Bluford Library Archives: The Origins of Aggie Pride
CAN I GET AN AG-GIE PRIIDEE? When Aggies hear that question, we already know how to respond. A loud and proud “AGGIE PRIDE!”
Aggie Pride is much more than a catchphrase. So many alumni, faculty, staff, students, and friends of Aggieland know what it is, but many do not how this saying came to be.
Aggie Pride has always existed, but it was expressed with different words. For decades North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University had “Aggie Spirit” or the “Good Ol’ Aggie Spirit.” For over 60 years, dedicated Aggies have declared that they are “Aggie born, Aggie bred, and when I die I’ll be an Aggie dead!” For our first 85 years, the closest we had to the phrase “Aggie Pride” was a nickname for Robert “Stonewall” Jackson, the outstanding 1940s football fullback who sports journalists in the Black press referred to as “the Aggie Pride and Joy.”
The phrase “Aggie Pride” began to appear during the Fall 1977 football season (A&T Register, Sept. 09, 1977, see pg. 7 “Sports Notebook”) by coaches to motivate players to “hit harder, run faster, and never-ever stop hustling.” By 1980, “Aggie Pride” was catching on with some of the student leaders who began to express what it meant to them. In the 1980 “Ayantee” yearbook Larry Jenkins ‘80 described Aggie Pride as what enables an Aggie to confidentially reveal to others that “Yes, A&T has properly and effectively prepared me to be a vital force in the world.” That same year Florina G. Byrd, news editor for the A&T Register defined Aggie Pride as “being an existing and never-ending force which brings determination and unity among individuals.” Managing Editor Richard B. Steele said that Aggie Pride was “the one thing [about being an Aggie] that can’t be refunded, denied, canceled, authorized or rejected.”
The event that really solidified Aggie Pride was a four-team basketball tournament in the 1981-82 season. Former A&T Men’s Basketball Coach Don Corbett recalled that a marketer from one of the tournament’s sponsors came up with the idea of cards for people in the audience to hold. With input from the coaches, one side said “AGGIE”, and the other said “PRIDE.” Students kept shouting “Aggie Pride, Aggie Pride” throughout the game. Aggies haven’t stopped shouting it ever since.
Compared to the existence of A&T for 130 years, “Aggie Pride” as a saying is relatively young. However, many generations of Aggies knew exactly what it meant to them. In the Spring 1998 issue of “A&T Today” Nettie Collins Rowland ‘72 shared what Aggie Pride meant to her and to many other alumni. The late Dr. Gilbert Casterlow ‘71 partially described Aggie Pride as “that feeling of joy that comes to one who feels free to partake of that great foundation of knowledge and learning without being told what to think.” The Rev. Dr. Sampson Buie Jr. ‘52, a former SGA president and director of alumni affairs said that Aggie Pride meant to him “being able to join the thousands of Aggies who are not ashamed to say ‘I’m a graduate of N.C. A&T and I’m proud of it.”
Beginning in 2003, new students were given copies of the “Aggie Pride Compact.” The compact was developed by engineering majors, with help from other students. Aggie Pride was now an acronym for “Achieving Great Goals in Everything – Producing Renowned Individuals Dedicated to Excellence.” This acronym and the many definitions of “Aggie Pride” are accurate as Aggies continue to make headlines and achieve excellence by leading in every profession.
For more historic “Aggie Pride” or some that “Good Ol’ Aggie Spirit” please visit our A&T Digital Collections page for our Ayantee Yearbooks, A&T Registers, the “Aggie Pride” gallery, and much more. For more information about A&T history visit the University Archives home page and the Archvies and Special Collections LibGuide, or contact us at libraryarchives@ncat.edu.
