With heavy hearts, members of the St. Olaf community gathered the evening of Sept. 12 in Boe Chapel to remember Matthew Lee ’27, who was fatally shot earlier that morning in South St. Paul.
Lee was a linebacker on the football team, known for his “contagious smile.”
The gathering, led by College Pastor Matthew Marohl and Associate College Pastor Katherine Fick, provided a space for those who wished to honor and remember Lee’s impact at the College.
Dozens of community members — Lee’s friends, teammates, and coaches — lined the main aisle of the chapel, waiting their turn to light a candle in his memory. Boe Chapel remained quiet throughout the vigil, except for the occasional prayer led by Marohl or Kirk.
As people began to depart, members of the football team gathered at the entrance, embracing one another, as well as Head Coach James Kilian, who addressed each player as they left.
In an interview with the Olaf Messenger, Kilian said his thoughts were with Lee’s family, especially his mother.
“Matt was a great kid, a great person,” Kilian said. “In all my dealings with him, what attracted me to him, the type of person he was, the things he had to overcome in his own life for even St. Olaf to be an option for him, you just knew he had the grit that it was going to take.”
The day before, Kilian said, the team had been discussing the will to “endure hard things” so that when tragedy strikes, they have the ability to handle it.
“[We spoke about it] not knowing or thinking that it was going to happen. You don’t think that you’re gonna lose a teammate the next day,” Kilian said. “It’s not just a metaphor or what if; this is now the reality.”
Teammate Sawyer Chell ’27 met Lee their freshman year, and they had been friends ever since.
“He could have the worst day in the world, but always had that big smile on his face, and you could come to talk to him about anything,” Chell said.
Another friend and teammate, Luke Crosby ’27, also had known Lee since arriving at St. Olaf.
“He got along with every single guy on the team… like no matter what was going on in his life, he was always happy,” said Crosby. “He could just kind of light up a room.”
Noah Barrett ’26 said that during the vigil, he tried to think back to the last moments he remembered with Lee.
“[We] were just talking. We were with him 24 hours ago, it just doesn’t feel real,” Barrett said. “It feels like he was always laughing or making me laugh… It’s just weird to come to terms with that; that’s just not going to be a part of our team anymore.”
In an email to the student body inviting people to the vigil, Marohl encouraged students to access campus resources, including the Counseling Center and College Ministry, for support.
A GoFundMe has been created to help Lee’s family.
