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The Rice Thresher
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by ELIZABETH JARDINA AND BRIAN STOLER THRESHER EDITORIAL STAFF
About 20 friends of Henning and fellow members of the debate team are attending the funeral in his hometown in Illinois. A nondenominational religious service will be held in the Rice Chapel tomorrow at 11 a.m., organized by friends of Henning in conjunction with Baker College and the Catholic Student Center. The service is open to the public. The campus will observe a moment of silence Monday at noon. Baker College held a private memorial service for Henning at noon Tuesday in the college commons. Friends and debate team members filled the commons and remembered Henning as an intelligent, well-spoken man who acted like a brother to members of the community. Both President Malcolm Gillis and Vice President for Student Affairs Zenaido Camacho offered their condolences at the service, as did Baker President Melissa Boddie and Wiess College senior Robert Lundin, who spoke on behalf of the debate team. Baker freshman Rebecca Mackiernan said Henning was a good friend. "Dan was ... the closest thing to having a big brother," she said. Dan and his roommates were often around and watched out for Mackiernan and her roommates, she said. "Dan especially was always there for advice," Mackiernan said. "I miss him like a brother too." A friend of Henning and a fellow Baker freshman remembered Henning eloquently. "You could wake Dan up at 2:30 to help with Comp. Sci. homework, he was always willing to help," said the freshman, who requested not to be identified. "He was a teacher, and an example, but more than that a friend. I don't think I can put it into words better than that. Friendship is a feeling." Many students mentioned Henning's talent for counseling friends. "If I was upset, I always knew that Dan would be there for me to talk to and to get a hug from," Baker freshman Katie Hubicki said. "He had an easygoing manner that had the ability to calm people." She echoed the sentiments of many others as she said he would be sorely missed. "There are many great people at Rice, but no one will be able to make up the loss of Dan's presence for the next four years," Hubicki said. Baker College Master Chris Copeland said Henning was thoughtful and warm. "He was very soft-spoken and very quiet. He had a quiet demeanor and he always had this smile on his face," she said. "I'm going to miss him." She also remembered Henning's frequent presence at college events. "At Baker we have movie night Wednesday night and so we show a movie," she said. "He was one of the regulars." Rice's women's basketball team will wear black patches on their uniforms during competition in the NCAA tournament beginning tomorrow night, head coach Cristy McKinney said. Many spoke of Henning's accomplishments as a member of the speech and debate team. He placed first in the student congress speaking event at the Pi Kappa Delta National Tournament in St. Louis two weeks ago. He also performed well at the National Parliamentary Debate Association tournament last week in Omaha, Neb. Henning and Lovett College freshman Randy Meissen qualified for the triple-octafinal round, winning five of eight qualifier matches. "It was so amazing that this guy who lived downstairs was a national debate champion, and I never got a chance to tell him how impressed I was," Mackiernan said. Lovett College senior Michael Erfe, who was injured in the crash, spoke about Henning from his hospital room Tuesday. "It's sad that we lost one of our teammates," he said. "He was one of the most promising freshmen that we had, and he was a really, really nice guy." "He was an incredible debater," said Brown College senior Scott Nilsen, who was also involved in the accident. "The unique thing about our team is we get folks with relatively little debate experience. Dan had done some debate in high school, but it was unlike the type of debate that we do here at Rice and he was incredibly eager to learn. "And you could tell when he was debating that he was loving every minute of what he was doing," Nilsen said. Coach Dan West said that Henning and Meissen would have been his strongest debate team to return next year. NPDA President Skip Rutledge said that the significance of Henning's death has been widespread. "The debate community has been taking this especially hard," he said. "It's one of our own, and that's really causing a lot of grief for a lot of members of the community." Rutledge said an award in Henning's name for Top Novice Speaker will be proposed at the next business meeting of the NPDA so that Henning will be ceremonially mentioned at all future events. Henning was studying computer science. Henning is survived by his parents Timothy and Diane Henning and two brothers, Matthew, 17, and Peter, 13, of Vernon Hills, Ill. In lieu of flowers, the Henning family has requested that donations be made to Baker College or the George R. Brown Forensics Society at Rice University.Affairs Zenaido Camacho offered their condolences at the service, as did Baker President Melissa Boddie and Wiess College senior Robert Lundin, who spoke on behalf of the debate team. Baker freshman Rebecca Mackiernan said Henning was a good friend. "Dan was ... the closest thing to having a big brother," she said. Dan and his roommates were often around and watched out for Mackiernan and her roommates, she said. "Dan especially was always there for advice," Mackiernan said. "I miss him like a brother too." A friend of Henning and a fellow Baker freshman remembered Henning eloquently. "You could wake Dan up at 2:30 to help with Comp. Sci. homework, he was always willing to help," said the freshman, who requested not to be identified. "He was a teacher, and an example, but more than that a friend. I don't think I can put it into words better than that. Friendship is a feeling." Many students mentioned Henning's talent for counseling friends. "If I was upset, I always knew that Dan would be there for me to talk to and to get a hug from," Baker freshman Katie Hubicki said. "He had an easygoing manner that had the ability to calm people." She echoed the sentiments of many others as she said he would be sorely missed. "There are many great people at Rice, but no one will be able to make up the loss of Dan's presence for the next four years," Hubicki said. Baker College Master Chris Copeland said Henning was thoughtful and warm. "He was very soft-spoken and very quiet. He had a quiet demeanor and he always had this smile on his face," she said. "I'm going to miss him." She also remembered Henning's frequent presence at college events. "At Baker we have movie night Wednesday night and so we show a movie," she said. "He was one of the regulars." Rice's women's basketball team will wear black patches on their uniforms during competition in the NCAA tournament beginning tomorrow night, head coach Cristy McKinney said. Many spoke of Henning's accomplishments as a member of the speech and debate team. He placed first in the student congress speaking event at the Pi Kappa Delta National Tournament in St. Louis two weeks ago. He also performed well at the National Parliamentary Debate Association tournament last week in Omaha, Neb. Henning and Lovett College freshman Randy Meissen qualified for the triple-octafinal round, winning five of eight qualifier matches. "It was so amazing that this guy who lived downstairs was a national debate champion, and I never got a chance to tell him how impressed I was," Mackiernan said. Lovett College senior Michael Erfe, who was injured in the crash, spoke about Henning from his hospital room Tuesday. "It's sad that we lost one of our teammates," he said. "He was one of the most promising freshmen that we had, and he was a really, really nice guy." "He was an incredible debater," said Brown College senior Scott Nilsen, who was also involved in the accident. "The unique thing about our team is we get folks with relatively little debate experience. Dan had done some debate in high school, but it was unlike the type of debate that we do here at Rice and he was incredibly eager to learn. "And you could tell when he was debating that he was loving every minute of what he was doing," Nilsen said. Coach Dan West said that Henning and Meissen would have been his strongest debate team to return next year. NPDA President Skip Rutledge said that the significance of Henning's death has been widespread. "The debate community has been taking this especially hard," he said. "It's one of our own, and that's really causing a lot of grief for a lot of members of the community." Rutledge said an award in Henning's name for Top Novice Speaker will be proposed at the next business meeting of the NPDA so that Henning will be ceremonially mentioned at all future events. Henning was studying computer science. Henning is survived by his parents Timothy and Diane Henning and two brothers, Matthew, 17, and Peter, 13, of Vernon Hills, Ill. In lieu of flowers, the Henning family has requested that donations be made to Baker College or the George R. Brown Forensics Society at Rice University. - back - |
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