The campus Muster speaker for 2015 will be newly elected Rep. Will Hurd, Class of 1999 and student body president the year Bonfire collapsed.
Hurd has been credited with providing exemplary leadership following that tragedy through a variety of means, including helping organize the efforts of fellow students who volunteered to help rescue crews, according to a Texas A&M press release
The congressman, who was elected in November, serves on the 114th Congress as a representative for the 23rd District of Texas, which includes San Antonio. Prior to that, he served in the CIA as an undercover officer in the Middle East and South Asia for almost a decade.
Jamie Bennett, Muster committee media executive, said Hurd was selected in a process that takes almost a year long and is very selective.
“Last time he spoke at a Muster was the on-campus Muster of 2000 when he was student body president because ’99 was Bonfire,” Bennett said. “So obviously he was a student body president at a very difficult time. I’ve only heard great things about him.”
Because Muster is a more sensitive time, Bennett said the Muster committee makes sure to choose someone who can connect well with the audience.
“Muster is a hard time of remembering,” Bennett said. “We knew that he had that perspective of already representing the school during that hard time and we knew he could easily represent these families at this difficult and hard time.”