09/07/2011
SUNY Cortland will honor the seven alumni of the College who were killed in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks with a remembrance ceremony on Sunday, Sept. 11, at 9 p.m. in front of Corey Union. It is open to the public.
Commemoration organizers have built the event around a theme of “looking forward.” People who attend the remembrance will be allowed to sign up for community volunteer projects after the event, including the College’s Interfaith Community Service Challenge project, which officially kicks off that day.
A ringing of bells at 9:11 p.m. will follow opening remarks from Marie Agen, the Catholic campus minister. SUNY Cortland President Erik J. Bitterbaum will offer a reflection and Student Government Association President Jamie Piperato, Associate Professor Kassim Kone and Campus Rescue representative Austin Glickman also will speak.
The lighting of seven alumni torches will give way to the lighting of candles. The seven deceased alumni will be recognized individually before a moment of silence. To end the ceremony, Vicki Johnson, the Protestant campus minister, will provide closing remarks.
The Corey Union Function Room will house the remembrance in the event of rain.
The College’s 9/11 Commemoration caps an entire weekend of events from other organizations that promote interfaith service. Habitat for Humanity’s Faith Build Blitz project will be held at 198 Clinton Ave. in Cortland from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 10, and 3:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 11. Bob's Barbecue will provide lunch Saturday and volunteers are required to bring a reusable water bottle and closed-toe shoes. A 2 p.m. community worship service, sponsored by the Council of Churches, will be held at the United Presbyterian Church of Cortland at 25 Church St. during Sunday's build.
SUNY Cortland’s Interfaith Challenge project invites people from all spiritual traditions to design and join a long-term program that will work with the community’s established mentoring programs. Challenge organizers hope that the mentor-training and building projects bring long-term benefits to Cortland County, where more than 18 percent of the county’s children live below the poverty line, and both the percentage of children in foster care and youths in need of court-ordered supervision are more than double the state average.
In a separate event unrelated to the Interfaith Challenge, the College hosted a presentation titled, “9/11 at 10: Reflections from the Web on the 10th Anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks,” by Steven Schneider, a professor from the Department of Communications and Humanities at SUNYIT. The talk, which highlighted website data research collected just after the attacks, was presented as a sandwich seminar in Brockway Hall, Jacobus Lounge on Wednesday, Sept. 7.
People who are unable to attend the College’s remembrances of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks are invited to post tributes on the 9/11 Day website and the 9/11 Day Facebook page.
People interested in joining SUNY Cortland’s Interfaith Challenge who are unable to attend the 9/11 Commemoration can contact Johnson at (607) 753-1002 or Agen at (607) 753-6737.