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When M. Katherine Banks became the new engineering school dean at Texas A&M University in 2012, an associate dean drove her to the Zachry building, the heart of the university’s engineering program in College Station.
He pulled into the basement-level garage and honked the horn twice — a preventive measure to scare off skunks that infested the aging facility.
Above them, the building reeked of mold. Engineering students not-so-lovingly dubbed it the “Zachry Smell.” Inside the building's lecture hall, a once-impressive revolving stage, was broken.