University Remembers September 11, 2001,
and Flies Pentagon Flag in Campus Ceremony

By Thijs Messelaar

A brisk breeze blew in off the harbor, and as is true every day, airplanes flew over campus. This day, however, the usual roar of jet engines probably only exacerbated the chilly memories of two years prior.

Yet the warm hearts of a hundred students, faculty, and staff quietly huddled together that Thursday morning for the Memorial of Hope, a commemoration of the lives lost during the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

Paul Dawson, Pentagon liaison and member of the Joiner Center for the Study of War and Social Consequences, presented Chancellor Jo Ann Gora with a flag case from Sioux veterans. "As the Sioux say, ‘Mitakuye Oyasin'"We are all one people," Dawson told the crowd.

The Pentagon Flag was then raised in silence after Kevin Bowen, director of the Joiner Center, explained that it is one of the few commemorative flags that had been flown over the Pentagon after September 11, 2001.

A procession, led by bagpiper Ed Ewell's beautifully brooding rendition of "Amazing Grace," wound through campus to the Ryan Lounge for the Memorial of Hope Service and Reception.

"We must learn to transcend our differences," Chancellor Gora said to the crowd in a speech that included mention of some UMass workers who'd lost loved ones in the attacks.

"Be compassionate towards others from the heart"not just pretending," urged Mohammed Safi Khalifa, president of the Muslim Student Organization. "Islam teaches us that a wholehearted smile can lead to a firm handshake."

Other speakers were Keith Motley, vice chancellor of student affairs; Rev. Adrienne Berry-Burton, Protestant chaplain; Yolanda Ortiz, student leader for the Interfaith Campus Ministry; and Maggie Cahill, Interfaith Catholic chaplain.

Later, approximately 30 students and faculty participated in "The Roundtable Discussion: Post-9/11" in the Ryan Lounge. While mediator Maggie Cahill encouraged all "to speak from the heart and not the head," a few warned against overvaluing emotional responses to these troubling times.

"Planet Earth is littered with the ruins of civilizations that thought they were anointed by the gods," said American Studies professor Paul Atwood.

"The rabble is very dangerous when confronted with the heart," vociferously warned political science professor Hormoz Shahdadi.

Many spoke of their frustrations with the U.S. government's inattention to mounting dissent. "Why do the truths that have come out have no effect on policy?" asked Kevin Bowen.

"Even in the halls of the Pentagon, I don't feel the support for [this government], the rah-rah patriotism," said Paul Dawson.

But maybe, on this day of reflection, it was American Studies student Ayesha Kazmi who best blended heart with intellect, when she plaintively asked, "Millions have said ‘God bless America,' but I've only once heard someone say ‘God bless the world.' Why is that?"

Images:
One of the few commemorative Pentagon Flags flies over UMass Boston.
Kevin Bowen, director of the William Joiner Center for the Study of War and Social Consequences, and Paul Dawson, Pentagon liaison and Joiner Center member, spoke as part of the Memorial of Hope ceremony. (Photos by Harry Brett)

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