’Boniir© M©iworiiil Special
The Battalion
Standing by
The Students
Professors provide
shoulders for Aggies
during trying time
By Cayla Carr & Anne Hoar
The Battalion
ov. 18,1999. was just another Thursday
to chemical engineering professor Mark
Holtzapple until he drove down Texas
Avenue and heard the radio announcement of
the tragic event that would affect his students
and the family at Texas A&M.
"I did not know anything about the collapse
until that morning,” he said. “I was driving to
work, and I looked out the w indow and saw the
collapsed stack.”
“I usually open class with a big 'How'dy,' but
suddenly that didn't seem appropriate any
more,” Holtzapple said.
The aftermath of the 1999 Bonfire collapse
affected many people. While parents, students -
and friends mourned the losses of their loved
ones, A&M professors counseled students and
grieved in the background.
Chad Powell, a victim of the collapse, was a
student in Holtzapple's Engineering 111 class.
Holtzapple said he realized Powell had been
killed in the collapse when he saw a list of the
students who died in the collapse and heard
from students who were in Powell's group in the
class. In Engineering 111, students complete
many assignments in groups of four.
“The same students go to class together and
work in teams,Holtzapple said. “The group
that had [Powell] was devastated. It created a
cloud over the class and his group.”
Craig Rotter, an agricultural education pro
fessor, received a call about 45 minutes after the
stack fell early that morning. He immediately
went to the site because he knew several of his
students helped build Bonfire.
“I asked around and made sure that the stu
dents I knew were on the stack were OK.” Rot
ter said. “I heard one student call my name, and
he ran up to me, ciying.”
After comforting that student, Rotter spent
time with his students and in his office through
out the day. He returned to the site at 2 p.m. to
continue helping students.
“I spent more time with that same student,”
Rotter said. “He was devastated.”
Rotter remembered the memorial ceremony^
held at Reed Arena that night.
“I think it showed a lot that the student leaders
(of Bonfire) were driven straight to the memorial
from the fields,” he said. '‘They worked all day at
the site and then went to the memorial. I really
think it showed a lot of courage.”
Rotter checked on his students with phone
calls and visits the rest of the fall semester, over
the holiday break and through the spring semes
ter. Today, he continues to talk with his students
who were affected by the Bonfire collapse.
Rotter said the professors’ role with the stu
dents during difficult times should be almost
like that of a surrogate parent, which is a role
professors historically have held at A&M.
“I think professors shouldn’t be afraid to
show our hearts and our human side,” Rotter
said. “We’ll all be reliving those moments in our
minds. We should show the students we care
about them inside and outside the classpom.”
Gary Sickler, a meteorology professor,
offered vivid reflections of the somber morning.
He met his class at 11 a.m., aware of the acci
dent and unsure what to expect from his stu
dents. Surprised to know that many students
were unaware of the occurrence, he explained
what happened and offered his cell phone to stu
dents who needed to call their parents and reas
sure them. As tears fell from the students' eyes,
Sickler offered comfort and answered questions
until all was silent and then dismissed the class.
Sickler later discovered that a student from
his class, Derrek Woodley, was on the top of the
stack when it fell. Sickler learned the extent of
Woodley’s injuries when he visited with Wood-
ley and his parents at the hospital.
“I realized how affected this student was
after I talked with him about the incident,” Sick
ler said. “One of Derrek’s friends was killed in
the Bonfire incident. He was with Derrek on top
of the stack, and Derrek had just switched places
with his buddy before it fell.”
Sickler graduated from A&M in 1974, so he
said he knows how much Bonfire means to stu
dents. He said he realized the impact this tragedy
would have on Aggies everywhere. Like other
professors at A&M, Sickler said he wished there
was something he could have done to prevent the
collapse, but as a former student of A&M, he
said he hopes the tragedy will not prevent the
burning of other Bonfires in the future.
'Holtzapple said it is important for professors
to be sympathetic as the one-year anniversary of
the Bonfire collapse approaches, especially if a
student lost someone close to him or her in the
collapse. It is also important for the students to
take charge of the situation, he said.
“It’s important for students to realize that life
gives you difficult things to deal with,” Holtzap
ple said. “There are many tragedies in life, and it’s
important to learn how to recover and move on.”
Administrators reflect upon their involvement with students the day Bonfire collapsed
By Stuart Hutson
The Battalion
L ike that of so many Aggies,
the longest day in his recent
memory began with a phone
call shortly before 3 a.m.
