CALGARY- The University of Calgary has been planning for months to celebrate and commemorate April 15: It’s the last day of classes before exams and the 56-year-old Bermuda Shorts Day tradition. But for some, it will bring back memories of the five students who lost their lives at a Brentwood house party during the city’s worst mass murder.
The lives of victims Lawrence Hong, Joshua Hunter, Kaiti Perras, Zackariah Rathwell and Jordan Segura will be honoured at a memorial service—a closed event for invited guests; private at the request of the families.
Hong, Hunter and Segura were University of Calgary students; Perras attended Mount Royal University and Rathwell was a student at the Alberta College of Art and Design.
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“As the one-year anniversary approaches, our thoughts are with the families and friends of the students we lost,” said Dru Marshall, provost and vice-president at the University of Calgary. “The past year has been difficult, but as a community, the campus has shown tremendous resiliency and support for one another.”
The condolences website will be refreshed during the days prior to April 15, and an art piece will be unveiled in the community “to encourage expressions of resiliency and strength,” said a release from the university.
The school is calling the first-time event the UCalgaryStrong Festival, and various events will be held at the Jack Simpson Gymnasium and surrounding areas from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. An artisan market, live performances and a “quiet reflection space in a contemplative labyrinth” will be offered for free—as well as yoga, Zumba and geocaching.
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“Our first-ever UCalgaryStrong Festival is a key component of the larger UCalgaryStrong initiative that focuses on fostering individual strengths of each member of our campus community with the ultimate goal of building a collective campus community of engaged citizens,” said vice-provost of student experience Susan Barker in a release. “Our intent is to make this an annual tradition to celebrate the last day of classes.”
The university is encouraging local artists, including students, to apply for display space in the market by emailing osl@ucalgary.ca —free to student vendors.
Check the UCalgaryStrong website for the evolving schedule of the festival.
To show support for the Brentwood victims, you can contribute to any of three scholarships that have been established for Hong, Hunter and Segura at ucalgary.ca/giving. The first of the awards will be offered in the 2015-2016 academic year.
READ MORE: Timeline of the Brentwood stabbings – Calgary’s worst mass murder
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