been working for years to earn the right to order her Aggie Ring, she decided to contribute all of the money she had saved for the Ring to people affected by the typhoon, including her own family members in the Philippines.
   Then, inspired by Patty’s spirit of service, her friends came together in secret to raise enough money to buy her the Aggie Ring she had selflessly sacrificed.

See an image and video taken of Aggie Rings spinning. If you've taken a picture or video like these two, we'd love to see it! Email us at AggieNetwork@AggieNetwork.com

For Sale: 1941 Aggie Ring
By James R. Thompson '68, originally published in the 2012 January/February Texas Aggie magazine
"This story is proof of the power of the Aggie Ring," wrote James R. Thompson '68. There are three Aggie Rings in Thompson's family, but this story is about a journey he made with the Ring of an Aggie whom he never knew. And it's this story that has
caused him--more than ever, he said--to appreciate what the Aggie Ring represents. 

By Anna Eubank '13
   The author, a telecommunications major from Dallas, received her Fightin’ Texas Aggie Ring on Sept. 14, 2012. She wrote this essay to try to convey what the Ring means to her and excitement upon receiving it.

By Trey Bodwin ’13 
A group of friends at Texas A&M joined together to make one former student’s dream become a reality. Bryan Parra ’13 decided to make a Facebook page for his close friend’s birthday. What was meant to be a casual gathering for Luis Gonzalez ’09 soon became the surprise of a lifetime, thanks to the help of his friends and the Aggie Network.

The Aggie Family Steps Up To Buy Aggie Ring For Cadet Chaplain
By Wes Mays '81, Reprinted from Dallas County Aggie Moms Club e-newsletter last April
Aggies from Coppell coordinated an effort to buy an Aggie Ring for Matt Shinn '14, whose suffered emotional and financial hardship after his father died suddenly last year.
 

Lost And Found
Read the stories of Carolyn Taylor '71 and Lisel Odom '89 who tell, first-hand, of the swinging emotion of heartbreak and elation when an Aggie loses and then finds their Aggie Ring. You can read Taylor's account here, and Odom's story here. An article published by the Port Aransas South Jetty tells the story of how the Aggie Ring of the late husband of Kourtnee Odom '02 was returned to her. Do you have a story of a lost-and-found Aggie Ring? Tell the Aggie Network by sending your story to AggieNetwork@AggieNetwork.com.

Read the story of how the Aggie Rings of Kendall ’86 and Susan ’86 Stone were found after their home was damaged in the West explosion.
By Jerry C. Cooper '63. From the October 1989 Texas Aggie magazine.
Twenty-five years ago, The Association celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Aggie Ring. This story from 1989 covers the evolution of the Ring's design, tells the stories of some lost Rings that found their way home, and shares a few unusual facts about the Aggie Ring.

Aggies are adventurers. For several months, The Association has been collecting photographs submitted by Aggies of Aggie Rings in different locations . Check them out on AggieNetwork.com, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Submit your own by emailing AggieNetwork@AggieNetwork.com.

Found Ring And Auburn Hospitality
By Layton Miller '12
Layton Miller '12 traveled to Auburn last weekend in support of the Ags. While giving a high-five, Miller's Aggie Ring flew off his finger and landed in the hedges that surround the football field. He sent this letter to The Association to tell the rest of the story.

Aggie Helped After Fire

When a fire destroyed their Bryan home in August, Mark '14 and Kirsten Hall lost most of their belongings and Kirsten went into labor. Their daughter Naomi was born 14 hours after the fire. The doctor who delivered the baby was an Aggie, too--Dr. Justin Gayle '87. He and another Ag who heard the story, Bobby Boenigk '77, came together to buy Mark his Aggie Ring. Good Bull.

Dr. Justin Gayle '87, who delivered the baby, decided to buy Mark his first Aggie Ring. Bobby Boenigk ’77 heard the story and pitched in, though he didn’t know the Halls.

 
 
Sacrifice, Service & Spirit
Story & photos by Trey Bodwin '13
   Patricia “Patty” De Veyra '14 is one of many students whose families were affected by Typhoon Haiyan in 2013. Although she had been working for years to earn the right to order her Aggie Ring, she decided to contribute all of the money she had saved for the Ring to people affected by the typhoon, including her own family members in the Philippines.
   Then, inspired by Patty’s spirit of service, her friends came together in secret to raise enough money to buy her the Aggie Ring she had selflessly sacrificed. 
 