"One of the girls called me, and
she said, ‘Bonfire fell,’ ” said Rusty
Thompson, faculty adviser for Aggie
Bonfire and assistant director of MSC
student programs. “My first question
was if anyone was on the stack, but, at
that time of night. I knew the answer.”
Throwing on his clothes and over
coat, he rushed to his car, not know
FILE PHOTO/The Battalion
ing what to expect when he arrived.
“I just kept trying to tell myself that
maybe it wasn't as bad as it sounded,”
Thompson said. “I don’t know how
long it took me that night ... but it
seemed like an eternity.
“I saw them pull out Jeremy
Frampton’s body. [The centerpole
pot and I] couldn’t do
anything else but hug
each other and cry.”
Thompson said he
began working with
those already there to
compile a checklist of
Bonfire workers in an
attempt to determine who
might have been buried
under the collapsed stack.
“The initial shock and
horror of what had hap
pened was tremendous,”
he said. “I would stop and
look and think about the
families of those still in
there. The moms, dads,
brothers and sisters who
were sleeping comfortably,
not knowing what they
were going to wake up to.”
Thompson remained at
the site for almost 24 hours, leaving only
to attend the memorial service that night
in Reed Arena One year later, Thomp
son said not a day passes without his
thinking of the night Bonfire collapsed.
“I still see those [students’] faces
every day when 1 close my eyes,” he
said. “Such young eyes witnessed things
that no one should ever have to see.”
Those things were also witnessed
by the eyes of the nation as the media
descended upon College Station.
“It was intimidating, but [the
media] were fair overall, and I just
tried to put myself in their shoes.
What was a heartfelt tradition to us
was a stack of logs to them,” he said.
Despite this lack of full under
standing, Howard Graves, chancellor
of the Texas A&M University Sys
tem, said nationwide support flowed
in as news of the collapse spread.
“I'm fairly new to Texas A&M, and
I’ve never seen a Bonfire before, so I
missed some of the impact felt by oth
ers,” said Graves,, who became chancel
lor in June 1999. “But what I began to
see, and what the whole nation began to
see, was how strong Aggie cohesion is.”
Graves was notified of the collapse
by A&M President Dr. Ray M. Bowen.
“When I first was told, three peo
ple were counted dead, and I just
hoped there wouldn’t be any more
and said a little prayer,” Graves said.
“But later, other phone calls came in
from all over the country, saying that
they were with us and would help out
with whatever they could.”
Graves said he went to the Bonfire
site after the situation calmed. However,
Ronald Douglas, provost and executive
vice president of academic affairs did
not make it out to the site on that day.
“I stayed back in the office while the
president was out at the site,” he said.
"There were questions pertaining to the
University that had to be answered.”
Douglas spent the day meeting with
the deans of the University colleges
and other academic officials.
“Our primary objective at first
was just to ensure that students had
as much latitude as possible during
this time,” he said.
The administrators said the haunt
ing memories of the crisis that morn
ing will stay with them forever.
“No one’s experience was the
same. But if we stick together, we can
find the strength to get through the
tough times,” Thompson said.
Feb. 23
Bonfire panel
seeks postponement
of March 31 deadline
to May 2
Mar. 4
Replant
becomes
tribute to
12
victims
Mar. 1
Bonfire
commission
requests additional
$1 million
Apr. 14
Comstock
goes home
after five
months
May 2 May 5
Alconol Engineering Board to
report on review commission report
victims to see if state laws or
released engineering standards
i were broken i
Jun. 10
Keep The Fire Burning
and hundreds of
participants rally and
petition to keep i
Bonfire burning
Jun. 16
Bowen suspends
Bonfire until 2002
and amends design
and construction plans
Apr. 15
Honorary
Marine title
given to
Heard
May 2
Commission
releases Bonfire report,
citing organizational
and structural problems
I
May 19
OSHA clears
crane operator
in Aggie Bonfire
collapse
Aug. 28
Keep The Fire
Burning unveils
plans to build
off-campus
bonfire I
Sept. 20 Oct. 27
Student Senate Keep The
supports Fire Burning
Bowen's
Bonfire
decision
calls off
bonfire
plans
Nov. 14
Students
petition
Bowen to
, change cut
participation
Sept. 9 I Ort. 23
^^neenng Priced
Board opposes f or Bonfire
off-campus memorial
bonfire plans ceremony
Oct. 311 Nov. 18, 2000
A&M students Bonfire
receive Bonfire memorial
Memorial ceremony
Scholarships