Selecting your Muster Speaker
The most important questions to ask yourself when considering a Muster speaker are, does the individual represent Texas A&M’s core values of excellence, integrity, leadership, loyalty, respect and selfless service? Given the reverence of Muster, will the potential speaker honor Texas A&M’s most sacred tradition and instill an enhanced pride for our beloved university? Will the speaker be engaging and inspire Aggies of all generations with their remarks?
The Association of Former Students is pleased to maintain a list of individuals within the Aggie Network who have indicated a willingness to speak at Aggie events, including Muster. We encourage you to review this comprehensive list of Aggies, as there are many great speakers from all walks of life and generations. You can search for potential speakers based on your zip code, by speakers who are willing to travel to your area, or by keywords when you are looking for speakers with specific experiences or interests, such as the Corps of Cadets or the Midwest. Please note that the contact details for each individual in the Speakers Bureau are the most current information they have shared with us.
Not all Musters have speakers, and this is not a requirement. The Speakers Bureau is simply a resource if your Club or Muster Group would like to incorporate a speaker into your Muster. You may know of an Aggie who would be a great speaker but is not listed in the Bureau. We encourage you to ask yourself the questions above to ensure this individual will be someone your Club or Muster Group will have been proud to have had as your Muster speaker after the event.
Once you have selected your Muster speaker, please fill out the form below with your speaker’s name and email address, so The Association of Former Students can provide them with our Muster speaker packet. Our team has compiled information from across Texas A&M and created a template for the speaker’s remarks, which will be a tremendous resource as your speaker begins to prepare for Muster.
Depending on the speaker and the distance they will be traveling, some speakers may ask that their airfare, lodging or meals be covered. If this is the case, the Club or Muster Group will be responsible for these expenses, not The Association of Former Students or Texas A&M University. It is important to have good communication with your speaker and discuss these things during the first conversation. Some Clubs and Muster Groups will offer accommodations to their speaker, such as lodging at a local hotel or someone will host the speaker in their home, while other Clubs and Muster Groups will reimburse the speaker for their travel expenses.
Confirm Muster Event Details
A Muster is a Muster no matter where it is held or how many people attend. We encourage all Muster Chairs to pick a date and location that best suits them and the Aggies who will attend. April 21 is the most popular date to hold Muster, but a weekend might be more suitable for your A&M Club or Muster Group. Each Muster is special, not because of the day on which it is held, but because of the spirit and camaraderie that are present at every event. You can hold your ceremony in a park, church, backyard, restaurant or event center; just make sure that if you need to reserve a space, you reach out far in advance to do so.
A&M Club Annual Paperwork
This
annual paperwork, in which each A&M Club is required to self-select which type of A&M Club it will classify as during the next year (Gold, Maroon, or Muster) is due before The Association of Former Students can distribute any Muster support items. Support items consist of save-the-date emails, printed Muster invitations, address labels, detailed invitation emails and more. Please complete this as soon as possible! More information on the different support items and expectations of each tier of A&M Club can be found at
tx.ag/ClubCharterAgreement.
Muster Collateral Material Request
The Association provides all A&M Clubs and Muster Groups the opportunity to print and mail professionally-designed Muster invitations. Gold A&M Clubs can use their once-a-year free mailer for this, or they can choose to pay for the postcard and save their free mailer for another time. Maroon A&M Clubs can send these postcards for free, while Muster A&M Clubs and Muster Groups will be billed for the cost of the postcards to be printed and mailed at our discounted rate.
Musters taking place outside Texas will need to complete their invitation form by Jan. 15, so that their invitations can be processed and sent to their distant locations in a timely manner. Texas Musters must complete their invitation form by Feb. 1.
In order to keep our mailing list for your area as updated as possible, please encourage members of your Club or Muster Group to update their contact information at tx.ag/Profile. The Association needs your support, as the Muster Chair, to encourage former students to keep in touch with the Aggie Network, which will allow us to share the correct information with them regarding Muster.
