The Ithaca College family shares some thoughts post-September 11 on our changed nation and world.
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The Ithaca College community was touched in a very personal way: four young School of Business alumni who worked at the World Trade Center --- Thomas J. Collins ’87, Ronald Ruben ’87, Steven Russin ’91, and Derek Statkevicus ’93 --- were killed; John Sigmund ’02 lost his sister, Johanna, who worked at Fred Alger Management in the World Trade Center; and countless others were affected directly and indirectly. In the aftermath of the attacks hundreds of Ithaca College employees, students, and alumni donated everything from money and blood to their services as volunteers in New York City. Dave Cervini ’85, a leader of the College’s Metro New York Alumni Club, started a volunteer clearinghouse downtown, channeling food and other necessities to relief workers. Former crew team member Dave Russell ’85, a full-time New York City firefighter, spent days working at ground zero; many of his station mates are among the dead. Writing professor Fred Wilcox spent weekends volunteering with a massage therapy station set up to help the rescue workers. There are too many such stories to fit in these pages, but you can read about the contribution of Warren Pick ’78, a volunteer firefighter from Bedford, New York, on page 26. |
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The College posted pages on its website for information about alumni in New York City and Washington; scores of alumni reported their own safety so that friends unable to get through by phone in the immediate aftermath could be reassured. The "ICalum" list-serve offered an opportunity to exchange information among alumni scattered around the globe. On campus, students, faculty, and staff held memorial events and collections for the relief effort. On September 14, the National Day of Prayer and Remembrance, the College canceled classes and closed most offices during the noon hour. Thousands filled the academic quad for a prayer service featuring a talk by President Peggy R. Williams and benedictions by the chaplains and business professor Raquib Zaman, who leads a weekly Islamic prayer service. The College has hosted panel discussions, faculty colloquia, and teach-ins on various subjects related to September 11, war, and terrorism, including a special discussion on Muslim perspectives. A one-credit course, Making Sense of September 11, was offered during block II. A series of lectures, discussions, and writing assignments, the course offered a variety of topics taught by different professors and gave students the opportunity for reflection and personal expression. There has been a chorus of voices arising from South Hill and the Ithaca College family in these last months. We do not all necessarily agree, but, in the greatest traditions of our nation, we respect each other’s differences of outlook and opinion, and we welcome the civilized dialogue sparked by those differences. In the pages that follow we bring you just a few of these voices. I hope you will find something worthy of further reflection and discussion in the words we share. --- Maura Stephens, editor Photos
by George Sapio |
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We
have grieved alone and collectively for those who lost their lives in
the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and for the loved ones left
behind. 