Berkeleyan

Campus memorial service to once again honor the past year's losses

08 September 2005

In what has become an annual tradition, the Berkeley campus will gather on Thursday, Sept. 15, to remember those of its own who have died during the past year. More than 60 members of the community - among them faculty and emeriti, students, staff, and staff retirees - will be honored at the fourth annual campus memorial. The ceremony, which will include a reading of the names of the deceased, vocal and instrumental music, and dance, will be held from 12:10 to 12:50 p.m. at the flagpole west of California Hall, and is open to all to attend.

Last year's memorial was the final campus event attended by outgoing Chancellor Robert Berdahl, who brought the observance to Berkeley with him from the University of Texas. His successor will speak at this year's memorial.

"I am very pleased to be continuing an important Berkeley tradition begun by my predecessor," says Chancellor Robert Birgeneau. "Coming together to honor the lives of those faculty and emeriti, staff and staff retirees, and students whom we have lost in the preceding year is a deeply moving experience that bonds us as a community. I encourage everyone to attend."

Virtual remembrances

The Berkeley campus maintains a website, Guidelines for Responding to Death (death-response.chance.berkeley.edu), that provides campus managers with detailed steps and a timeline to follow when responding to the death of an academic, staff member, or student. Beyond that, the website includes a wealth of resources for all members of the Berkeley community, including a place to create virtual memorials online, information on grief and loss, counseling services, and a listing of advance practical preparations for your own death or that of a person close to you.

The names of deceased to be honored on Sept. 15 are online (newscenter.berkeley.edu/goto/memoriam). If any member of the campus community who died in the past year has been inadvertently omitted, contact Helena Weiss-Duman (hwd@dev.urel.berkeley.edu) by 5 p.m., Monday, Sept. 12, so that the individual can be remembered officially at the memorial service. Contact Weiss-Duman, as well, if there are errors or omissions in the information provided in the online listing.