UT-Austin Pays Tribute To George H.W. Bush In Illuminating Way

AUSTIN, TEXAS — Seemingly endless tributes from all over the world have poured in pay to the late President George H.W. Bush. Not to be left behind, the University of Texas at Austin rendered its homage in its own unique manner.

The centerpiece of the 40-acre campus, the UT Tower, was lit up to form the number "41" in honor of Bush on Wednesday night on the same day as his burial. On Wednesday, a moving funeral service took place in Washington that included a touching tribute from son George W. Bush, who followed into the Oval Office a dozen years after the elder Bush left office.

Burial is scheduled Thursday on the grounds of erstwhile football rival Texas A&M University, where the Bush presidential library is located. But both football rivalries and partisan political clashes have been all but suspended this week as the nation honors the late president.

UT-Austin officials usually reserve the special lighting of the tower for notable achievements by alumni or victories of its athletic teams in national sports match-ups, with the tower bathed in orange light matching the officials school color to memorialize such milestones.

On Wednesday, the tower was lighted orange (Bush went to Yale, after all) but the lights inside its rooms were strategically illuminated to form the number "41" of his presidential succession, the digits visible on all four sides of the imposing structure. Earlier in the day, the bell chimes atop the edifice were programmed to play "Hail to the Chief," the official presidential anthem of the U.S. composed by James Sanderson in the 19th century.

And so in Austin, it was light, not the darkness that often lingers after a beloved figure's passing, that was the order of the day. Along the way, it was a quintessentially Austin tribute to a president with deep Texas roots whose legacy looms large.

About the UT Tower

The 307-foot tall UT Austin Tower was completed in 1937, and through the years has served as the university’s most distinguishing landmark and as a symbol of academic excellence and personal opportunity, according to a UT website.

Designed by Paul Cret, a French-born architect then living in Philadelphia, the Main Building was created to house the university’s central library. Along the east and west sides of the building, a pair of spacious reading rooms, labeled the “Hall of Texas” and the “Hall of Noble Words,” connected to a great central reference room. Made with liberal use of oak and marble, the room was decorated with the six seals of Texas.

For more history on the UT Tower, click here.

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