TXST Student Memorialized At Candlelight Vigil

By, Rae Glassford 

The San Marcos community gathered for a candlelight vigil on Tuesday, Nov. 15 at the Hays County Courthouse to pay respects to Travis Green, a recently deceased student of Texas State University.

Green’s body was discovered in a stairwell of the Academic Services Building North at 7:20 a.m. Nov. 14. His death was an apparent suicide, said Matt Flores, university spokesman.

A wide variety of community members, including students, faculty, childhood friends and employees from local businesses such as Stonewall Warehouse attended the vigil.

“We’re here to remember Travis, and to honor him,” said Jordan McFeders, applied philosophy and ethics graduate student and memorial attendee. “I’m an artist and so was he; we made music together.”

Green was known among peers for his dynamic personality and for the grassroots music collective he founded, called Off on a Tangent, or O2T. The group consists of a relatively small crew of videographers and musicians, many of whom produce music in the R&B genre. Last year, Green organized an O2T showcase at Stonewall Warehouse, intended to promote local musicians.

Family and friends assured memorial attendees that the collective will continue to operate, as a way of honoring Green’s memory.

“He was always supportive,” said attendee Kerry Traore, journalism freshman. “Now it’s our turn to be supportive, to pay our respects.”

Steve Wilson, associate chair of the English department, released a statement via email regarding Green’s demise.

“Our campus is grieving the loss of Mr. Green,” Wilson wrote. “He was a poet, a playwright, a screenwriter, a director, a singer, and a leader.”

Green was also a Terry Scholar, acting president of the Student Organization Council, and an English senior pursuing a double minor in Theater and Honors.

“Travis made a real impact on this community,” said Kris Tondre, electronic media senior. “He hustled, he worked hard.”

Green’s former roommate and co-producer, Michael Comeau, sound recording technology senior, helped organize and coordinate the candlelight vigil. Throughout the vigil, Comeau played Green’s original music aloud using large concert-grade speakers. The music was interspersed occasionally by friends and acquaintances of Green speaking intermittently about their memories of him, and the impact he had on their lives.

“I don’t have any answers,” said Nia Brookins, a high school comrade and collaborative partner of Green’s. “But what I do know is that his legacy will live on.”