Editor's Note: This article required a correction, which can be read in the Corrections section of the Web site, and the correction has been put into this article. This is the updated version.
When this year's juniors become the first to inhabit Sophia Gordon Hall next fall, they will have a permanent place to sit in the shade and reflect on those members of the Tufts community who were tragically unable to complete the journey through senior year.
The Senior Shade - the current name of the new area - was announced to the Class of 2006 by the Senior Class Council in an e-mail on Dec. 5.
This project will serve as the class gift to the community and will be dedicated to Boryana "Bory" Damyanova and Alex Mendell. Damyanova was struck and killed by two cars last month, and Mendell committed suicide in Sept. 2003.
The Senior Shade will "consist of a bench and a tree placed side-by-side in the courtyard of the first all-upperclassman dorm," the e-mail read.
The class expects to officially dedicate the project, which will also include a plaque, right before Senior Week in May.
The Council has already raised most of the approximately $5,000 needed for the project through events including Senior Pub Night. They hope to have the rest by around March, according to Senior Class Council President Dave Baumwoll.
The idea of a commemorative gift has been a long time in the making and has been considered ever since the untimely passing of Mendell two years ago, Baumwoll said.
The need was further suggested by the tragic death of Damyanova. "It seemed right to give something back for each of them," Baumwoll said.
The particular means of giving back was suggested during a Senior Leadership Council meeting.
The Leadership Council is an un-elected group of volunteers that works with the Class Council. The Leadership Council has "a pretty solid group that's come throughout the semester," Senior Class Council Secretary Becky Holden said.
The idea of a tree and bench was chosen over several other potential alternatives. These included a telescope on the roof of Tisch Library, a fountain and a fence. "We wanted something stationary that could be used by the future classes," Holden said.
Baumwoll said he would like the Senior Shade initiative to start a trend for other senior classes to follow. The project will "hopefully start a little tradition of classes giving back... right before they graduate," he said.
