Wanted to post this for the families that may have missed the following article in this Sunday's Eagle.
http://www.theeagle.com/am/Bonfire-s-impact-reverberates
http://www.theeagle.com/am/Bonfire-s-impact-reverberates
quote:
Murano reflects on talks with victims' families
By VIMAL PATEL
vimal.patel@theeagle.com
Elsa Murano read the reports about bonfire's 1999 collapse and picked the brains of experienced officials.
But before the former Texas A&M president would decide whether the tradition should return to campus, she embarked on a journey that she calls the most memorable experience of her 18-month presidency.
Murano crossed the state in the months following Texas A&M's settlement of litigation in October 2008 related to the collapse, meeting with families of 10 of the 12 who died to find out more about their loved ones and their thoughts about the tradition's return to campus.
"Within a few minutes of each visit, either the husband or the wife, most likely the husband, would break down in tears," an emotional Murano said from her office Friday. "It was very raw still. It's like it happened yesterday. My God, the tears were flowing. When you see grown men cry, it touches you deeply."
She had all but reached her conclusion about the tradition's future when she resigned amid controversy in June.
Time ran out on her presidency before she could deliver her decision.
Murano's journey examining the human toll of the collapse began with a card to each family. The greeting conveyed condolences and a request for a personal meeting to learn more about their loved one.
Administrators had warned her that some families didn't want anything to do with A&M and would not meet with her. They were wrong, and her conciliatory overture was met positively by all families, Murano said. Meetings weren't held with the families of Bryan McClain and Christopher Heard because of scheduling conflicts, she said.
"They had never heard any official from Texas A&M say, 'I'm sorry. We screwed up. This is something that should not have happened, and we didn't pay enough attention,'" Murano said. "I said those things, and they were meaningful to people."
She listened -- and cried.
She heard how Lucas Kimmel, who wanted to be a veterinarian, brought home a wounded duck, put it in the tub, and asked if he could keep it. And about how Jeremy Frampton gave his mom a Mother's Day card saying how much he loved her and how much she had taught him. And how Chad Powell was a computer genius who'd go in his bedroom and do stuff with the phone lines, such as rigging them so that only he could use the phone.
"My gosh, what a tragedy," Murano said. "Some of these kids were unbelievably smart kids. The tremendous potential cannot escape you."
She saw the displays of loved ones, the mountains of photo albums, the bedrooms left untouched. Jamie Lynn Hand's parents sprawled her artwork in the living room, along with photos of her, dirty, proudly wearing her bonfire pot and sporting a giant smile.
"She loved bonfire, that girl," Murano said.
Michael Ebanks' mom gave Murano a homemade angel, a sort of ornament made of plastic and white yarn. It will be on Murano's Christmas tree this year. Jerry Don Self's dad gave her a "big old mug" with a maroon rim. Murano now thinks of him when she sips coffee from it. And Tim Kerlee Jr.'s mom gave Murano a book she wrote about her story, The Chance to Say Goodbye. Murano read it cover to cover on the lone out-of-state trip to visit Frampton's mom in Arizona.
"It was a very touching meeting," Janice Kerlee said. "It was meaningful to know that the president of the university would take the time to seek us out, to talk to us and express condolences."
Murano -- the first woman and first Hispanic to lead Texas A&M -- is a scientist at heart. Before being selected as president in late 2007, she was appointed in 2001 by former President George W. Bush as undersecretary for food safety within the U.S. Department of Agriculture, making her the highest-ranked government food safety official.
She uses rationality to conclude that the debate about bonfire cannot be separated from emotion. Take the emotion out of it, and a debate doesn't exist. A burning pile of logs that's dangerous and has negative environmental and fiscal implications has no value without emotion, she says.
The tradition's meaning, its history, the camaraderie and nostalgia it evokes -- all emotional appeals -- are what make bonfire enduring and appealing to Aggies, she said.
And it's the human -- along with the technical -- aspect that makes her conclude that bonfire could not continue in a form that would remain meaningful to students, she said.
"As much as Aggies long for bonfire to be on campus, and we feel like we have a loss when it went away, it doesn't compare to the families who live their loss every day of their lives," said Murano, 50, who is now a Texas A&M nutrition and food science professor.
At a May Board of Regents meeting, she wanted to give an update about how her meetings with families went, but she was unable to because lawyers concluded that was not something that could legally be done in closed session, she said.
She said she wanted regents to know about her plans first, before she sent out an e-mail to staff, faculty and students.
The following week, her presidency began to unravel when her boss, Chancellor Mike McKinney, the head of the 11-university Texas A&M System, suggested to The Eagle that combining his position with hers was a possibility.
Three weeks later, Murano announced her resignation the day before a regents meeting in which her employment was expected to be discussed.
The post-litigation decision about bonfire was left for yet another Texas A&M president.
She said she wanted to let students know over the summer her plans for the 10-year remembrance and to leave the discussion about bonfire's return for the spring. At that time, she said, she planned on holding an open forum with students and sharing her thoughts after meeting with the families.
Mark Gold, last year's student body president, who accompanied her during the visits with the families, would have helped convey to the students what they saw and heard during the trips.
When asked what advice she would give her successor -- who, if all goes as planned, should be selected in February -- about how to handle bonfire, she said to gather as much information as possible, especially from the families, and make a decision you could sleep with at night.
She also said the final decision should rest with the Texas A&M president, without interference from others, especially those in positions of authority.
"No matter what, there will be pressure on either side ... and it won't please everyone," she said. "At the end of the day, the decision should rest in the head, heart and soul of the university president."
