Berry Bryant memorial helps bring closure

Newly installed space on NWC campus helps advance the healing process

Posted 3/24/22

While Sharon Bryant, mother of the late Berry Bryant, took the podium Sunday, a tear rolled down Mandy Williams’ face. She stood arm-and-arm with Northwest College President Lisa Watson, backs …

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Berry Bryant memorial helps bring closure

Newly installed space on NWC campus helps advance the healing process

Posted

While Sharon Bryant, mother of the late Berry Bryant, took the podium Sunday, a tear rolled down Mandy Williams’ face. She stood arm-and-arm with Northwest College President Lisa Watson, backs against a cold north wind and looking for closure.

Williams approached the Northwest College Foundation last year, searching for an appropriate way to remember Berry, who was murdered on Polecat Bench at the hands of a fellow student more than 25 years ago. The foundation responded by establishing a scholarship program and in October, on the 25th anniversary of the tragic day, the college honored her with a prominent corner of the campus for a memorial.

Unfortunately, a special bench intended as the centerpiece was stuck somewhere “in the ocean” during the pandemic-influenced transportation supply chain quagmire, Sharon Bryant said. So friends, family, and students and staff at the Powell college came together on the final day of winter to dedicate a bench, lovingly designed by Berry’s friend and classmate Jamey Kirkland.

He designed the bench to represent his college friend’s unique personality — from the daffodils, which were Berry’s birth flower, to the font used on the memorial, which is “flowing like Berry’s hair,” Kirkland said. And it includes her image, taken by Riverton portrait photographer Alan Sinner, which captured her beauty and spirit shortly before she enrolled at the college.

Berry was only on the campus for about a month before she was killed. Despite her short time as a NWC student, “it fulfilled a dream for Berry,” her mother said. “Even if it only lasted 30 days, it was her dream. And to me that’s important.”

Shelby Wetzel, the executive director of the NWC Foundation, shared good news from the inaugural year of the Berry Bryant Memorial Endowment, which has already begun to help students.

“The scholarship will impact students’ lives and help people move forward in a positive way,” Wetzel told the crowd while introducing the first recipient, freshman Sabrina Alvarez.

On the college’s “Giving Day” last year, the endowment raised about $8,500. The college then matched the amount, and the resulting $17,000 was invested to create a perpetual endowment. Every year, it will spin off money to award a scholarship.

“We tried to make that scholarship emblematic of Berry’s life to support someone who would remind us of her,” Wetzel said.

President Watson said William’s desire to have a permanent place dedicated to Berry brought back memories of a friend she lost in high school.

“She was abducted. And they never found her,” Watson told the crowd of about two dozen students, faculty, friends and family.

Watson said it’s important to remember and learn from the experiences of the last 25 years. But, despite the good things happening in Berry’s memory, it will never be an easy process.

“There’s never full closure,” she said.

Sharon Bryant said the dedication of the memorial space was bittersweet for her, yet important for the community.

“I feel like there was some healing that didn’t take place many years ago,” she said. “I really feel like this is something they needed. The space is a memorial to Berry, but it’s also an icon for all people who have been removed from life unjustly.”

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