<b>By MEGGIE I. FOSTER<br>
Assistant Editor</b> </p><p>

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — With nearly 1,500 Purdue University agricultural alumni in attendance, the 59th annual Purdue Fish Fry on Feb. 2, entertained comments from Andrew Card, former chief of staff for President George W. Bush.<br>

Virtually silencing the crowd of Black and Gold alums in the Blue Ribbon Pavilion at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, Card shared vivid details of his visit to a Florida elementary school on Sept. 11, 2001, when he informed the president of the first plane crash in New York City, and then of the second plane crash into the Twin Towers. He was with the president throughout the ordeal and helped manage the administration’s response to the critical and ever-changing situation.<br>

“But Sept. 11 wasn’t the most memorable day for me, it was Sept. 14, 2001,” Card recounted. “The dust had settled, we were scared as a nation and America was nervous.”<br>

On Sept. 14, Card said that “the president changed the bureaucracy of the FBI that day,” told the U.S. Cabinet “we have a job to do,” even if the nation was under attack, took Air Force One to New York City and “circled the black hole left in the center of Manhattan,” and calmed fears of loved ones waiting for news from the rescue missions still underway in the Twin Towers.<br>

“I remember telling the president, ‘You were a good president today,’ and at that moment knew what it meant to be a leader in a crisis,” said Card, further explaining the balancing act of effectively managing a crisis situation.<br>

Card detailed the 9-11 crisis plan and the president’s approach to managing the situation, meanwhile, trying to settle the growing fears of a frightened nation. As it relates to agriculture, he related his crisis tips to those used in any disaster, as well as a crisis situation experienced by leaders in agriculture. In a brief, but pointed statement, Card acknowledged the accomplishments of Indiana agriculture and its leaders in the Daniels-Skillman Administration.<br>

“(U.S. Department of Agriculture) Secretary (Mike) Johanns has said of all the state governors, no one has been a bigger advocate of agriculture than Indiana’s Gov. Mitch Daniels,” Card said with a smile targeted directly at the governor, whom he worked with in the Bush Administration. Prior to his term as governor, Daniels served as the director of the office of management and budget for President Bush.<br>

“From his promotion of biofuels, clean coal energy, and new agricultural technologies, your governor has truly opened this state up to innovations and investments unlike any other,” he said.<br>

Certificates of Distinction<br>

Conducting a formal business meeting, the current president of the Purdue Ag Alumni Association, Joe Russell of Muncie, Ind. also congratulated eight winners of the Certificates of Distinction, “the highest award in the Purdue Ag Alumni, honoring the very best among us.”<br>

2008 winners included Noel E. Callahan, of Indianapolis, the retired founder of Callahan Enterprises and Callahan Seeds; Eldon Fredericks, of West Lafayette, Ind., a retired Purdue Extension technology specialist and head for the Department of Agricultural Communications; Kern Hendrix, of West Lafayette, a retired Purdue Extension beef specialist; Don Jones, of West Lafayette, a professor and Extension agricultural engineer at Purdue; W. Dean Jones, of Crown Point, a retired Purdue Extension county and area educator; Marshall Martin, of West Lafayette, the associate directory of agricultural research programs and professor of agricultural economics at Purdue; David Miers, of Greensburg, president of Miers Farm Corporation and Alan L. Sutton, of West Lafayette, professor of animal sciences at Purdue since 1971.<br>

With the program and meal commencing promptly at 11:30 a.m., the alumni enjoyed not a fish dinner, but a pork feast, benefits of the Indiana Packers Corp. (IPC).<br>

According to Donya Lester, executive secretary of Purdue Ag Alumni Assoc., in 1999, the tides changed to pork, when IPC volunteered to donate all of the boneless pork loins for the Purdue Fish Fry meal.<br>

Lester also provided a brief report of activities for the association, thanking the outgoing president and presenting the gavel to the new president, Gary Geswein of Palmyra, Ind.<br>

“You are the reason we strive to be the best at Purdue,” Lester said, as she enthusiastically addressed the crowd of ag alumni. “I look forward to forging new partnerships with those of you I haven’t already met.”