Students reflect, mourn together

Sophomore Ariel Altman and junior Marc Birbach waited on a bench next to the Showalter Fountain, surrounded by crowds of other students.

The two friends, both from Queens, N.Y., recounted their experiences of Sept. 11, 2001, as they waited for a candlelight vigil in honor of the seven-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

“People lost so much; America lost so much,” Altman said. “It’s worth honoring,”

Altman added how frightening that day was walking home and not knowing whether or not his mom, who had a meeting at the top of one of the towers, was still alive. 

The 9/11 candlelight vigil, sponsored by the IU College Republicans, began at 8 p.m. with music by junior Gordon Buchanan and a series of students speaking about their personal experiences with the attacks. 

“Seven years ago today, all of our lives changed,” said junior Chelsea Kane, chairwoman of the IU College Republicans.

Kane said today everyone stood together as one – race, gender and political affiliation did not matter.  

“We continue to stand as a beacon of strength to the entire world,” she said. “We have endured despite the pain that will always accompany this day. Banish the darkness, and share the light,” Kane reminded onlookers.”

As she finished speaking to the crowd, Kane told everyone to keep remembering and to know there are always others grieving if they needed help overcoming the tragedy.
Many students from the New York area attended the event. Some said they felt drawn to the vigil.

Birbach said he thought it was important for students to come and honor the fallen.  
“We can’t afford to forget,” said graduate student Allison Speicher.

Students spoke to each other about their personal tragedies for almost the entirety of the event. Speicher said she sat in her Advanced Placement European History class when the secretary of her school announced on the intercom system to another faculty member that her sister was still alive.

Graduate student Shazaf Fatima said she was in Pakistan when the attacks took place and thought it was a prank until the second tower was hit. 

Fatima said she remembers mostly the aftermath, when religious extremism and racism began to grip the hearts of not just Americans, but the entire world. She said her sister, who was attending the University of Chicago at the time, experienced extreme racism because of her “brown skin.”

She added that even in Pakistan fear took hold of the population and said the entire release for the final Harry Potter book was canceled because of a bomb threat, when it would not have otherwise been.

“I’d never been treated like a second-class citizen, which I was treated like here,” Fatima said.

She explained how she hated her first year in the U.S. in 2002 because of the attitude toward those who look Middle Eastern. 

Dean of Students Dick McKaig said he thinks its wonderful that students organize this without the help of IU officials. He said that’s the way it should be.

“The sun comes up, and that’s why you hope tomorrow will be a better day for everybody,” McKaig said. “That’s how we survive.”