Remembering September 11

Dear Members of the Georgetown Community,

Tomorrow marks twenty-five years since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the largest and most deadly attack on U.S. soil since Pearl Harbor in 1941.

On that horrific morning, nearly 3,000 people were killed, including 40 members of the Georgetown community. You can read each of their names on our remembrance website. To acknowledge this solemn anniversary, we will toll the bells of Healy Hall at 8:46 a.m., and at the 12:10 p.m. Mass, we will offer a special remembrance of the Georgetown community members who were killed that day.

Amidst the smoke and rubble of the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Virginia, first responders served with extraordinary heroism, saving untold lives and often sacrificing their own. The courageous passengers of Flight 93 gave their lives to protect those of people they would never know. Despite the fear and confusion, as families awaited news of loved ones and a nation sought to make sense of this devastating tragedy, there were countless acts of bravery and courage by ordinary people caring for their friends and neighbors.

In my own family, my mother-in-law was riding the subway on her way to work in the north tower of the World Trade Center when the attack occurred. For a tense few hours, we waited and worried, not knowing where she was. Eventually, after walking to Brooklyn from Lower Manhattan, she managed to call home from a pay phone.

Here at Georgetown, even while the University grieved the loss of professors, alumni, family members and friends, there was an immediate impulse — grounded in our Jesuit, Catholic values — to come together as one community, across our differences of faith, culture and belief. The day after the attacks, faculty and students gathered for a “Day of Dialogue.” And the following day, the University held an interfaith prayer service in Gaston Hall, powerfully led by Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Dharmic clergy. Students, faculty and staff donated blood and hung yellow ribbons across the campus.

Our colleagues at the Georgetown University Library have created an online exhibition, chronicling Georgetown’s response. I encourage you to visit it to learn more about how this community affirmed our shared humanity in the face of inhumane violence. Additionally, the University recently accepted the donation of a new collection featuring more than 150,000 primary source materials, assembled by the journalist Peter Bergen during his years reporting on Al-Qaeda and those responsible for the September 11 attacks. Portions of this extensive collection are now available to Georgetown University community members and researchers for analysis and study. This vast collection is currently undergoing processing and digitization, with the goal of expanding access over the coming year.

Twenty-five years later, with polarization gnawing at our nation’s social fabric, we continue to remember those who perished on September 11, even as we lament the erosion of the sense of shared purpose that prevailed in the days and months following the attacks. This year, as they have for many years, and in keeping with that original spirit of unity, the Bipartisan Coalition, a group of Georgetown students committed to dialogue across our disagreements, will place 3,000 small U.S. flags on Copley and Healy Lawns.

On this 25th anniversary of September 11, 2001, I ask every member of the Georgetown community to join together in remembering the Hoyas we lost, as well as everyone else who died that day. We remember and pray for them and for the loved ones they left behind. We pray for peace and unity in our wounded, divided world, and we rededicate ourselves to the Jesuit values of understanding and dialogue.

Respectfully,

Eduardo M. Peñalver
President