Two years ago, the news of a crash on Interstate 69 shook the a college campus as four students and one faculty member were found dead in a Taylor University van.

On Saturday, Taylor will honor their memory with the dedication of the Memorial Prayer Chapel at the Upland campus.

Taylor President Eugene Habecker and Sherry Larson, the mother of crash victim Brad Larson, will speak during the 30-minute service, which will conclude with the release of doves. The $2.4 million chapel sits in the heart of the 1,800-student campus 60 miles south of Fort Wayne.

The decision to build the chapel came as a result of the prayers the campus received after the events of April 26, 2006, according to Jim Garringer, Taylor's media relations director. “We'll never forget those days and the sorrow we felt,” he said. “By and large, we're all doing very well.”

The chapel, which seats 75 people, was designed as an open circular structure that allows students to pass through as they go to class and travel the campus, according to Taylor's Web site. A memorial garden will surround the chapel.

“It's the first building built in the history of Taylor University that is expressly meant for prayer,” Garringer said.

A memorial to crash victims Laurel Erb, Brad Larson, Betsy Smith, Laura VanRyn and Monica Felver will be placed at the center of the chapel on Saturday.

The chapel, Garringer said, will not only honor their memories but all those who have died and left a lasting impression on Taylor's campus.

A wall still to be constructed called the “Great Cloud of Witnesses” will allow donors to honor those people.

Erb, Larson, Smith and VanRyn, all Taylor-Upland students, and Felver, a staff member, died two years ago when a tractor-trailer crossed the median on I-69 near Marion and struck their van, which was carrying nine students and staff returning from the Fort Wayne campus

The already tragic situation turned even more so five weeks later when it was discovered two students in the crash - Whitney Cerak, who survived, and VanRyn - had been mistaken for each other. The story has now been published in, “Mistaken Identity: Two Families, One Survivor, Unwavering Hope,” which currently tops the New York Times' hardcover nonfiction bestseller list.

The chapel dedication is a part of the campus's Heritage Weekend, which begins Friday with Grandparents Day and continues through Saturday with Taylathon, a bike race around campus, and a program on the past, present and future of the school.