TERRE HAUTE —
Saddened by the sudden death of Rose-Hulman President Matt Branam, student Hobey Tam found a special way to pay tribute.
He spent 10 hours — from 8 p.m. Sunday through 6 a.m. Monday — on a chalk drawing that incorporates three images of Branam. One corner reads, “Rose’s very own son.”
With permission from campus authorities, Tam drew his tribute on a brick wall in Root Quadrangle near the entrance to the student commons area of Moench Hall.
He described his painstaking effort as “a therapeutic coping mechanism. … Honestly, I thought about all the stuff I didn’t get a chance to say to him. I think a lot of students are regretting that now.”
Branam, the 14th president of Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, died Friday after a sudden medical emergency in his office. A public memorial service, a “Celebration of a Great Life,” is scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday in the Sports and Recreation Center on campus.
Tam and other students used to meet with Branam for lunch or dinner about once a month. “He was glad to talk with students” and also wanted their feedback as part of the school’s “Great Debate” strategic planning process, he said.
Tam and a few other students had met with Branam at a local dining establishment just two days before his death. “That’s my last memory of him. He was shaking my hand and smiling like there was no tomorrow,” said Tam, a senior who graduates next month.
In doing the chalk memorial, he used a projector to get outlines of Branam from photos that had been on the Rose-Hulman website.
“Rose lost a visionary leader,” said Tam, a biomedical engineering and biochemistry double major from the Indianapolis area. He once aspired to be a tattoo artist, but his family did not share his enthusiasm for that career goal.
Chalk was placed at a nearby wall, and students could write tributes to Branam. One read, “I will miss shaking your hand at graduation.” Another stated, “We will work to continue what you stood for.”
Students have found other ways to pay tribute and grieve.
Inside Hulman Union, senior Chad Conway was asking members of the Rose-Hulman community to sign four commemorative posters that will be framed. The posters consist of a matted picture of Branam, and people were signing their names on the matting.
The framed posters will be given to Branam’s three children, and one will remain at Rose-Hulman, said Conway, who helped organize the effort.
The intent is “to show what [President Branam] meant to us,” said Conway, who worked with Branam on several projects, including a Great Debate student committee and a marketing video.
He described Branam as “the biggest champion of our campus. He was very proud of the institution and always very positive, with a smile on his face, ready to help anyone and sit down with anyone.”
Branam “had such an amazing vision for where we could go,” Conway said. He wanted Rose-Hulman to be “the greatest undergraduate engineering school in the world and he wanted to make that well known.”
In addition to signing the posters, students also could write letters and place them in a box in the union’s commons area. The letters will be given to Branam’s family.
“We’re trying to be diverse and help the community in any way possible to allow them to grieve in their own way,” Conway said.
Sue Loughlin can be reached at (812) 231-4235 or sue.loughlin@ tribstar.com
Local & Bistate
Related Photos
-
Tribune-Star/Joseph C. Garza For Matt: Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology senior Hobey Tam of Fishers works on the mural he created as a memorial for the late Rose-Hulman president, Matt Branam, on Wednesday on the Rose-Hulman campus. Tam said he worked on the mural for more than 10 hours.
-
Tribune-Star/Joseph C. Garza For Matt: Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology senior Hobey Tam of Fishers works on the mural he created as a memorial for the late Rose-Hulman president, Matt Branam, Wednesday on the Rose-Hulman campus. Tam said he worked on the mural for over ten hours.
-
Tribune-Star/Joseph C. Garza For a personable president: A message written in chalk is left on one of the walls on the Rose-Hulman campus for the school’s late president, Matt Branam.
-
Tribune-Star/Joseph C. Garza Signed support: Rose-Hulman students and staff sign posters Wednesday in the Student Union. Three of the posters will be given to the Branam family while one will stay on campus.
Discussion
Campus copes with loss of president
Rose students say their farewells
- Local & Bistate
-
-
For Piper: Annual ‘Rush the Punter’ event dedicated to Dixie Bee student who died Wednesday after a short illness
Steve Weatherford’s “Rush the Punter” fundraiser at Fairbanks Park on Saturday was dedicated to a little girl who lost her life unexpectedly to pneumonia.