Address labels due March 1
If you would like a set of self-adhesive mailing labels, please complete the request form below. These will use the most current addresses we have in our database. Address labels are free of charge and provided for your convenience for Club and Muster mass mailings.
Self-adhesive labels will be sent only if The Association receives this form. These are only for Clubs or Muster Groups that are NOT requesting mailed Muster invitations. Address labels requested before March 1 will arrive as shipped, physical peel-and-stick labels, while late requests will be sent via email as a PDF for you to print on your own.
Invitation emails due March 1
Another effective way to let the people in your area know about your Muster event is emailed invitations. Each chair has the option to request emails to be sent out about their event: a save-the-date email invitation and a detailed email invitation.
Save-the-date email invitation: Rather than separately "requesting" a Save-The-Date Email this year, you will be able to "opt-in" to a more standardized Save-The-Date email when you register your Muster on AggieNetwork.com. These emails will be sent out every week in groups starting Friday, Jan. 19, and ending Friday, March 15.
Detailed email invitation: This email is a complete invitation. All of your event's major details should be settled by this time, so this email should share as much information as possible with the Aggies in your area. It should include what events will take place, where to park, any food guests are asked to bring or buy, information about silent auctions or raffles on the program, a short speaker's biography, and any other essential information. Fill out the form below by March 1 to request this email, which will be sent in early April.
Letters to the Families of the Deceased
Many families will contact the chair directly in order to make arrangements for their honoree. However, we also recommend reaching out to the families to share event information at Muster draws closer. You can download the Word document below and send each of the honoree families on your Roll Call a letter inviting them to your Muster.
To find your A&M Club or Muster Group’s Roll Call, see Pull Muster Roll Call.
Pull Muster Roll Call
The Roll Call, the most important part of the ceremony, is representative of the true meaning of Aggie Muster. We suggest you read the poem Roll Call for the Absent prior to the Roll Call and read In Memoriam after. Both are provided in the Muster Videos, Songs, and Poems section. All the names of the former students from your area, as well as any other special requests, should be called. Note: The final version of the 2024 Muster Roll Call will not be completed until April 18, 2024.
Follow these steps to pull your Muster Roll Call:
1. Go to tx.ag/RollCall. Directly below the "Special Notes" section you will see the name of the Muster event you created.
2. Click the button to the right of your event, labeled "Muster Roll Call," and a new page will open. Do NOT click the "Export Roll Call to Excel" button on this page.
3. If your event IS affiliated with a chartered A&M Club, go to Step 4. If your event is NOT affiliated with a chartered A&M Club, skip Step 4 and go to Step 5.
4. Select the option to "Only show my organization's Roll Call." This will ensure that our system only pulls names from your Club’s geocode.
5. Click "Export Roll Call to Excel" and save the file to your computer.
6. Find the file you just saved to you computer and open it. It will show you a warning; you can safely ignore it and click "Yes."
7. If your event is affiliated with a chartered Club, your list includes only names from your Club's geocode. If your event is NOT affiliated with a Club, your list includes all of this year's names (about 1,600). Either list can be sorted by ZIP code, city, county, state or Class Year to identify the names you wish to call at your Muster.
Submit Muster attendance form: due May 21, 2024
All A&M Clubs are required to keep a record of those who attended their Muster and return it to The Association of Former Students in order to keep their active Club status. We recommend you use the attendance form linked here; however, any form of attendance is acceptable (Excel, Eventbrite, handwritten, etc.) and can be emailed to Muster@AggieNetwork.com. Failure to do this will result in the withdrawal of services for the remainder of the year.
This is not a requirement for Muster Groups, but please feel free to turn in an attendance form if you decide to take attendance at your event.
Post Muster survey: due May 21, 2024
Muster is our most sacred tradition as Aggies, and here at The Association of Former Students, we do our best to provide support for Musters around the world. Every year, we implement new ideas and operations with the hope that we are making the process easier for you. To continue improving our methods and support, we have created a post-Muster survey that is available below. We ask that you take a few minutes and complete the survey, being as candid as possible, to let us know what we did well, what needs to continue to improve, what was confusing, etc.
