Aggie Yell Leaders

The Yell Leaders use a variety of hand signals, called "pass-backs," to direct and intensify the crowds.

According to A&M lore, the Aggies were being soundly defeated and a large number of women who had taken the train from Texas Woman's University in Denton were threatening to leave.

[2][3] In the early 1990s, the student body elected its first African American yell leader, Ronnie McDonald, Class of 1993.

[6] Traditionally, the Yell Leaders are members of the Texas A&M University Corps of Cadets in keeping with A&M's military history, though "non-reg" students have occasionally earned election.

Although women have campaigned for Yell Leader at the main Texas A&M campus in College Station, none have ever been elected.

The theory behind "humpin' it" is that it aligns the back, neck and throat in the proper position to maximize the noise.

[8] When the Aggie football team is defeated at home, the crowd remains in the stands at the end of the game while the Aggie Yell Leaders conduct a short yell practice, including the singing of the song 12th Man, in preparation for the next week's game.

If the Aggies win a home football game, the freshmen in the Corps of Cadets chase them around Kyle Field behind the 20 yard line, and, once they are captured, carry them across campus and toss them into Rudder Pond, a fountain full of cold water.