Permanent Memorial Being Constructed to Honor Sean Collier

By Matt Schooley

Friday marked the one-year anniversary of the day that former Salem State University student and Wilmington native Sean Collier was shot and killed in the line of duty at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

During a ceremony, representatives of MIT proved that they have not forgotten the Wilmington High School graduate, and don't plan to, as they revealed plans for a permanent memorial on the campus.

MIT associate professor of architecture J. Meejin Yoon unveiled designs for the memorial, which will be located at the spot where Collier was killed on April 18 in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings.

The memorial will sit between the Stata Center and the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, near the northwestern corner of the MIT North Court, according to a press release by the school.

“The Collier Memorial has been the single most difficult, emotional, and meaningful project I have ever worked on,” Yoon said at the Friday ceremony, according to MIT News Office, saying also that the design “was inspired by the gesture of an open hand. … It transforms this site of tragedy into a site of reflection.”

Yoon describes the Collier Memorial as "embodying strength" and adds that it "translates 'Collier Strong' into a physical form of strength and connectedness."

Collier was a member of the Wilmington High School Class of 2014, and efforts have been made locally to keep his memory alive. Soon after his death in 2013, a scholarship was created in Collier's name.