Yolanda Laurel moved from Laredo, TX to study pharmacy at UT-Austin in 1965. She lived in the dorms across from Pharmacy Building and was in summer school in August of 1966.
On Aug. 1, close to noon, Laurel was on her way to the Tower to return overdue books to the library when she decided to stop instead for lunch at the dorm. She heard pop sounds from inside the dorm.
“We would go across the hall kind of crouched down… at times we could see puffs of smoke,” Laurel says.
She remembers rushing to the base of the Tower when the shooting was over and recalls seeing bodies being removed from the Tower.