Campus marks Sept. 11 with reflection, discussion

The UW–Madison community organized two days of programs Sept. 10-11 to discuss and commemorate the terrorist attacks on America Sept. 11, 2001.

Students, faculty and staff were expected to attend a program of reflection and remembrance scheduled today, Sept. 11, from 8:45- 9:30 a.m., Library Mall. Chancellor John Wiley was expected to speak. Plans for the morning included the solemn tolling of the Music Hall bell, marking the times of the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, and the crash of Flight 93 in Pennsylvania.

Here are excerpts of remarks that Wiley was scheduled to deliver this morning:

As I began thinking about this event, I reflected, as I’m sure many of you did, on where I was one year ago today. Some of you may recall that I wasn’t here — a fact that was extremely frustrating to me at the time. I witnessed the aftermath of the September 11 attacks while stuck in a California hotel, unable to get back here, where I wanted and needed to be.

Perhaps because of the experience of being away from campus last year, I have an even greater appreciation for the fact that we are gathered here today to mark the first anniversary of those tragedies. During the past year, this community has come together many times — to discuss, to understand, to learn, to help, to serve, to remember, and to mourn. Today, we are again united by our common feelings — feelings of grief and sorrow, of appreciation for the sacrifice of heroes, and of hope for the future.

I want to tell you that while today I am filled with sadness about the tragedies that befell our country one year ago — sadness for the victims, for their families, and for all those who have suffered the persecution of terror — I also have great feelings of pride. As often as we talk about the diversity of our campus and our city, we are also strong because of the things we have in common. The good will, generosity of spirit, and great resolve of this community were never more evident than during the past 12 months. Our shared memories give us reason to mourn today. But our shared ideals give us reason to believe in the potential of tomorrow.

We organized this program to remember and reflect upon what happened to all of us one year ago today. It’s true, of course, that we don’t need a special event to help us recall those tragedies. The haunting images of destruction and loss have touched us all irrevocably, and we need not be reminded of what we will never forget.

Remembering can be like opening an old wound; it brings an unwelcome sting of pain that none of us wants to feel again. Yet here we are, and with us in spirit are millions of others around the world, who have come together to focus their hearts and minds on the past. Though it would be far easier to relieve ourselves of the terrible images of Sept. 11, we are willing to remind ourselves of what we saw and felt. We understand there is a cost in remembering these things, but we also know that there is greater cost in forgetting.

Our world is marked by painful reminders — from the sunken hull of the U.S.S. Arizona, to the bars of a Robben Island jail cell, from the symbolism of an empty chair in Oklahoma City, to the barbed wire fences of Dachau and Auschwitz. To this geography of human suffering we now add the memory of the twin towers of the World Trade Center, the scar on the face of the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania, where terrorism — and heroism — brought a plane down from the sky. These places will forever be united by the losses they suffered, and we will never look at them again without lingering feelings of despair.

We must recognize, however, that they are not places of evil, but places where evil acted. They are visible rejoinders that we must be vigilant, that we must remember the past lest we repeat it. We preserve these places because we believe that in their ashes we can find wisdom. Memory, although at times painful, is our path to understanding, and we must follow it.

W e will never fully comprehend what blackness leads people to take innocent lives. The Sept. 11 attacks were senseless acts, and thus they will always defy our best intentions to make sense of them. However, we must heed the words inscribed on the walls of the Dachau concentration camp, which implore us, “Never Again.” We owe it to the victims of Sept. 11 to forever seek to understand these acts and their actors, in the hopes that our understanding may be our best defense against future harm.

Throughout the day, we will host several events and discussions, which I know will help all of us reflect on the events of the past year. My hope is that we think not only about where we were one year ago, but where we are today — how we have been changed by Sept. 11, and how we may continue to change to face the challenges ahead. I invite all of you to help us engage in honest explorations of topics such as religious tolerance, the roots of violence, the value of forgiveness, and the meaning of culture. It is not our intention to comprehend terrorists or terrorism in these talks, but to celebrate the most anti-terrorist act I know — freedom of thought. We hope that today and every day you will help us define what it is that unites us, to appreciate our differences, and to embrace the value of openness and mutual respect.

About terrorists we know this: It is their ultimate purpose to divide, to fracture, and to fragment. They seek to destroy not only our buildings but our social structures. They would have us believe no matter how much we have in common, we’re really alone. Today, we say that, no matter how much we differ, we stand together.

We have come today to remember, but also to remember together — to lend support to those around us, and to feel the support of others. It is our solemn purpose to mourn the victims of the attacks — victims who include those who lost their lives, but also those who have been made to live with loss. Terrorism claims not just lives, but friends, coworkers, aunts, uncles, sisters, brothers, sons and daughters, fathers and mothers. It attacks our communities, and we must respond as a community.

Let us pledge today that we will remember the victims of Sept. 11 by standing together to oppose oppression and intolerance. Let us remember them through our service and volunteer efforts. Let us remember them through our commitment to the freedom of thought and the exploration of ideas. Let us remember them as a community, one made stronger by their sacrifice.

We can make speeches and pay tribute to those we lost on Sept. 11, but it is our actions, not our words, that will stand as monuments to them.

Sept. 11 is a tragedy that transcends words. It is felt most deeply in its silences — those moments when we pause, reflect, and remember. As I look around today, I am reminded that we do not need words to communicate. We need only each other.

This morning, we rang the bells at Music Hall on three occasions — marking the times that each of the first three planes collided with their targets. In a moment, the bells will toll again, signifying that by this time a year ago, all four planes had crashed. Before the bell tolls, I ask that we all be silent for a few moments, with the hope that in our silence, we speak volumes.