“The act of remembering is important to the TCU community.” Those words, from student body president Joshua Simpson in April under stormy skies, set the tone for a somber dedication of the new Student Memorial, located between Reed and Jarvis halls, which honors students who have died too young.

“Although this memorial can never compensate for the passing of a fellow Horned Frog, it can alter the way we remember our peers, and it certainly makes a bold statement about TCU’s deeply embedded people-first approach,” Simpson said.

The marker consists of a single bronze flute, which mirrors the “lily pads” of Frog Fountain and borrows from the Oklahoma City Bombing memorial featuring a single, empty chair. The Student Government Association funded the memorial from its 2012-13 budget.

“By building only one lotus leaf here, we honor the role that even one person plays in our community, and the absence of the other leaves signifies the noticeable void that you and I feel when a member of the TCU family passes away,” Simpson said.

Chancellor Victor J. Boschini, Jr. dedicated the memorial, calling it a sacred place for honoring the contributions of every member of the TCU community.