Andrea DeLorenzo Ferruzzo, mother of Katherine Ferruzzo, holds up a hook ’em sign during a flag lowering ceremony on the main mall on Friday honoring Chloe Childress and Ferruzzo, two incoming freshman that died during the July 4 floods in the Texas Hill Country.
Over 100 students, parents and faculty gathered in front of the Main Tower on Friday to observe a flag-lowering ceremony in honor of Chloe Childress and Katherine Ferruzzo, who were set to attend UT this semester but were killed in the disastrous Central Texas floods while working as counselors at Camp Mystic.
The ceremony, put on by the Office of the Dean of Students, opened with a condensed Longhorn Band rendition of “Taps,” a song often played for military memorials, while a member of the UTPD Honor Guard lowered the Texas flag, symbolizing a final farewell to the girls.
“Katherine and Chloe were beloved incoming members of our Longhorn community,” Associate Dean of Students Kelly Soucy said to the crowd. “As we (lower) the flag and reflect on their memories, let us remember the joy, kindness and inspiration they brought to the community.”
After the flag was lowered, the small band performed “The Eyes of Texas” as spectators put their horns up in commemoration of the fallen Longhorns.
Economics freshman Terren Charbonnet, who attended elementary school with Katherine Ferruzzo and previously met Childress, spoke of their kindness.
“It’s good seeing the support for both of them because both girls had such heavy impacts on everyone’s hearts,” Charbonnet said.
When the ceremony opened up to comments from friends and family, Charles Martinez, the dean of the College of Education, addressed the crowd, remembering the girls’ “care and empathy for others.”
“I have been surrounded by Chloe and Katherine in so many ways, because I see them around me every day here at UT Austin,” Martinez said. “I see them in this crowd of Longhorn students.”
The event was brief, lasting only about 30 minutes, but the Texas flag stayed at half-mast all day Friday as a symbol of the community’s grief.
“I’m extremely proud of my alma mater,” Andrea Ferruzzo, Katherine’s mom, said.