FILE PHOTO/Arizona Daily Wildcat After the deadly shootings at the College of Nursing last October, mourners constructed an informal memorial at the site. The garden will be located on the west side of campus.

The memory of the three nursing professors who were murdered at the UA in October will have a permanent home on the side of campus south of Speedway Boulevard, thanks to the UA's Plaza of Honor campaign.

The campaign is designed to raise $1.5 million to honor important women of the UA and society.

The plaza, which planners hope will open in the fall, will be located between Centennial Hall and the Arizona State Museum on East University Boulevard and will honor a myriad of women, ranging from mothers to daughters, sisters, prominent politicians and UA figures, including the late professors Cheryl McGaffic, Barbara Monroe and Robin Rogers.

"The goal is to honor and celebrate the lives of women," said Liz Kennedy, department head of women's studies.

President Pete Likins donated $1,000 in December to start a separate fund within the campaign to memorialize the nursing professors.

"They leave a legacy behind them that I thought not only I, but others, would want to remember," Likins said.

Earlier in the campaign, Likins donated $10,000 in the name of his wife Patricia.

Barbara Monroe

"I am a guy who has, through his life, benefited just enormously from relationships with women who have shaped my life," Likins said. "It's always been important to who I am."

"It obviously means a lot to me that he cares enough about me and women's issues to honor me in that way," Patricia Likins said.

She added that she thinks the garden itself, is an important symbol of women's progress.

Cheryl McGaffic

"I think it's a good idea and an important thing to do," she said. "We've come a long way."

Patricia Likins also said that "(The memorial) is a wonderful, wonderful idea. We were all very devastated by what happened."

The nursing professors will be honored with a bench in the garden, which will also contain dedicated trees, arches and tiles, as well as a kiosk with access to a web site containing the life stories of each of the women honored in the garden.

Robin Rodgers

Students appeared welcoming of the idea of a memorial on East University Boulevard. "I think it's a great idea," said Esther Kim, a speech and hearing graduate student. "It's important to remember, and it would be a good thing to tie into the plaza honoring women."

"It's exciting," said Victoria George, a nutrition junior. "It will be a nice place to go and relax."

Syiani Walker, a University of Arizona Bookstore employee, said she likes the sound of the plans for the garden and for the memorial that will be placed there for the slain professors.

"I thought it was a really sad event when it happened," Walker said. "It was so tragic · It's really wonderful that they're going to memorialize them."

To date, various donors have given $430,000 to the campaign, to honor important women of the UA community.

Right now, the Plaza of Honor campaign is still in the "major donors" phase, according to Liz Kennedy. Kennedy said that it will remain in this phase until they reach $700,000 dollars, half of the total goal. Kennedy predicts that this will be in May.

Anyone who wants to make a donation for the nursing professors memorial is welcome to do so.

"Any size donation is accepted," she said.

For more information regarding the UA Women's Plaza of Honor or the fund to memorialize the nursing professors, contact the department of women's studies at 621-7338.