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| University Police Officer Mark Smith slowly raised the flag and then lowered it to half staff preceding an official moment of silence at 8:46 a.m. Wednesday, marking the first anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Center. The time marks when the first plane crashed into one of the Twin Towers. At right is University Police Captain Donald Chier who conducted the ceremony. Chier, who is a Sargeant Major in the the U.S. Army Reserves, was called to active duty after the attacks and spent six months on assignment in Japan. |
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| A student with the message "I Love New York" on her T-shirt bows her head in silence during the vigil Wednesday night. In the background the flag continues to fly at half staff. Photos by Evangelos Dousmanis |
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By Marty Doorey
Beginning with a moment of silence at 8:46 a.m. as the flag in front of the Administration Building was lowered to half staff to the diminishing last chords of Beethoven’s Fantasie for piano, chorus and orchestra late in the evening at the Anderson Center, September 11 was a day of emotion and memories on the BU campus.
Members of the campus community turned to words, music and each other to mark the one-year anniversary of the national tragedy. Overcast skies and gusty winds added to the somber tone of the day as students, faculty and staff went about their normal routines burdened by their memories of the day a year ago.
"September 11 will always be a time of sadness for each of us individually and for the University," President Lois B. DeFleur told the largely student crowd gathered in the Peace Quad for a candlelight vigil. "Many lost friends or family that day, and among the nearly 3,000 victims were 15 University alumni.
The devastation wrought by the terrorists is seared into our mind."
Individually and collectively, people sought solace and comfort in ways that were appropriate for them. Campus and community musicians, writers and artists used their art to soothe the pain of the past and spur hope for the future. There were opportunities for individual expression in a marathon of mitzvahs, in messages written on big sheets on the Union Union wall, at an open microphone at the vigil, and in personal reflection in moments of silence. And there was community in small informal groups and in large gatherings in the Peace Quad for a vigil and later at the Anderson Center.
The campus observed two official moments of silence, the first at 8:46 a.m. to mark the time when the first plane crashed into the World Trade Center tower. A second moment of silence, accompanied by the tolling of bells from the University carillon, came at 10:29 a.m. to mark the collapse of the second tower at the Trade Center.
Buffeted by winds and drizzle, a crowd of silent watchers looked on as the flag in front of the Administration Building was lowered to half staff in the early morning.
Though the mood on campus was somber, there was also the spirit of resilience as the routine work of a university went on — e-mails were sent and read, deliveries were made, calls were made on cell phones while students scurried to class, groups gathered to talk about the day.
Students paused outside the University Union to pledge or perform a mitzvah, or good deed, as part of the Mitzvah Marathon sponsored by Hillel/Jewish Student Union and the Chabad House. Others paused to jot their thoughts, hopes and memories on three panels in the Union’s Tillman Lobby.
Outside, in the center of the dry fountain in the Dickinson Amphitheater, a group of student sat in a silent circle meditating and then, to the accompaniment of a soft guitar, chanted in low tones.
As the sun set behind the Library Tower, nearly 1,500 students gathered at the base of the grand staircase in front of University Union West for a vigil service organized by the Student Association. Flags from more than 30 nations that lost citizens in the World Trade Center attacks and have international students on campus, provided the backdrop to the stage.
While it was too windy to light candles, the students listened as members of the administration, student government and the audience shared their thoughts.
"It was a time of crisis and the campus united to meet it," DeFleur told the crowd. "We came together as we tried to gain greater understanding of the causes and effects of terrorism as well as the cultures and societies where it arises. Indeed, it seems that violence and conflicts are increasing both in frequency and intensity. As a University, we must rededicate ourselves to eradicating hatred and ignorance and to gaining broader perspectives and knowledge about other societies and cultures. This is our special mission as a University."
Vanessa Meads, whose father was a New York City firefighter who died in May from complications of an illness contracted during rescue efforts at the World Trade Center, offered a message of hope based on her experience. " I made the decision to go on," Meads said, after ruling out the possibility of dropping out of school. Speaking of her grief, she added, "You have to carry it with you and you have to carry on."
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| Dorothy Snyder, a physical facilities department worker, sporting a patriotic shirt bows her head in a moment of silence at the Couper Administration Building flagpole at 8:46 a.m. Wednesday. |
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With the stage bulging with nearly 300 performers — musicians and singers from the campus and community — the full house, with more than 200 looking on from lawn seats, listened to a mix of moods expressed in music and readings.
Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings, Op. 11, provided a somber yet familiar tone of mourning, while selections from Franz Schubert and the song "A Whole Lotta Sunlight" from the musical Raisin, performed by Cynthia Clarey echoed hope.
The Remembrance Chorus, gathered from the University Chorus and community groups ranging from the Downtown Singers, the Madrigal Choir, the Tri-Cities Opera, to area church and high school choruses, struck vibrant anthem-like tones with "The Promise of Living" from Aaron Copeland’s The Tender Land, and from Beethoven’s soaring, Fantasie, a work for piano, chorus and orchestra.
The last piece also featured pianist and Binghamton Symphony conductor John Covelli and soloists, Judy Berry, Anna Siwiek-Sitkowska, Laura Longworth, Todd Geer, James Gleason and Timothy LeFevbre. Conducted by Timothy Perry, the musicians included members of the University Symphony, augmented at times by members of the Binghamton Philharmonic and the Binghamton Community Orchestra.
Tom Kremer, professor of theatre, offered readings from Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, and a poem "For the Fallen," written by Liz Rosenberg, professor of English.
Readings and blessings in several religious traditions were offered by area clergy, Rev. Murray Frick, president of the Council of Churches; Imam Kazim Kopuz from the Southern Tier Islamic Center; and Rabbi Michele Medwin of Temple Concord.
| September 12, 2002 Volume 24, No. 3
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