We've all heard hundreds of stories that started the same way, with a thought we've had ourselves: When I woke up on Sept. 11, 2001, it was just any other day. But by 9:30 a.m., everything had changed.
That everything included the University. The following days included a cancellation of classes, heartrending vigils and a surge of patriotism. A year later, the University was back on even keel, even as the nation headed into a war whose roots lay partially in the Sept. 11 attacks.
And now, two years later, though this morning began as simply as this date in 2001, there are definite differences. It's doubtful anyone will go through today without giving a thought to what we've gone through over the past two years.
Sept. 11, 2001
The University's reaction to the tragedy was instantaneous. Students exited their 9:30 a.m. classes and learned what had taken place, then joined the masses jamming cell phone towers to check on loved ones in New York and Washington, D.C.
The ACC canceled all athletic events through the following Friday, including the Virginia football game against Penn State. President John T. Casteen III canceled classes from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. the following day, citing the need for students and professors to have time to gather and acknowledge "both the losses incurred ... and our determination to stand together as a community even in the worst of times." The Center for Counseling and Psychological Services began walk-in counseling in Newcomb Hall and opened a 24-hour hotline. Blood drives were organized and students stood in lines as long as seven hours to do what little bit they could to help.
These actions symbolized the physical effect the attacks had on students' lives. For the next year, Sept. 11 was part of daily reality. It changed the way Americans went through the airport. It changed the foreign policy of the nation. It changed the way people treated each other.
In the evening of Sept. 11, a quickly-organized vigil was held on the South Lawn.
Students expressed shock and sorrow, and even disbelief.
"This doesn't happen, this is something from the movies," said then-first year College student Nathan Royster that day. "This is the biggest thing I have ever seen."
Sept. 11, 2002
A year later, talk had shifted from shock to how the United States was going to respond.
Sept. 11 was still a daily reality. But instead of fears of another, impending attack, Americans concentrated on how they were going to remember.
Suggestions abounded for what to build on the site of the World Trade Center. Television programs interviewed those who had lost loved ones in the attacks. Newspapers, including The Cavalier Daily, produced huge supplements.
The U.S. already had headed into Afghanistan. And President Bush had opened his war on terrorism, targeting the "axis of evil."
A teach-in held in the Amphitheater, mirroring a talk held two days after the attacks themselves, addressed the causes and effects of Sept. 11, including the then-developing U.S. policy toward Iraq.
Similar forums addressed the restrictions on American civil rights that had resulted from the surge of patriotism and paranoia following the attacks.
But in many ways, the attacks were still an open wound. "We were the generation without war," one student said. "But now we are the generation with an attack."
Sept. 11, 2003
Today holds much in common with last year and the year before.
Again, teachers will hold a forum, sponsored by the Arab Student Organization and the Muslim Student Association, on "understanding terrorism from a historical and Islamic perspective."
Again, a vigil will be held on the South Lawn at 8 p.m. The event, sponsored by Embrace Diversity, will feature speakers from a number of minority backgrounds.
For some students, Sept. 11 still is a daily reality. For others, its impact had begun to wane.
"It was a horrific event, but I don't dwell on it every day," said second-year College student Cameron Blair. "I'm not from the D.C. area, so I wasn't personally affected."
For third-year College student Barrie Moorman, organizer of tonight's vigil, that personal connection keeps the attacks fresh in her mind.
"My best friend lost her older brother in the Pentagon. That's been something that has impacted my life and my relationship with her," Moorman said. "That personal connection has made it a much more important thing for me."
She feels tonight's vigil is an important opportunity for students to gather and remember the lives that were lost, the heroes who emerged and everyone who was affected by the tragedy.
"I think our country is a lot different today than before the attacks," Moorman said. "We don't want to lose sight of why those changes happened."
For her, Sept. 11 is more than just a memory. But she knows that isn't true for everyone.
"It's hard for me to imagine that people don't think about it every day," Moorman said. "But it seems like nationwide there's a downward trend this year."
Fourth-year College student Stephen Ward falls into that group.
"I think about [Sept. 11] on occasion, when it comes up on TV," he said.
Second-year Engineering student Gillian Smith agreed.
"I'm aware it's the anniversary, but it's a passing thought," Smith said.
Fourth-year College student Megan McDade plans to give the anniversary more than a passing thought, both this year and in the future.
"I saw the signs this morning for the ceremony on the Lawn, and I really want to go," McDade said. "I remember that day so clearly. It was so awful. Every year, I'm not going to be able to not do anything."
McDade also thinks about Sept. 11 on more than just the anniversary.
"I think about it all the time," she said. "Nothing I've ever experienced is comparable. It's surprising how often it comes up in your memory."
Third-year Commerce student Kelly Woodham feels that the impact will never truly fade. She compares the attacks to the assassination of JFK, in that everyone can remember exactly where they were when they found out about the tragedy.
"It's something from our generation," Woodham said. "Being from New York, it's something I think about every time I cross the bridge. 'They didn't search my car; did they search the one in front of me?' There's paranoia everywhere. But I fully believe you can't live your life in fear."
Last year, the anniversary marked a change from the initial shock to institutionalizing the memory. This year, that memory has lost some of its immediacy. But whether students think about Sept. 11 every day or only one day a year, one element is the same: Sept. 11 will never again be just another day.
Read More
The naked party uncovered
By Mia Tan | 6 hours agoThe naked party, founded by fourth-year Architecture student Wells Woolcott, is the first of its kind at the University in recent memory.
A second chance to dress for graduation
By Julianne Saunders | YesterdayI have learned to see my college graduation not as a way to make up for the past but as an event worth celebrating on its own.
How study abroad taught me to stop studying
By Grace Scott | May 10, 2024Turns out, it took attending one of the most prestigious universities in the world for me to realize there's more to life than studying.