-
Vigo schools prepare to tighten belts
State funding for the Vigo County School Corp. will remain “pretty flat” for the next two years, said Donna Wilson, chief financial officer.
-
Veterans take to the trees
Cristal Bednar took photos of her husband, Justin, as he laboriously climbed his way up a “Dangle-Duo” to get to a zipline at Indiana State University’s Sycamore Outdoor Center.
-
Property owner seeks halt to Hulman Lake dam project
A Terre Haute property owner is seeking an injunction that would at least temporarily halt the city’s work on the Hulman Lake dam project.
-
Tornado veterans balance preparedness, practicality
Few things in nature are less predictable than a tornado. They can form quickly. They strike weirdly, leveling one building while leaving its neighbor untouched. They can fling a car a half-mile and turn a piece of lumber into a wall-piercing missile.
-
ISU unveils interactive Bayh Family Legacy Wall at school
A who’s who of Indiana Democrats paid tribute to Evan Bayh and several generations of the Bayh family Friday during a dedication of a new interactive display at Indiana State University.
-
Can you smell me now?
A contraband cell phone has been discovered by the Vigo County Jail’s youngest and most unique officer.
-
GIVING BACK: Steve Weatherford buys shoes for kids day before charity run
Terre Haute’s Steve Weatherford, punter for the 2012 Super Bowl champion New York Giants, showed once again his generosity Friday by donating new athletic shoes to more than two dozen Vigo County kids.
-
N.Y. Giants honor Weatherford as ‘Man of the Year’
Dan Tanoos, superintendent of Vigo County schools, remembers the first time he saw Steve Weatherford as a freshman at Terre Haute North Vigo High School.
-
Sunday recital at The Woods
A recital featuring songs from well-known composers is at 7 p.m. Sunday in the Church of the Immaculate Conception at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods.
-
Police investigating rash of car window shootings
Terre Haute Police are investigating a rash of shootings that have shattered car windows throughout the city.
-
City hospitals get passing grades for patient safety
Two Terre Haute hospitals have been ranked for patient safety by an independent organization that assesses safety, quality and affordability of healthcare for Americans.
-
Three from Operation Turn and Burn sentenced in federal court
Three co-conspirators in a Wabash Valley methamphetamine trafficking ring were sentenced this week to several years in federal prison.
-
Illinois Senate approves medical marijuana bill
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn must decide if he will sign a measure allowing the use of marijuana for medical purposes after the state Senate approved legislation today.
-
Vigo County Jail Log: May 17, 2013
The following individuals were booked into the Vigo County Jail by area law enforcement on Thursday, based on jail records.
-
I-70 resurfacing project will close westbound exit ramp
PUTNAM COUNTY, Ind. – The Indiana Department of Transportation announces the resurfacing project on Interstate 70 will close the westbound exit ramp at Indiana 243 beginning Wednesday May, 22 at about 6 a.m. until 9 p.m. that same day to mill and resurface the ramp.
-
UPDATE: Fire damages buildings in downtown Greencastle
GREENCASTLE, Ind. — Fire badly damaged several buildings today near the courthouse square in Greencastle, with flames shooting through the roofs as firefighters from several communities were called in to the central Indiana city to help.
-
Get outside this Memorial Day weekend
Although DNR campgrounds and cabins at state parks, state reservoirs and recreation areas are booked to capacity for Memorial Day weekend, some shelters remain available for picnics and other day-use gatherings.
-
Skateboarders, BMX bike riders working to improve area of city park they use
The sound of small wheels rolling across smooth concrete fills the air, accented by the clacking noise of a wooden skateboard coming to an instant stop on a metal edge before rolling on again.
-
Indiana State to host 2014 MVC baseball tourney
Build it… and they will come. The Missouri Valley Conference and Indiana State University made that famous line from the movie “Fields Of Dreams” reality Thursday.
-
Overlay recommended for 812 area code
The state agency that represents Hoosier utility customers is calling for a ten-digit solution to southern Indiana’s vanishing supply of 812 area code telephone numbers.
