A Night of Remembrance

Students Hold Memorial Service to Honor Dominique Frazier

By Auburn Mann

Family and friends solemnly gathered to remember and honor Dominique T. “Domo” Frazier at a memorial service Sept. 21 in CLT 102. The business administration major was fatally stabbed in her residence hall a week earlier.

Organized by the BSU Student Government Association, the memorial service began with an opening prayer. Senior Class President Leslie Hall, SGA President Jamin Gallman, Junior Class President Chinelo Ezeka and Commuter Student Association President Nick Merriman welcomed those in attendance.

The memorial was organized, Hall said, after student leaders “noticed [that] after the community meeting held the previous Friday, students were still very somber from the incident. So we felt that students needed a venue to express how they felt, to celebrate her life and to give closure.” 

Hall’s remarks were followed by a brief video presentation, displaying photographed clips of Ms. Frazier’s life at Bowie State and at Friendship Collegiate Academy, playing to Kirk Franklin’s gospel song “I Smile.”  The video tribute was followed by an interpretive dance by Shaneace Virgil and a rendition of the gospel song “I Need You Now” sung by Joshua McNeil, who knew Ms. Frazier.

“I feel like Dominique has just gone to sleep, and when she finally wakes up, everyone she loves will be there,” McNeil said. “I know that many of you have people in your life that you would be willing to die for, but I want to encourage everyone to live for those they love as well.”  

Two poems were then shared by Ms. Frazier’s close friends Jessica Williams and Hope Burley. “I remember how all through the summer, you were telling me how you wanted to be my roommate; I keep thinking in my mind how things could have been different,” Burley recalled, breaking down into tears.

Following the performances, members of the BSU chapter of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity expressed their sorrow. “We have to stopped being petty toward one another and [now] hold one another accountable,” said Taylen Washington, chapter president. “We need to just demonstrate love to each other. The only way we will make it through is with each other, the way God intended.” 

The fraternity then presented the family with a donation collected from students. “Although, no amount of money can ever replace a person,” Washington said, handing the donation package to Ms. Frazier’s mother and embracing her.                 

This sort of compassion was continued by other groups on campus presenting Pan Hellenic Council, which regulates all the Greek life on campus, was able to put together a donation for the Frazier family from proceeds from a step competition held earlier. Merriman presented Dominique’s mother and grandmother with a gift bag on behalf of the SGA and Commuter Student Association.

“Though I didn’t know Dominique personally, she was a part of this Bowie State family and we still need to support one another in times of heavy need,” Merriman said. “Once a Bulldog always a Bulldog and that applies to the families or our extended families.”

In his remarks, Bowie State President Dr. Mickey L. Burnim cited I Thessalonians, 5:16-18: “Be Joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” Burnim also quoted O.G. Mandino: “Beginning today, treat everyone you meet as if they were going to be dead by midnight. Extend to them all the care, kindness, and understanding you can muster, and do it with no thought of any reward. Your life will never be the same again.”

Hall recalled when he first met Ms. Frazier during her freshman year as her assigned New Student Orientation officer. “I referred to her and the other girls in that group, as my collegiate girls, since they went to high school in a neighborhood not too far from where I’m from,” he said. “Actually, what comforts me was Dominique’s very outgoing personality.

“I actually saw Dominique last Thursday, and she came up to me and said you’re not following me on Twitter,” Hall added, drawing a chuckle from many in the auditorium. “I want the Frazier family to know that you have friend at Bowie State, and that we loved your daughter very much.”

The ceremony ended with a closing prayer by Freshman Class President Richard Lucas III, who asked God to continue to aid Bowie State in growing in alignment with its core values. The crowd then gathered for a candlelight vigil around the campus torch with the singing of the alma mater. Ms. Frazier’s funeral service was held Sept. 23 at The Assumption Catholic Church in South East Washington.