The UPEI Faculty of Sustainable Design Engineering (FSDE) will host a candlelight vigil on Friday, December 6, at 10:00 am, at the Academic Staircase in the FDSE building in recognition of the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.

The National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women was created in response to the murder of 14 women, 12 of whom were engineering students, at the École Polytechnique in Montreal in 1989. The vigil is also an opportunity to remember the 10 women murdered on PEI since 1989 by someone who knew them as well as murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls in Canada.

Candles will be lit by engineering students, staff, and faculty in memory of the women who died 35 years ago: Geneviève Bergeron, Hélène Colgan, Nathalie Croteau, Barbara Daigneault, Anne-Marie Edward, Maud Haviernick, Maryse Laganière, Maryse Leclair, Anne-Marie Lemay, Sonia Pelletier, Michèle Richard, Annie St-Arneault, Annie Turcotte, and Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz.

A commemorative display will also be set up near the entrance of the FSDE building all day for those who wish to write messages of reflection and hope. Light refreshments will be provided following the ceremony, and all are welcome.

The flags near Kelley Memorial Building will be flown at half-mast on December 6 to also commemorate and honour victims of gender-based violence. Read more