Members of the Queen’s community will gather in the atrium at Beamish-Munro Hall on Friday afternoon to remember the 14 women who died in the l’École Polytechnique shooting 25 years ago.

Twelve female engineering students, a nurse, and a female faculty member were killed in the 1989 massacre.

Three years after the attack, Dec. 6 was declared Canada’s National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. The annual event, hosted by the Engineering Society of Queen’s University, will start at 1 pm.

Organization of the Queen’s memorial is being led by Emily Townshend, a fourth-year engineering student.

“Fourteen women were slaughtered because of their gender, because someone felt that being female made them expendable. I believe they did not die in vain,” says Ms. Townshend. “Every year that passes makes us a little bit more complacent, a little bit more inclined to forget. I refuse to let that happen. I demand better, in the memory of the 12 women who were denied an iron ring, in the memory of the 14 women who were denied a future, for those of us who still have a chance."

The memorial will feature a rose ceremony with students, staff and faculty representing the 14 victims, Principal Daniel Woolf will be in attendance and speeches will be given by Dr. Kimberly Woodhouse, Dean of Engineering and Applied Science at Queen’s and Annette Bergeron, past president of Professional Engineers Ontario.

This year’s event is being held a day early as Dec. 6 is a Saturday.