-
Elementary school saddened by student’s death
A 9-year-old Dixie Bee Elementary student died unexpectedly Wednesday evening as the result of pneumonia, said Vigo County Coroner Susan Amos on Thursday.
-
Vermillion CSX crossings undergoing maintenance
CSX maintenance crews are working on railroad crossings between Dana and Chrisman, Ill. this week and next, a CSX official said Thursday.
-
Beware of scams everywhere
Ever get a phone call in the middle of the night from a person claiming to be your grandchild, who unfortunately has been jailed in Canada and needs bail money?
-
INDOT to start work on Indiana 163 in Vermillion County
Maintenance crews will begin a pavement preservation project Monday on Indiana 163, between Indiana 63 and the Illinois state line west of Clinton.
-
Union Hospital community garden spots now available
Community gardening spots are now available at the Union Hospital Community Garden for Wabash Valley residents interested in planting and maintaining a garden but may not have the space. The garden is located west of the intersection of North Sixth Street and Seventh Avenue in Terre Haute at 1430 N. Sixth St.
-
Correctional officer remembered at memorial
Greene County native and Wabash Valley Correctional Facility Officer Timothy Betts was honored during a memorial ceremony at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C.
-
Money donated for Dresser sculpture
100+ Women Who Care of Vigo County on Thursday awarded a $20,200 grant to Art Spaces that will help make the Paul Dresser sculpture, “A Song for Indiana,” a reality.
-
Powerball jackpot quickly jumps to $550 million
The Powerball jackpot jumped to $550 million on Thursday — the third largest lottery in history — as dreamers in all but the seven states where the game isn’t played snatched up tickets for the minuscule chance at a life on easy street.
-
School bus carrying special-needs kids rolls over
INDIANAPOLIS — A school bus carrying special-needs students rolled over today on a highway near Indianapolis, injuring a dozen people including five children, state police said.
- More Local & Bistate Headlines
-
Coffee Run Leads to Hatchet Hitchhiker Arrest
Probe Begins After Conn. Commuter Trains Crash
NTSB Begins Investigation Into Conn. Train Crash
Conn. Commuter Trains Collide; 60 Go to Hospital
Fmr. IRS Head Insists No Politics in Targeting
Lotto Fever Sweeps the Country
Raw: Texas Gov. Flies Over Tornado Damage
NM Mom Chases Down Child Abductor
Raw: Driver Ejected From Truck, Over Bridge
CDC: Fecal Bacteria Common in Swimming Pools
Raw: Obama Sits Down With Elementary Kids
Dying Man's Blinks Lead to Murder Conviction
Raw: Gun Scare Mars Cannes Film Festival
China, Others Want What's Under the Arctic Ice
Ousted IRS Chief: Errors Not Caused by Politics
Horse Saved From Slaughter, Goes on to Win Big
Officials Arrest Man in Idaho in Terrorism Case
Raw: Bear Falls From Tampa Tree
Raw: Germany Protestors Picket Barbie House
Raw: Crash Sends Car Into Fla. Pool
Twiggy, the Water Skiing Squirrel
Sailor Surprises His Mom At Her CU Denver Graduation Ceremony
Official: ‘Amazing’ No One Was Killed In CT Train Crash
Coffee Stop Leads To Arrest Of YouTube Sensation Wanted For Murder
Bearded Dragon Reunited With Owner
Marine Reunited with Warzone Companion
Beyonce Is Pregnant!
SF baseball player overpaid $500,000 RETURNS money -- and team says KEEP IT
$1 Million in Jewels Stolen at Cannes Film Fest
Dad returns from Afghanistan, surprises family during Rays' first pitch
See Jennifer Lopez's New $10m Hamptons Mansion
Woman tricked into taking abortion pill
Emma Watson Goes Pantless
IRS scandal: Republicans seek to tie Obama to agency's woes
Play of the Day: Flipping to Safety
Pregnant Kim Kardashian Squeezes Her Swollen Feet Into Stilettos
Top Videos of the Week: Angry Taco Bell Guy, Glacier Moves on House, Dog Hates Baths
Cindy Crawford Stuns At Cannes
