DAY TO REMEMBER
Ceremony offers reflection on 9/11 anniversary
East Carolina University’s Center for Leadership and Civic Engagement hosted a 9/11 Reflection Ceremony on Friday, providing an opportunity for students, staff and faculty to share their recollections as the nation marks the 15th anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center, Pentagon and Flight 93.
Following a minute-long moment of silence, Dr. Erik Kneubuehl, associate vice chancellor for student involvement and leadership, invited the audience to share their memories of where they had been when they heard the news. Many were in school; one was only five years old and has no recollection of the event.
Most recalled a feeling of shock and numbness, but also a sense of community and shared tragedy.
“It is one of those experiences, that thank goodness we don’t have constantly, but one of those experiences in our world that transcends where you live,” Kneubuehl said. The challenge, he added, is to keep the memory alive, “not of the death or destruction or the planes hitting, but of how we came together, how people experienced it around the world.”
Dr. Bernard Schulz, associate vice chancellor for student affairs, shared that he had lost a friend at the Pentagon and was with his friend’s wife, waiting for news, when military chaplains arrived to notify her of his death.
“Even 15 years later it gets at my core,” he said. “While Sept. 11 is always hard for me as it brings back the tremendous grief I and so many of my friends faced that awful day, the response to the events of that day affirmed the incredible resiliency of the American people because our country stood strong in the rebuilding process.”
Barbara Whitehead, director of NCPacks4Patriots, also spoke at the reflection ceremony, and collection boxes were available for care and comfort items for troops and their family members. The collection boxes will remain available for the next week in the CLCE office in the Old Cafeteria Complex.
On Saturday, ECU students will participate in the Sept. 11 National Day of Service, working with community organizations including Making Pitt Fit, the Pitt County Animal Shelter, Food Bank of Central and Eastern N.C., Golden Living and Cultivate Greenville.
Lizzie Shepard, an AmeriCorps VISTA member with the CLCE, also noted the importance of focusing on the positive aspects of the tragedy’s aftermath. “Even though this was a time of grief,” she said, “a sense of hope and community was born.”
Dr. Erik Kneubuehl speaks during the 9/11 Reflection Ceremony in Mendenhall Student Center.