As the URL to Chris Bellamy’s account of a Texas A&M yell practice is being circulated around the Texas Aggie community, I imagine that the Daily Utah Chronicle will be deluged with responses. As a faculty member at TAMU who didn’t go to school here, I admit that our Aggies are…different. Their school spirit is stronger than anywhere else I’ve been, and this spirit sometimes manifests itself in ways that can be weird to an outsider. However, as much as I’ve done my share of poking good-natured fun at Aggies, Bellamy crosses the line, in my humble opinion, when he includes two comparisons to the Nazis and one to “a KKK gathering on mushrooms”.
I found this not-very-subtle Texas = Racist meme to be inappropriate and offensive. I would think that writers and editors at the University of Utah, of all places, would be a bit more careful about regional stereotypes and jokes about cults.
The rape joke falls flat too.
Jim HuAssociate Professor of Biochemistry and BiophysicsTexas A&M UniversityCollege Station, TX