West Virginia University employees will remember and pay tribute to the passing of colleagues at an Employee Remembrance Ceremony being planned for Thursday, Sept. 25, from noon-1:30 p.m. at Erickson Alumni Center.

In making the announcement, WVU Vice President for Human Resources and co-chair of the Employee Remembrance Ceremony Committee Margaret Phillips said,This event is a way to honor those who served this University before they passed away. We have a bell-ringing service to mark the passing of studentsceremonies to acknowledge veteransand vigils to mark national tragedies, but have not had a University event that honors the passing of faculty and staff. Beginning this fall, we will now have a way to remember the contributions of our loyal employees.

The event will recognize faculty, staff and administrators on the Morgantown campuses who died during the past year. However, the inaugural event will honor those who died from January 2007-September 2008. Family members of the deceased as well as colleagues and friends are invited to attend the ceremony.

Phillips extended a special note of appreciation to committee co-chair Randy Hudak, assistant vice president for facilities management, and his staff for designing and commissioning a special bronze plaque that will be unveiled to commemorate the annual ceremony. Phillips and Hudak were joined on the committee by Ron Campalong, staff representative; Dennis Ruscello, faculty representative; Jim Morris, director of employee relations; Becky Lofstead, assistant vice president for communications; Toni Christian, director of benefits administration; and Amber Tennant, senior employee relations specialist.

WVU s Division of Human ResourcesEmployee Relations unit will coordinate the event and invite the families of the deceased. For more information or to check that a loved one or colleague will be remembered, contact Tennant at 293-7238 or amber.tennant@mail.wvu.edu .