TCNJ students gathered together Sunday night to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the tragic terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 with a candlelight vigil. Due to inclement weather, the event was moved from the Alumni Grove to inside the Brower Student Center, and while there were no actual candles because of the location change, an air of somber reverence permeated the crowd of students who had come to pay their respects.
Sophomore communications major Alex Brown said of the event, “I think this is just a good way for us to remember that day and see how far we’ve come since then and how much we’ve grown.”
Thinking back to the day of the attacks, Brown said, “I was nine when it happened, and I know for me personally, I remember exactly where I was when I found out,” even though she was only in fourth grade. “Now we’re in college, so it’s such a different way of looking at it,” she said, noting how important it is for students to continue to reflect on the attacks with the newfound knowledge and perspective they have gained in recent years.
The vigil, which was co-sponsored by TCNJ’s Inter-Greek Council and Student Government, featured speeches by Keith Knutzen, a member of Phi Kappa Psi fraternity responsible for coordinating the event, Olaniyi Solebo, the president of Student Government, and Barbara Gitenstein, the president of the College. Lions EMS also donated a red, white and blue flowered wreath in honor of those who lost their lives during the attacks, especially the service men and women who took part in rescue efforts.
In addition to remembering those lives lost—on 9/11, in the aftermath, and at war in Afghanistan and Iraq—the presenters placed much emphasis on the burden of “our generation” to keep the memory of the attacks alive while securing a promising future for our country.
So far, it seems, we have been doing a pretty good job. The 9/11 vigil itself serves as proof of college-aged students ability to recognize the magnitude of such a pivotal moment in our country’s history and to realize the greater significance it has beyond their own lives.
In his speech, Knutzen, a junior marketing and economics double-major, said, “This commemoration was put together by the youth here at this college, and even though we may have only been ten or eleven years old when the attacks occurred, we were still able to mobilize ourselves into a movement of courage and audacity to show our support and undying obligation to this nation.”
Junior Marketing and Spanish double-major Christina Kopka agrees that it is current college students’ responsibility to keep alive the spirit that infused America in the months immediately following September 11.
“It’s really important that our generation remembers 9/11 and keeps in mind what happened, because we’re the ones that are going to be carrying it on,” she said. “Our brothers and sisters were too young to remember what happened. We need to be the ones to make sure it is not forgotten.”
President Gitenstein was very impressed with the student body’s ability to do just that via the vigil, and to understand the true importance of 9/11 and its implications on the country’s future. “I’m really proud of us,” she said.
Check out the video footage for clips from the speeches made at the vigil and a photo gallery of how 9/11 was commemorated on campus.