Here’s how UNC Charlotte will forever remember those killed, wounded in campus shooting
UNC Charlotte is moving forward with plans for a permanent outdoor memorial and reflection space along with numerous other ways to remember the victims of the April 30, 2019, campus shooting, Chancellor Phil Dubois said Thursday.
The shooting in a Kennedy Building classroom killed Reed Parlier and Riley Howell and hurt four other students.
That classroom, as well as an adjoining room, will no longer be used for classes under recommendations made earlier this month by the Niner Nation Remembrance Commission. Dubois, who is retiring in June, said Thursday he has approved that plan and a list of other memorial recommendations on campus.
“As I have said before, April 30, 2019 will not define us,” Dubois said Thursday in a letter to the UNC Charlotte community. “Instead, Niner Nation will be defined by the strength of our collective response.
“It is my great hope that the actions we’re taking to remember and honor the victims will serve as a meaningful and lasting reminder of the strength, compassion and enduring spirit within our UNC Charlotte community.”
In an interview with The Charlotte Observer, Dubois said the commission “was very thoughtful” in developing the recommendations over seven months. When the recommendations were opened to the public, almost no one responded, Dubois said — indicating to him how the commission had been thorough.
Permanent memorial
Dubois accepted the commission’s recommendation that a permanent memorial and reflection space in Belk Plaza outside the Kennedy building will recognize Parlier and Howell by name and acknowledge students who were wounded, “both physically and psychologically,” as worded in the committee’s final report.
The memorial should “evoke the unity, strength, and resilience of the UNC Charlotte community,“ the committee recommended.
Dubois said the university will immediately begin designing a reflection space and documentary plaque in the Kennedy building, which the commission also recommended. The plaque will document the events of April 30.
Dubois appointed two groups “that together will form one large committee” to help with the plans:
The first, a group of architectural and public art professionals, will formally recommend an architectural and artistic team to the chancellor. The team will develop the Belk Plaza memorial and its final design choice.
The second, an advisory group of faculty, staff, students and alumni, will not vote on the selection but will provide insights and perspectives about proposed memorials, he said.
Oral history interviews underway
The commission also recommended formal collection of oral history interviews to document the event. Those are underway, Dubois said.
Dubois also agreed with the commission’s recommendation for April 30 remembrance exhibits.
He said the university’s Atkins Library will host a temporary exhibit of memorial and other items that were collected and preserved by the school’s archives department. For example, after the shooting, mourners left hundreds of notes, candles, painted rocks and other items around the “49er Miner,” a prominent bronze statue on campus.
Those items were collected and will be preserved by the university, Dubois told the Observer.
The planned exhibit at Atkins Library will coincide with the shooting’s first anniversary. For the second anniversary, in 2021, a larger, curated temporary exhibit will be displayed in the Popp-Martin Student Union galleries, according to the university’s plans.
Annual day of remembrance planned
Dubois also agreed with the commission’s recommendation for an annual day of remembrance.
The day will be held April 30 or on a “floating date” such as the last Tuesday of April, he said. Planning is underway for remembrance events on April 30, 2020, Dubois said. No classes are scheduled that day.
Blumenthal remembrance concert
The university will host a “United” remembrance concert at 7:30 p.m. in Belk Theater at the Blumenthal Center for the Performing Arts in uptown Charlotte.
The Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Christopher Warren-Green, will perform. The concert also will feature UNC Charlotte students, faculty, staff and alumni, and an original composition written by faculty member John Allemeier. CBS correspondent and UNC Charlotte alumnus Don Dahler, class of ’91, will host the performance.
Dubois told the Observer the concert was his idea — a way to reach out to the general Charlotte community as well. He said the Parlier and Howell families plan to attend, and he hopes for a strong turnout to show support for them and the four injured students.
Tickets are $25 general admission, $10 for students, plus taxes and facility fees. Buy tickets at BlumenthalArts.org.