Issue date: 7/16/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Wade Barker - THE BATTALION kyle Field [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Chad Stoermer

With the release of the 'New Seven Wonders of the World' on July 7, The Battalion asked Texas A&M students what they thought were the seven wonders of Aggieland.

Kyle Field, the Bonfire Memorial, the Memorial Student Center and the Academic Building were among the wonders, chosen by an online Battalion poll. Kyle Field received 2,167 votes, making it the highest voted for item on the list.

Other structures that made the list of Aggie-land wonders were Olsen Field, Reed Arena and the Association of Former Students.



These seven beat out landmarks such as the Century Tree, the Sullivan Ross Statue and the well-known and oft-visited Dixie Chicken.

Near the bottom of the list were the O&M building, Langford Architecture Center and West Campus Library.

Luis Rodriguez, a senior political science major, said Kyle Field stands out as a wonder because of the amount of people that are able to come together at one time.

"I think Kyle Field is a wonder of Aggieland because that is where the most students gather at the same time," Rodriguez said.

Kyle Field was built in 1927 and was named after Edwin Jackson Kyle, who served as dean of agriculture and athletic council president.

Today the stadium can hold over 80,000 people. For the 2001 Texas game, 87,555 people filled the stands - the highest attendance record the stadium has ever seen.

Gema Castro, a junior petroleum engineering major, said the A&M traditions are wonders on their own, but that Kyle Field, the Bonfire Memorial and the MSC stand out.

"For Kyle Field, it's the midnight yells we have right before the games, it's the cheers and the attendance that we have during the football games," Castro said.

The Bonfire Memorial, which was dedicatd on the fifth anniversary of the bonfire collapse, was among the top three wonders voted for by Battalion readers.

The memorial is comprised of a Tradition Plaza, History Walk, in which 89 granite stones represent the history of the bonfire, and the Spirit Ring that circles the site.

The Bonfire Memorial's 12 portals, each memorializing one of the Aggies killed in the accident, face his or her hometown. The design was chosen from nearly 200 entries during an international competition.

Another wonder of Aggieland is the MSC, which received 1,689 votes, making it the third most popular wonder of Aggieland.

Dean Bresciani, vice president for student affairs, said Kyle Field, the Bonfire Memorial and the MSC are just some of the structures that make his list of Aggieland wonders.

Bresciani, who is releasing a book in the fall about the MSC's history, said more than 1,800 students are involved in MSC programs.

For Castro, the MSC holds a symbolic meaning. "It's the fact that you can't wear a hat inside the MSC because it says remembrance for the Aggies who have fallen in war."

The Academic Building, which was built in 1914, and the Association of Former Students building, where students receive their Aggie rings, were also voted as wonders of Aggieland.

Results can be viewed at thebatt.com.

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