How we got to Here
01
How we began saying 'Here' for each other
See how Texas A&M University's most honored tradition came to be. Candles and even the Roll Call were added to Aggie Muster over time.
02
Every Aggie's name will be called one day
No other university has a tradition like this, connecting both current and former students worldwide. How do names get on the list?
03
What to expect when attending a Muster
Around the world or online, every Aggie Muster event is different. Here is how to attend and get involved.

Every Aggie's name will
be called one day
No other university has a tradition like this, connecting both current and former students worldwide. How do names get on the list?
Each year on April 21, at more than 200 locations around the world, current and former students of Texas A&M gather for camaraderie and to honor those who have passed away in the previous year.
It's a massive undertaking, unlike any other college tradition.' How does it come together?
The hub of worldwide Aggie Muster is The Association of Former Students, which created the Muster ceremony and charters Texas A&M Clubs worldwide.
Today, The Association maintains the worldwide Muster list of names. It provides hundreds of Muster chairs with support and resources. And using its massive database, it sends Muster invitations to hundreds of thousands of Aggies.

Helping families
An Association staff member describes helping Aggie Muster families: 'I knew that I had been served in that way when my mom passed.'
Musters Around the World
Nearly 300 Aggie Musters are held each year.




Adding names
When an Aggie passes away and that news is sent to The Association, their name is placed on the Worldwide Muster Roll.'
All Aggies' help is requested in making sure this list is complete every year.
You can check the list at tx.ag/RollCall, and if you see that a name is missing, send it to AddAName@AggieNetwork.com.
Local Musters draw their lists of names from these notices.

2019 Robertson County Aggie Muster photo by Sue Owen '94
Muster Chairs
The largest Muster is the one organized on campus by Texas A&M students. Hundreds more are held by local Aggies through The Association.
Muster chairs start planning as early as November to get the largest possible group of Aggies in their area together on April 21 or a nearby date. The Association provides them with resources, checklists, songs, poems, history and more.
For the student Muster on campus, The Association provides funding and other support every year.
Sending your invitation
Once you are a former student, if you keep your email address and your ZIP Code updated in The Association's database (tx.ag/FindAnAggie), you'll receive an email when there is a Muster scheduled in your area. Or you can check the map at tx.ag/FindAMuster.
The Find An Aggie database is an online directory, free to all Aggies, that includes over 625,000 connections.

Photo by Richard Badillo for The Association of Former Students
Worldwide Muster Roll Call
There are over 1,200 names on the worldwide list every year. So each local Muster, including the campus Muster, calls their own list of local names at Muster.'
To ensure that not a single name is missed, The Association calls the entire list and answers 'Here' for each Aggie in the live Worldwide Muster Roll Call. This event, which usually lasts more than two hours, is livestreamed every April 21 at AggieNetwork.com.
The promise that is implicitly made to every Aggie is: We each will be called. We will not be forgotten. Our fellow Aggies are here for us.'
It is a trust The Association works year-round to uphold.

Make a gift to help Muster continue
Gifts made to The Association's Annual Fund help support Aggie Muster as well as other traditions, scholarships and academic excellence at Texas A&M.
Thanks to your gifts, The Association is able to provide this support every year:
- Maintaining and updating worldwide Muster roll: tx.ag/RollCall
- Support and services to local Musters, such as invitations, guidance and checklists
- Worldwide Muster Roll Call reading of all names and Muster Live website
- $16,000 per year to student Muster Committee
- Designing and creating campus Muster poster and printed programs
- Muster songs, poems and videos online: tx.ag/MusterMedia
- Database of Muster speakers: tx.ag/SpeakersBureau
- Aggie Ring Remembrance event for family of current students who pass away
- 50 Year Reunion held in conjunction with campus Muster

What to expect when
attending a Muster
Around the world or online, every Aggie Muster event is different. Here is how to attend and get involved.
Every year, some families, friends and new Aggies will be experiencing Aggie Muster for the first time.
Read on for details that can help them prepare for these events:
- The student-run campus Muster, attended by some 12,000 Aggies.
- Over 200 local Musters around the world where you can hold a candle for your loved one or friend and share camaraderie with fellow Aggies.
- The Worldwide Muster Roll Call of over 1,200 names, conducted via online livestream.
Also, visit tx.ag/AnswerHere to learn how to ensure an Aggie's name is on the roll at the Muster'you plan to attend.

Signage points the way to the Robertson County A&M Club Muster.
Photo by Sue Owen '94

Welsh's 2022 speech
At the 2022 campus Muster, future Texas A&M president Gen. Mark A. Welsh III spoke about the event's personal meaning to him.
Student-run campus Muster
The largest Muster is organized and conducted by Aggie students on the evening of April 21 in Texas A&M's basketball arena.'
Thousands attend; entry is free, and attire is somewhat formal, with darker colors such as maroon, black and gray encouraged.
The two-hour'event'includes several speakers, Aggie songs from the Singing Cadets and a three-volley rifle salute by the Ross Volunteers.
During the Roll Call, more than 100 Aggies' names are read, with a friend or family member on the arena floor holding a candle for each.'
Members of the audience respond with 'Here' when they hear the name of an Aggie they know.
The names are mainly current Texas A&M students and faculty, former students directly related to a current student and a few other specific categories.
Families of the honorees select one person to hold a candle and one guest to sit with them; the rest of the family will be assigned seats nearby.
Local Musters around the world
Worldwide,'Musters vary widely in size and formality. They might be in a hotel ballroom, a Tex-Mex restaurant or an Aggie's backyard, in a brewpub or on a battleship.
Many feature a dinner or other meal, such as a potluck or barbecue. There is often a Muster speaker and reading of Muster poems. Typically, all in attendance will sing the Aggie War Hymn and The Spirit of Aggieland together.
They usually include a roll call of Aggies lost in the past year ' mainly local residents and names requested by Aggies in attendance. This often includes lighting a candle for each name.
Nearly all these Musters can add a name to their roll call for you, and likely invite you to hold a candle. You might wish to choose a Muster located near where most of the family or friends can gather.'
You can also host your own Muster, either privately or open to the public. Any April 21 gathering of two or more Aggies can be a Muster. Register yours to ensure it is part of the worldwide map of recorded Musters.'

A collection of 2019 Muster programs includes the order of speakers, songs and readings at the Denton County A&M Club's Muster.
Photo by Sue Owen '94
Worldwide Muster Roll Call
At 6:51 a.m. April 21, The Association of Former Students begins a live reading of all known names of Aggies who have passed away since the previous Muster ' usually more than 1,200 names ' and answers 'Here' for each.
The reading is streamed online at MusterLive.AggieNetwork.com. It lasts more than two hours and is replayable after it ends.'
The website allows visitors to upload photos and memories and say a virtual 'Here' for the Aggies being honored.

Photo by Richard Badillo for The Association of Former Students

Get Involved
- Find the Muster nearest you to attend or volunteer: tx.ag/FindAMuster
- Watch Worldwide Muster Roll Call and campus Muster on April 21: tx.ag/MusterLive
- Place a name on the Worldwide Roll: tx.ag/AddAName
- Learn where a name can be called: tx.ag/WhichMuster
- Add your Muster to the map and access help for Muster chairs: tx.ag/HostAMuster
- Answers for the most frequent questions asked by callers: tx.ag/MusterFAQ