University officials, friends and family gathered Friday afternoon to dedicate a new CD collection willed to the University by 1998 graduate Danny Reed, who died of complications from AIDS Nov. 20, 1998.

Danny had a passion for music, said Dr. Laura Youens, deputy director of the Department of Music. He was a rare student. And his passion for music is shown here in this very diverse music collection.

The collection of 1,677 CDs ranges in classical music tastes.

He was a huge fan of opera, Youens said. The collection has everything recorded on CD by Handel and Bach. In addition the collection is especially strong in the 17th and 18th centuries. His collection also covers a large amount of modern composers like Chen Lee. Danny also had a fondness for Scandinavian composers.

The University recently bought three special CD cases to house the new collection. The cases feature the CDs in drawers, each with a plaque reading Daniel K. Reed. BA 98 Memorial Collection.

Lester Lefton, dean of the Columbian School of Arts and Sciences, spoke about Reed’s collection at the ceremony.

I think that this ensures that Danny’s memory will live on, Lefton said. This is the great thing about this collection that it will last forever. It shows the commitment to music that Danny showed and that is to be remembered.

Friends said Reed made frequent trips to the hospital while he was sick, and would buy CDs if he received bad news from the doctor.

When Reed listened to the CDs he would seem a lifetime away, friends said.

The new CDs, which more than doubled the department’s collection, are available to students and faculty members, Youens said.

It is a great gift to the University and a great way to remember Danny, Youens said.

-Alex Kingsbury