About Nerd Crew
The Nerd Crew is a crew within Student Bonfire, primarily drawing its members from the honors dorms at Texas A&M University: Lechner Hall “Nerds,” McFadden Hall “Flames,” and the Haas Hall “Honeybees.” The Nerd Crew enjoys a rich history of tradition, excellence, and safety, and we aim to continue to build the bonds between Aggies that makes the Bonfire tradition so revered. Whether you are a true freshman, a transfer student, an upperclassman, or a parent, we encourage you to get to know us and our organization; we’re positive you’ll like what you find!
Members of Nerd Crew have ample leadership opportunities in an organization that provides real, hands-on experience in personnel development and safety training. Several members of Nerd Crew have even gone on to become leaders for all of Student Bonfire; thus, membership in Nerd Crew gives members the opportunity to gain years of leadership experience, while also building years of camaraderie.
Old Army History
Lechner Hall was built as the freshman honors dorm in 1989, and was awarded two crew chief positions for the maiden resident class in ’90. Due to the honors status of residents, the crew was given the nickname of the “Lech-Nerds,” which has persisted and is represented proudly today. By the next year, Lechner was awarded a “yellow pot,” the designated intermediary between the “red pots,” the leaders of Bonfire. These three leadership lines were passed down through the years within Lechner Hall up until the Collapse of 1999.
McFadden Hall was built in 1979 as a female dorm. Given the nickname “McFadden Flirts,” these ladies were aligned with Davis-Gary and Crocker Hall until the Collapse of 1999. Similarly Clements Hall, built in 1981, was constructed as a female dorm where residents were known as the “Clements Cuties.” Both dorms each had at least one “chair” position, which were passed down through the decades.
2005-Present
Following the tragedy of the 1999 Bonfire Collapse, Aggie Bonfire stopped. In 2002, a non-University sanctioned off-campus Bonfire was organized by students who didn’t want the tradition to end. In 2003, Student Bonfire was formed following drastic changes to Bonfire policies and safety procedures. More about Student Bonfire can be found at www.studentbonfire.com
In 2005, Lechner XV resident Adam ‘Snoball’ Frenzel and Clements resident Daniel Bishop joined Student Bonfire, bringing these two dorms back to life. In 2006, Frenzel was awarded Lechner’s first post-collapse crew chief position, and under his leadership, the Nerd Crew was formed, drawing residents from both honors community dorms. Nerd Crew has grown in number and prominence ever since. In 2008, head crew chief Nathaniel Coffman was elevated to yellow pot, an honor for him and Crew. In 2009, McFadden Hall was added to the honors community, and thereby became the 3rd member of Nerd Crew. As the Nerd Crew has grown in number and esteem, more crew chief lines have been awarded, and today there are a total of 5 leadership positions within the crew. Thanks to the years of crew leadership, freshmen, and upperclassmen, Nerd Crew has been awarded a “perimeter pole,” a yearly award given to the top crews, in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2014, 2015,and 2017. In 2011 and 2016, Nerd Crew was awarded “center pole”, a yearly award given to the crew that is the literal and metaphorical backbone of Student Bonfire. Incidentally, the center pole crew in 2006 included the small Nerd Crew, and as a result the ‘Lechner L,” crew symbol since 1989 has been on Stack every year since 2006!