MIT dedicated a memorial Wednesday in memory of Sean Collier, the university police officer who was killed by the Tsarnaev brothers following the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013.
MIT President Rafael Reif told the crowd at the dedication that two years ago, as the MIT community first mourned Collier, they came together with incredible strength.
“More than we understood was possible," Reif said. "We came together in deep sympathy for Sean’s family. In respect and gratitude for our police and first responders, and with empathy for everyone who had endured the trauma of the marathon bombings.”
The large memorial is made up of five large granite walls, designed to loosely resemble an open hand. It was conceived and designed by MIT Department of Architecture head J. Meejin Yoon.
“As a symbol, it represents Sean’s service and sacrifice," Yoon said. "A five pointed figure, a star, an open hand. As a structure, it translates ‘Collier strong’ into a literal structure of strength through unity.”
It’s made up of 32 solid granite blocks working together to support each other. MIT students took turns reading lines of a poem written in memory of Collier.
“Two years ago we were sheltering in place," read one student. "Today we celebrate a place of shelter. Take a look around. Open heart. Open mind. Open hand."
"Forty-one years of law enforcement, I’ve never seen people come together the way this community came together for us and for Sean," said John DiFava chief of the MIT police department. "And this is, I believe, so symbolic of that.”
One of Collier’s brothers, Rob Rogers, worked with MIT to help manage the memorial’s construction.
“He wasn’t just a cop to them," Rogers said. "He was their friend. He was part of their family here on campus. So it’s great to see everybody come out just to say hi, or just to think of him.”
And with this memorial, he says, he’s grateful that people in the MIT community will continue to think of his brother, and his service.
