A memorial event will be taking place in honor of Lexie Kamerman, a former UA alumna who was killed in a suicide bombing in Afghanistan in January.
Andrew Campbell, assistant director of residential education, said Student Affairs, the 2012 Higher Education cohort, staff within Higher Education, the Dean of Students, Campus Recreation and Residence Life have organized a memorial service for Kamerman, which will take place on Friday at 5:00 p.m. in Pima Residence Hall.
Pima was chosen as the location for the memorial because Kamerman was a graduate community director in that residence hall during the 2011-2012 academic school year, Campbell said.
Campbell said invitations for this memorial event were sent out to Student Affairs, the Center for the Study of Higher Education within the College of Education, Campus Recreation and Residence Life — some of the areas Kamerman was involved with during her time at the UA.
Kendra Corey, a Study Abroad coordinator who was part of the College of Education cohort with Kamerman, said she anticipates 50 people attending Friday’s memorial.
“I envision more of an intimate gathering … not very public,” Corey said.
Corey said during the memorial there will be some speakers, including Russell Martin, assistant director of Academic Success and Achievement, who will read a letter from Kamerman’s mother.
Corey said the memorial will be more of a joyful celebration, with a combination of laughter and tears.
During the memorial, Student Affairs will present a gift in Kamerman’s name.
Amanda Kraus, the assistant professor of Practice and Masters program director in the Center for the Study of Higher Education, said everyone involved in planning this memorial was happy to do so, and the event planning began a week after hearing the news.
“We want to capture her spirit and make clear her impact,” Kraus said. “She was very committed to social justice.”
Kamerman received her Master of Arts in the Center for the Study of Higher Education at the University of Arizona, Kraus said. Kraus advised Kamerman during her graduate studies at the UA.
“We want to welcome folks who knew Lexie and to celebrate her memory,” Kraus said.
After graduating from the UA, Kamerman went to Elon University in North Carolina, where she served as the assistant director of residence life during the 2012-2013 academic school year, Corey said.
Corey said she met Kamerman during graduate school in 2010 and was part of the same higher education cohort until the two graduated in 2012. Kamerman always embraced the UA school spirit, Corey said.
Kamerman began working as a student development specialist in the Office of Student Affairs at the American University of Afghanistan in June 2013, said Nate Opin, a faculty member in the Office of Student Affairs at the university.
Opin worked with Kamerman in the Office of Student Affairs for eight months. Opin said Kamerman advised more than 100 students at the university, in addition to overseeing seven buildings and three staff members in the residence program.
“She fostered a sense of community through campus programs,” Opin said in a Skype interview.
Opin said if he were able to attend the memorial event at the UA, he would talk about Kamerman’s positivity and desire to live life to the fullest.
“Lexie would always give her all to the benefit of the students on this campus,” Opin said. “Her passion for student affairs was phenomenal.”
