Members of the TCU community faced the cold weather on Tuesday evening to watch the official dedication of the new student memorial.

The memorial, which is located in between Jarvis Hall and Reed Hall, was built to honor members of the TCU community who have died.

The dedication began at 5 p.m. in front of the memorial. Members of Student Government Association welcomed TCU students, faculty and staff to the dedication. 

Student Body President Joshua Simpson said the memorial will serve as a place to remember those who may no longer be with us, but who have certainly never left the hearts of the TCU community. 

"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 imbedded people-first approach," Simpson said.

Simpson said the memorial features a single standing lotus leaf after the four lotus leaves of Frog Fountain. He then explained how the four leaves of Frog Fountain represents the passing of knowledge between the four years of the undergraduate student body. 

"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.

Simpson said the memorial serves as a place of memory, community and celebration. 

“For Texas Christian University, the memorial will become a deeply symbolic totem of our care for people and a sacred place for honoring life," Simpson said.

The memorial was dedicated by Chancellor Victor Boschini. He said that every member of the Horned Frog community brings their own story, strengths, passions and dreams to the TCU campus.

"Through the act of honoring these people, we name and lift up the value of each and every single member of the campus family, and that’s what I think is the best thing about this," Boschini said. 

Sarah Scherer, a senior on the TCU rifle team and sister of Stephen Scherer, who died in 2010, then spoke about what it means to remember someone. 

“When you remember somebody, it's about remembering how that person has impacted you. It's about remembering the laughter, the sorrow. It's about taking a moment and thinking about their face, thinking about their expressions and we have to put things in our life when we lose somebody to actively remember them," Scherer said.

Sarah shared how she personally remembers her brother by a locket her mother gave her on her birthday the year after Stephen died. She said she wears the necklace as a way to feel close to him again.

Scherer then asked the crowd to bow their heads in a moment of silence for those in the recent tragedies in Boston, Mass. and West, Texas.

The Rev. Kaufman concluded the dedication with a prayer and invited the TCU community to stay and share their stories with one another.