The University of Texas at Austin will observe UT Remembers on Friday, May 2, as a day of remembrance honoring 165 members of the university community–students and current and retired faculty and staff–who died during the previous year.
UT Remembers has become a tradition on campus, bringing together families, friends, colleagues and co-workers to remember those who died, to reflect upon who they were, what they gave to the institution and what they meant to the people whose lives they touched.
Lowering of the flags on the Main Mall to half-staff will begin at 8:45 a.m. as the first event for the day of remembrance to bring together families, friends, colleagues and co-workers who have experienced the loss of a student or a current or retired faculty or staff member.
Families and friends participating in ceremonies during the day will be provided a hospitality room, Texas Union Santa Rita Room (3.502), while they are on campus. An information session on grief will be held in the hospitality room from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.
The UT Remembers service will be held at 2 p.m. in the Tower Garden, north of the Tower and Main Building. Names of persons being remembered will be read aloud, and a Tower bell will toll in tribute. In the event of inclement weather, the ceremony will be relocated.
In honor to those being remembered, the UT Tower lights will be darkened from dusk to dawn. As the sun sets, the only areas of the Tower that will be glowing with white light will be the cap and observation deck. No other areas of the Tower will be illuminated.
A listing of those being remembered is available on the UT Remembers Web site.
UT Remembers is a program of UT Cares, a campus-wide committee formed in 1996 to provide support to the university community in times of trauma or loss.
Note to Editors/Producers: Parking for satellite and microwave trucks providing “Live” coverage of the UT Remembers flag-lowering ceremony Friday morning (May 2) will be provided on Inner Campus Drive in spaces just east of the steps from the Main Plaza. These spaces will be marked by traffic cones. Other news vehicles may secure parking from the guard booth at 24th Street and Whitis. All media covering the 2 p.m. UT Remembers ceremony in the Tower Garden should secure parking from the guard booth as well. Please arrive at least 30 minutes before these ceremonies begin and dress appropriately for the occasion. Members of the media are requested to be sensitive to the emotions of those gathered for the program. Thank you for your interest in UT Remembers.
