The University of South Carolina at Columbia and Clemson University have decided to give their mascot-burning traditions the year off in the wake of a beach-house fire that killed seven students last month, the Associated Press reported.

Students at the two institutions traditionally burn each other’s mascots in effigy at pep rallies preceding their annual matchup. The South Carolina Gamecocks and Clemson Tigers will meet November 24 in Columbia.

A South Carolina spokesman said students there thought it wouldn’t be right to stage the event so soon after the tragic fire in Ocean Isle Beach, N.C., on October 28. At Clemson, students will forgo their annual funeral for and mock-burning of South Carolina’s “Cocky,” opting instead for a pep rally called Fowl Fest. —Don Troop