25 years of remembrance

25 years of remembrance

By Rosie Hales

December 4, 2014

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Members of the Queen鈥檚 community will gather in the atrium at Beamish-Munro Hall on Friday afternoon to remember the 14 women who died in the l鈥櫭塩ole Polytechnique shooting 25 years ago.

[White Ribbon Campaign]
The aim of the White Ribbon Campaign is to remember the events of Dec. 6, 1989 at l鈥櫭塩ole Polytechnique.

Twelve female engineering students, a nurse, and a female faculty member were killed in the 1989 massacre.

Three years after the attack, Dec. 6 was declared Canada鈥檚 National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. The annual event, hosted by the Engineering Society of Queen鈥檚 University, will start at 1 pm.

Organization of the Queen鈥檚 memorial is being led by Emily Townshend, a fourth-year engineering student.

鈥淔ourteen women were slaughtered because of their gender, because someone felt that being female made them expendable. I believe they did not die in vain,鈥 says Ms. Townshend. 鈥淓very year that passes makes us a little bit more complacent, a little bit more inclined to forget. I refuse to let that happen. I demand better, in the memory of the 12 women who were denied an iron ring, in the memory of the 14 women who were denied a future, for those of us who still have a chance."

The memorial will feature a rose ceremony with students, staff and faculty representing the 14 victims, Principal Daniel Woolf will be in attendance and speeches will be given by Dr. Kimberly Woodhouse, Dean of Engineering and Applied Science at Queen鈥檚 and Annette Bergeron, past president of Professional Engineers Ontario.

This year鈥檚 event is being held a day early as Dec. 6 is a Saturday.

Smith Engineering