> Memorial marks massacre’s 20th anniversary

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Contact:
Hiromi Matsui, 778.782.4247; 778.899.1225 (cell)
Marianne Meadahl, PAMR, 778.782.4323

Photos will be available following the event at www.flickr.com/photos/sfupamr

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Simon Fraser University will mark the 20^th anniversary of Montreal’s École Polytechnique shooting by unveiling a memorial to the 14 students gunned down in the Dec. 6, 1989 tragedy.

On Friday, Dec. 4 at 1:30 p.m. students, faculty and staff will gather at the east end of the Applied Sciences building where a memorial bench will be unveiled and 14 dogwood trees – one for each of the victims – are being planted in a small grove.

The memorial was conceived by the university’s Women in Engineering student organization and Hiromi Matsui, former director of diversity and recruitment for the Faculty of Applied Sciences (now the Faculty of Communication, Art and Technology), with support from School of Engineering Sciences director Merhdad Saif.

“Our goal is to honour women engineering students and to create a memorial for those killed in the tragedy,” says Matsui, who became part of SFU’s Engineering Memorial Committee. It was formed three years ago to establish a memorial to mark the 20^th anniversary.

The bench, created by Victoria artist Illarion Gallant, is made of basalt rock from the Squamish area. It bears the following inscription:

“On the 6th of December 1989, 14 women were killed at École Polytechnique de Montreal. They were mainly engineering students. Our community mourns their loss and honours them with this memorial.”

The dogwood trees, planted in a grove near SFU’s own engineering school, are Cornus Nuttalii – Eddies White Wonders - and create a living memorial, says Matsui. “The trees contribute to the beauty of the grove that we have preserved as part of the campus to represent the original ecosystem of Burnaby Mountain,” she says.

In 1991, the federal government made Dec. 6 a National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. Vigils have been held at SFU every year since the tragedy occurred.

The same year, the Canadian Engineering Memorial Foundation was developed - www.cemf.ca - to award scholarships to female engineering students. Matsui, a former YWCA Women of Distinction award recipient (2007) is a current member of the board.

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