 Three days after the Boston Marathon bombing of April 2013 , MIT Police patrol officer Sean Collier was fatally shot by the suspects Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev , setting off a violent manhunt that shut down the campus and much of the Boston metropolitan area for a day . One week later , Collier 's memorial service was attended by more than 10 @,@ 000 people , in a ceremony hosted by the MIT community with thousands of police officers from the New England region and Canada . On November 25 , 2013 , MIT announced the creation of the Collier Medal , to be awarded annually to " an individual or group that embodies the character and qualities that Officer Collier exhibited as a member of the MIT community and in all aspects of his life " . The announcement further stated that " Future recipients of the award will include those whose contributions exceed the boundaries of their profession , those who have contributed to building bridges across the community , and those who consistently and selflessly perform acts of kindness " . 
