Anthropology graduate students carefully retrieved personal letters, drenched by rains, from the temporary orange fence erected at the makeshift memorial. Other volunteers took down a 12-foot wooden cross and 12 smaller wooden crosses that will be stored in a warehouse on west campus with the rest of the items collected from five spontaneous memorial spots on campus. The rain and cold did not discourage about 30 students, faculty and staff, who spent Monday meticulously removing any items that remained at the Bonfire site and the administration building's flagpole, in remembrance of the 12 Aggies who lost their lives when the stack of logs collapsed last month.
Many people think they'll be able to begin to heal.
The healing process can begin without people having to see this every day. All of the memorabilia will be preserved, archived and kept until student leaders decide how they want it displayed, officials said. All 1500 items have been tagged and inventoried, and those collected Monday were laid out to dry before being stored in plastic bags or boxes. Some of the flowers, paper wrappings and other items that could not be preserved, most likely will be burned, with the ashes being scattered on campus. Wet paper will be placed in the archival freezer at Cushing Library, and that process will stabilize the paper until it can be curated and conserved.