OSU memorial: What they are saying

OSU interim coach Jim Littell: “When it came to education, it went a lot deeper than textbooks and term papers. Coach taught respect, and Coach taught life lessons. Coach added stability and trust to a lot of kids that didn't have a solid life. Coach Budke simply changed lives and was a father figure to his players.”

OSU president Burns Hargis: “It's inevitable that comparisons are being made between this tragedy and the terrible tragedy 10 years ago — that it's so unfair that this happens to OSU again. But anytime lives are ended before their time, it seems unfair. The holes in our hearts today are just as empty as those 10 years ago. Nothing ever fills them up. You never get over it — you just have to get through it. We did learn that the only way to get through this is by clinging to each other and supporting each other.”

OSU Associate Athletic Director for Development Larry Reece: “We will never be the same, because we lost them too soon. But we are better, because we knew them. And we will never forget them and the impact they made on all of us at Oklahoma State University.”