AUSTIN, Texas — For the first time in 13 years, burnt orange and white will face off with the maroon and white on Saturday.
As the Texas A&M Aggies and the Texas Longhorns prepare to resume the state’s longest-running rivalry, a scholarship that unites the two schools has been going strong since 2000.
The devastating bonfire collapse at Texas A&M’s campus in 1999 left 12 students dead and injured 27. After the tragedy, Texas A&M established the Bonfire Unity Endowed Presidential Scholarship to show thanks to UT Austin students who gave a helping hand during the bonfire.
UT sophomore Zeeyad Anwar is one of this year’s scholarship recipients and said he wants to carry on the helping spirit despite school rivalry.
“It shows that … We’re all human and we intrinsically care for each other,” Anwar said.
UT students attended a memorial service on A&M’s campus where they mourned together. The Longhorn band also paid tribute to the Aggies during a halftime performance. Anwar said from the collapse, a moment of unity arose.
“UT stepped in and played a helping hand,” Anwar said. “[They] made sure A&M had the resources so that they would be ok and be able to recover from the accident.”
After seeing the scholarship advertised at the school, Anwar said he realized he related to it more than he thought.
“It’s crazy how like a simple QR code can embody so much of like what you’re trying to do and the message you’re trying to say,” Anwar said.
As a neuroscience major, Anwar said his research on PTSD treatment at Dell Medical School, and through leadership opportunities, he realized he wanted to help people like UT students did in 1999. He was awarded $2,500 by UT’s Division of Student Affairs and said he’ll be able to keep aiding others.
“Back at A&M, they were going through some of their darkest times after the accident,” Anwar said. “Being a helping hand, and being able to aid others in their experiences is something that I try to mirror in my work.”
Anwar said he thinks differently about the rivalry now stating that ultimately, they’re all Texas college students who want to make the world a better place and help each other.
“I think that’s … one intrinsic thing that you cannot take away from either an Aggie or a Longhorn,” Anwar said.