Sept. 25, 2001

Coming to Grips with Terrorism

University Community Unites in the Wake of the Unspeakable Attacks on New York and Washington

By Greg Licamele

The GW community continues to mourn, but move forward after the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center and Pentagon on Sept. 11, a day the world will not forget.

The day after terrorism struck America, a variety of paradoxical scenes played out on GW’s campus. People milled about, while National Guard Humvees descended on campus to provide extra protection as the District declared a state of emergency.

In reaction to the destruction and loss of life in New York and Virginia, the GW community came together on Sept. 12 as more than 3,500 students, faculty, and staff members gathered on Kogan Plaza. Prayers, reflections, and tears were shared amid an otherwise silent night in Foggy Bottom.

“What happened yesterday and in the hours since has been an education — in the worst and the best of human nature,” said Roger Kapoor, president of the student association. “We have seen the very worst actions that fear and cowardice can produce.”

As candles burned and sirens rang in the distance, prayers were offered from all faiths represented by the Board of Chaplains for the GW community, the country, and the world.

“In our time of need, give us the strength to always hold fast to the faith, hope, and love you shower upon us,” prayed Father Rob Panke of the Newman Catholic Center. “Help us to fight the evil we have witnessed by deepening our love and compassion for one another and give us your ability to forgive — even our greatest enemy.”

University President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg remarked about the worldwide alumni support.

“I’ve had calls from all over the world from George Washington University alumni in the Middle East, Europe, Asia, and elsewhere calling to extend condolences to me as the American they wanted to reach out and touch because of their association with you and your University,” Trachtenberg said. “I am confident that this country will go forward from strength to strength and that we will overcome the crisis of the moment.”

Speaking on behalf of the faculty, Erina MacGeorge, assistant professor of communication, CCAS, urged the GW community to unite around each other and the country.

“Our communities depend on our ability to respond to our fear and our anger with wisdom and compassion,” MacGeorge said. “Listen to that instinct that moves you to care and share and unify with others.”

After the prayers and reflections at Kogan Plaza, the thousands of students, faculty, and staff quietly processed to the University Yard, where a silent vigil was held as people meditated, stared, and prayed for peace, unity, and understanding.

Trachtenberg said that these gatherings were uniting, yet paradoxical.

“Memorial services like this are taking place on university campuses from coast to coast,” Trachtenberg said. “We are holding hands with students from New York to California. They are one and the same time a memorial and a protest: a memorial for the tragedy and the deaths, and a protest against intolerance and terrorism.”

 

Send feedback to: bygeorge@gwu.edu