 
By Anna Eubank '13
   The author, a telecommunications major from Dallas, received her Fightin’ Texas Aggie Ring on Sept. 14, 2012. She wrote this essay to try to convey what the Ring means to her and excitement upon receiving it.
 
Sacrifice, Service & Spirit
Story & photos by Trey Bodwin '13
   Patricia “Patty” De Veyra '14 is one of many students whose families were affected by Typhoon Haiyan in 2013. Although she had been working for years to earn the right to order her Aggie Ring, she decided to contribute all of the money she had saved for the Ring to people affected by the typhoon, including her own family members in the Philippines.
   Then, inspired by Patty’s spirit of service, her friends came together in secret to raise enough money to buy her the Aggie Ring she had selflessly sacrificed. 
 
 
By Anna Eubank '13
   The author, a telecommunications major from Dallas, received her Fightin’ Texas Aggie Ring on Sept. 14, 2012. She wrote this essay to try to convey what the Ring means to her and excitement upon receiving it.
 
Sacrifice, Service & Spirit
Story & photos by Trey Bodwin '13
   Patricia “Patty” De Veyra '14 is one of many students whose families were affected by Typhoon Haiyan in 2013. Although she had been working for years to earn the right to order her Aggie Ring, she decided to contribute all of the money she had saved for the Ring to people affected by the typhoon, including her own family members in the Philippines.
   Then, inspired by Patty’s spirit of service, her friends came together in secret to raise enough money to buy her the Aggie Ring she had selflessly sacrificed. 
 
 
By Anna Eubank '13
   The author, a telecommunications major from Dallas, received her Fightin’ Texas Aggie Ring on Sept. 14, 2012. She wrote this essay to try to convey what the Ring means to her and excitement upon receiving it.
 
Sacrifice, Service & Spirit
Story & photos by Trey Bodwin '13
   Patricia “Patty” De Veyra '14 is one of many students whose families were affected by Typhoon Haiyan in 2013. Although she had been working for years to earn the right to order her Aggie Ring, she decided to contribute all of the money she had saved for the Ring to people affected by the typhoon, including her own family members in the Philippines.
   Then, inspired by Patty’s spirit of service, her friends came together in secret to raise enough money to buy her the Aggie Ring she had selflessly sacrificed. 
 
 
By Anna Eubank '13
   The author, a telecommunications major from Dallas, received her Fightin’ Texas Aggie Ring on Sept. 14, 2012. She wrote this essay to try to convey what the Ring means to her and excitement upon receiving it.
 
Sacrifice, Service & Spirit
Story & photos by Trey Bodwin '13
   Patricia “Patty” De Veyra '14 is one of many students whose families were affected by Typhoon Haiyan in 2013. Although she had been working for years to earn the right to order her Aggie Ring, she decided to contribute all of the money she had saved for the Ring to people affected by the typhoon, including her own family members in the Philippines.
   Then, inspired by Patty’s spirit of service, her friends came together in secret to raise enough money to buy her the Aggie Ring she had selflessly sacrificed. 
 
 
By Anna Eubank '13
   The author, a telecommunications major from Dallas, received her Fightin’ Texas Aggie Ring on Sept. 14, 2012. She wrote this essay to try to convey what the Ring means to her and excitement upon receiving it.
By Anna Eubank '13
   The author, a telecommunications major from Dallas, received her Fightin’ Texas Aggie Ring on Sept. 14, 2012. She wrote this essay to try to convey what the Ring means to her and excitement upon receiving it.
By Chris Carter '01. From the January 2002 Texas Aggie magazine.
Aggie Rings are valuable to those blessed enough to earn them, but they are desired by many others--including a German shepherd named Kristie.

By Chris Carter '01. From the January 2002 Texas Aggie magazine.
Aggie Rings are valuable to those blessed enough to earn them, but they are desired by many others--including a German shepherd named Kristie.

By Chris Carter '01. From the January 2002 Texas Aggie magazine.
Aggie Rings are valuable to those blessed enough to earn them, but they are desired by many others--including a German shepherd named Kristie.

Aggie Ring Surprise
By Roberto Molar Candanosa '13
After a brief interaction with some Ags at the Houston-based Cintas Corporation, a former student was surprised with his Aggie Ring.
Found Ring And Auburn Hospitality


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