History of Off Campus Aggies In 1979, two organizations known as Hassle Free and Off Campus Student Association would come together to form Off Campus Aggies. The name comes from a member of Hassle Free and Off Campus Student Association who were winners of the name contest. Hassle Free had the manpower while Off Campus Student Association had the funding. The merger was the best thing to happen to off campus students because there was an overlapping of efforts. Off Campus Aggies is an organization developed to provide a voice for off campus students as whole. This organization serves as a link among the students living off campus, the University, and the organization with whom they interface in the Bryan Cllege Station area. It is composed of an executive and representative branch, the organization functions through various working committees. OCA strived to improve facilities and services offered by operating as a planning group and an advocate for off campus students' needs. Some of the services were: distributing and posting university materials, planning apartment socials, organizing apartment intramural teams, and serving as a resource to students in their apartment complex. What people may not know is that off campus student participation in Bonfire was coordinated by Off Campus Aggies. One of the main reasons for the creation of OCA was to provide a source for off campus students to get involved with Bonfire. Building the Bonfire had been reserved for members of the Corps of Cadets and students living in the Residence Halls. Off campus students were not purposely left out, they just did not have an organization to work through. One of OCA's projects was to organize students into crews to work on Bonfire. OCA Bonfire committee members held meetings, allowed students to sign up if they couldn not attend the meettings, and even went door-to-door looking for volunteers. There has been an ongoing change in the Off Campus Aggies organization. For the past few years we have been turning this organization around and into, what we like to call, a "social/service" organization that makes ambassadorship and advocacy our primary goal. OCA Director of Publicity Bruce Cummings once said, "The goal of OCA is to make off campus people feel like they have a viable organization they can relate to just as on-campus people relate to their dorm councils and Residence Hall Association." While today we still strive to meet this goal, we are also reshaping and evolving to meet the needs of the future.