The Texas A&M Quidditch team retired jersey number 55 on March 31 in honor of its teammate Karen Barnett, a Chaser on the Silver Phoenix team, who died earlier in March and who had played since her freshman year.
Barnett will be honored at Muster, but in the meantime her Quidditch teammates wanted to remember Barnett in their own way.  
Rosemary Ross, president of the Quidditch team, said the Quidditch officers decided to retire Barnett’s jersey number to honor her life and her position on the team.
“Karen had been playing as a Chaser for years, starting as a freshman and played even past her graduation,” Ross said. “We’ve never retired a jersey in the program before, but it was suggested to us by her boyfriend and at the officer meeting we unanimously voted to retire jersey number 55 in remembrance of her impact on the team.”  
On the field, Barnett proved to be a formidable player, said Alyssa York, Chaser on the starting A&M Quidditch team.
“The defining characteristic of Karen as a player was that she was ferocious,” York said. “She was the sweetest girl you’d ever meet, but on the Quidditch pitch she would go and tackle guys three times her size.”
York said Barnett’s love for the sport always motivated her teammates.
“She loved the intensity of it,” York said. “We would see her tackling much bigger people and latch onto them as they dragged her across the field, just to get the ball from them.”
Trey Windon, Barnett’s teammate and boyfriend, said she was very different off the field.
“She was a kind person,” Windon said. “She was always friendly, she always wanted to help when she could, even though she would tackle you to the ground.”
Barnett’s dedication to the team was also felt off the pitch, and she stood out because of her character, Windon said.  
“She was extremely loyal to everyone, especially her friends,” Windon said. “She saw the best in everyone and just stuck with them no matter what.”
Ross said Barnett left a lasting impact on the team and in her teammates’ lives.
“She was always smiling,” Ross said. “She would always be so happy to see her friends, and her positive attitude definitely kept up the morale on the team.”
York said Barnett was always excited to be around the sport and her friends.
“She would be so excited to see her teammates,” York said. “She would run across the field when she saw you, just to see how you were doing.”
Windon said the officers felt retiring Barnett’s jersey number was a way for her to leave her legacy at A&M.
“It’s humbled all of us and taught us to appreciate what we have,” Windon said.  “Karen was quite easily the sweetest, most sincere and genuine person I’ve ever met, and she embodied the true spirit of an Aggie.”