From the Editor’s Desk

As we approached planning for this fall 2002 issue, it was inevitable that our thoughts would turn to last year, to Sept. 11, 2001. To those of us who live in the Washington area, every trip past the Pentagon keeps alive the memory of a day we will never totally forget.

Three articles in this issue are offered in remembrance of those on the planes, those in the buildings, and their survivors. They also are offered in great appreciation of those brave police officers, firefighters, and private citizens who hoped against hope and fought against fatigue, day after day, trusting until the end that they would find someone miraculously alive in the burning rubble.

On our cover this issue is one of those enormously brave private citizens, volunteer firefighter Eric M. Jones, who received his GW bachelor’s degree in Emergency Medical Services in 1998. Eric tells his personal story of faith and exhaustion, of dedication and despair, beginning on page 18. No one can summarize Eric’s story, just as no one could have written it as he did. But we must tell you at least this: Eric Jones is a genuine American hero, and we are enormously proud of his association with GW.

On page 35 we present the Sept. 11 experiences of GW alumna Robyn Walensky; a broadcast journalist since her GW graduation in 1988, she provided Jamie Freedman with her professional as well as personal perspective on Sept. 11 in New York City.

Finally, we are pleased to welcome to the magazine GW’s Yitzak Rabin Distinguished Professor of International Affairs, Peace, and Ethics, Walter Reich. Former director of the Holocaust Museum in Washington, Reich is clearly no stranger to terrorism. His thoughtful “Viewpoint” column reflects a lifetime of contemplation of the roots of terrorism and the dangers inherent in ancient hatreds and suspicions.

Beyond Sept. 11, there are fine GW tales to tell. Heather Milke’s story of the Gelman Library and its brief pause to celebrate acquiring its two millionth volume before racing ahead toward three million is full of details and information that may surprise you. The library seems to improve daily, thanks to dedicated leadership and outstanding support.

Finally, we offer another eye-opener, as Marc Leepson (BA ’67, MA ’71) gives us an intriguing piece of recent history as he traces the careers of his ’60s colleagues at GW’s student radio station, WRGW. It turns out that GW, and WRGW, prepared this group of sometimes zany and always very talented students for careers that in many cases they had scarcely identified as possibilities.

Besides these features, we offer you news, news, news—new dean, new honors for President Trachtenberg, new books, new graduates—and short profiles of some of your most interesting co-alumni.

Sandy Holland
Editor