On March 13, 2020, three Louisville police officers shot and killed Breonna Taylor in her home while she was sleeping. On September 23, a Kentucky grand jury indicted one of the three officers not for her death, but for “wanton endangerment” of Breonna Taylor’s neighbors from the gunshots. The other two officers were not charged. 

For months, social media users have rallied for the arrests of Breonna Taylor’s killers. The jury’s results broke the hearts of all who sought justice in her name. 

The night of September 25, Saint Louis University students held a community discussion and vigil for Taylor at the clock tower of North Campus. The goal of the community discussion was to highlight the injustices faced by Black people in America and on SLU’s campus. The open-mic format of the discussion welcomed students of all races to raise awareness for various issues. 

Graduate student Ashlee Lambert spearheaded a list of demands for SLU to urge the betterment of BIPOC lives on campus. One of the largest demands of the list is the renaming of sites on campus that are named after slave owners, such as “Frost Campus”—the official name of SLU’s North Campus. Students also call for the disarming of campus DPS officers and for better wages of food service, maintenance, and custodial workers on campus, many of whom are persons of color. 

After the community discussion, attendees of the vigil lit candles and took 26 seconds of silence to honor the 26 short years of Breonna Taylor’s life. An additional moment of silence was also held to remember the lives of other individuals of color whose lives have been taken by police officers. A memorial for Breonna Taylor still rests at SLU’s clock tower. Ashlee Lambert’s chalked messages are accompanied by posters and messages from other SLU students. 

The night of September 24, freshman Andrew Devine made the sticky note memorial that rests at the base of the clocktower. Anyone can write a note to honor the life of Breonna Taylor and to remember the lives of other Black people who have been killed by police. Devine plans to light a candle every night for 26 days to honor Taylor’s life. 

Students who are memorializing Black lives lost to police brutality hope to keep the clock tower as a reminder to the SLU community of daily injustices. When the forecasted weekend rain washes the initial messages away, they will go right back to work with their colored chalk to sustain their memorial.