1

Mini Case Study: Texas A&M

Mini Case Study: Texas A&M

Baileyann Vincent

Department of Communications, University of North Dakota

Comm 451: Risk and Crisis Communication

Dr. Lucas

10/28/22

1
2
Mini Case Study: Texas A&M

Exigence

“It is not uncommon for writers to pose that catastrophic events are not the cause of any

one single thing going wrong, but rather a tragic series of them,” (Bitzer) and the crisis that

unfolded at Texas A&M is not an exception to that. There were several contributing factors to

the exigence of this crisis, most namely the disregard for previous accidents that should have

increased safety measures, and the overall culture surrounding the bonfire and tradition.

Texas A&M as an entity had not used prior negative experiences to learn and create more

safety measures. The failure to learn from previous experiences was a significant contribution to

the exigence of this crisis. The textbook for the course states that “Behavior can only change

when an individual chooses to learn from an event.” Repeated accidents surrounding the bonfire

show evidence that leaders at different points in the university’s history had taken each situation

and played it off as something that would only happen once. More recognition of the tragic

things that had happened would likely have led to stronger safety measures. That doesn’t apply

exclusively to the previous injuries- consider the previous time the stack had fallen, or when the

bonfire had shifted due to rain. These structural failures should have been considered more, and

it’s evident that better safety practices could have minimized the death and injury after the

bonfire tragedy in 1999.

Tradition is very important in College Station, Texas. Evidence of this was displayed

before the crisis- when a previous death related to the bonfire occurred and the victim was

referred to as “The First Hero,” and after the crisis when community members and alumni rallied

for the continuation of the annual bonfire. People were invested in this tradition to the point that

safety was not considered. It’s mentioned in the case study, that the last victim to be freed from

2
3
Mini Case Study: Texas A&M

the bonfire even advocated for the continuation of the tradition. In a community that is as

influential as that of College Station, it’s hard for certain decisions to be made. In the final

decision of whether the bonfire should continue following the deadly collapse, it was noted that “

The committee included members who advocated abolishing the event, but the final report called

the bonfire "an important tradition." (Carter) An attitude of concern regarding safety concerns

rather than the blind town spirit encouraging activities that had proven to be dangerous may have

made a significant difference in the prevention of the crisis.

Audience

The audience in this crisis was unique, as the people who were affected by the bonfire

crisis were also actively involved in the aiding process. As discussed in the case study, the key

messages to the audience involved concern for those affected, information about the tradition,

and appreciation for the Aggie spirit. The spirit that was displayed enabled community members

to step forward and offer assistance in multiple ways. It was discussed that the tight knit

community was impacted because of the college town spirit, and yet, several positive examples

of the community response were given. In some ways, the willingness of the audience to be part

of the solution lessened some of the negative effects put in place by exigence and constraints.

That said, the audience was also a contributing factor to the event, due to the factors discussed in

the previous section.

Bitzer stated that “the rhetorical audience must be capable of serving as mediator of the

change which the discourse functions to produce.” (1968)In the case of the Texas A&M fire,

certain members of the audience had a chance to mediate change before the fire occurred. This

3
4
Mini Case Study: Texas A&M

discounts certain direct sufferers- such as parents and students who weren’t as familiar with the

dangers posed in previous years- but the College Station Community, and the alumni of Texas

A&M had been made aware of risks and did not directly address their validity.

Constraints

The most positive constraint in this crisis was Cynthia Lawson, and her professional

experience, which allowed her to communicate well with the community after the bonfire

occurred. As discussed by Smith, “every crisis has four phases “1) crisis preparedness; 2) the

initial response; 3) maintaining ongoing corrective actions until the crisis has run its course; and

4) evaluation and follow-up.” (2007) While Texas A&M failed to have an extensive crisis

preparedness plan, Cynthia Lawson was able to step up in her role and draw on previous

experience to address the second and fourth phases. She immediately responded to the crisis by

informing key individuals and being on scene quickly, and throughout the investigation of the

bonfire, she kept in touch with the community and gave frequent updates. Her experience was

also able to assist in the communication flow process which consists of “(1) identifying the key

groups that will potentially be affected by the event, (2) selecting spokespeople; and (3)

managing the timing and distribution of information.” (Smith) Lawson was able to do all these

successfully by acknowledging her students, staff and family members, and using key

spokespeople to make periodic reports in the aftermath of the bonfire.

The most negative constraint was the lack of crisis plan, and the inattention to safety.

Having a detailed crisis response plan is important, and it was stated in the case study that there

was a response plan, but it was very shaky. Immediately after the stack collapsed., officials at the

university were unable to speak to safety measures, with a statement released by the president of

4
5
Mini Case Study: Texas A&M

A&M saying that he was, “99 percent confident that all safety measures had been met.” (Carter)

Rusty Thompson, the official advisor for the bonfire, later stated that “no formal training was

given by professionals,” and “students receive[d] safety instructions from upperclassmen who

have worked on the bonfire before.” (Carter)The combination of safety measures not being

taken, and the risky crisis plan after the collapse of the stack of wood were an ugly combination.

Without the positive response of Cynthia Lawson described above, Texas A&M may have had

larger problems resulting.

What Should Have Been Done Differently

In the case of this crisis, there are several actions that could have been taken to lessen the

likelihood of the event happening, or at least to prepare for the worst. The most obvious of these

would have been a more extensive safety plan that consisted of actual training for those working

on building the bonfire. The second would have been a better risk and crisis communication

plan. Third, the tradition of the bonfire should have been less emphasized, and the safety of

students and employees building the bonfire should have been better recognized. In all, the way

that Texas A&M responded to the crisis was adequate. Better decisions could have been made,

however, the university seemed to have learned from this crisis and they did take actions after

the fact to prevent a repeat of the tragedy.

5
6
Mini Case Study: Texas A&M

Works Cited

Bitzer, L. F. (1968). The Rhetorical Situation. Philosophy & Rhetoric, 1(1), 1–14. Retrieved

October 26, 22AD, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/40236733 .

Carter, W. (1999, November 19). A&M Bonfire's Collapse Leaves University, Community in

Shock. Dallas News. Retrieved October 28, 2022, from

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/texas/1999/11/19/am-bonfire-s-collapse-leaves-

university-community-in-shock/

Smith, D. C. (2007). Lessons from Katrina: Crisis Communication and Rhetorical Protocol.

Journal of College Teaching & Learning (TLC), 4(6).

https://doi.org/10.19030/tlc.v4i6.1573

Ulmer, R. R., Sellnow, T. L., & Seeger, M. W. (2022). Chapter 9: Learning from Failure. In

Effective Crisis Communication: Moving from Crisis to Opportunity (pp. 151–158). essay,

SAGE.