The University paused in a national moment of silence at 8:46 am Wednesday to commemerate the attacks of Sept. 11. Events, including an interfaith service of prayer, a town hall meeting and a candlelight vigil, were held to offer students an opportunity to reflect and discuss the attacks and their effects.
According to University President John J. DeGioia, the events continued the University’s tradition of offering support to the community in times of tragedy.
At the Interfaith Service of Prayer on White Gravenor lawn, DeGioia stated that the strength of the Georgetown community comes from the depths of its values.
“We are a testimony to the value of faith. One year later we are united in the commitment to break the power of evil. We do not forget?we will not let lives be extinguished in vain,” DeGioia said.
The Georgetown University Student Assembly’s committe for Diversity and Religious affairs created a flag display in Red Square to honor the all the victims who died in the Sept. 11 attacks. According to Chairperson Terisa Kretzman (SFS ‘04), the committe got the list of 14 countries from CNN and decided to use the flags to emphasize the global impact of the attacks.
“We wanted to make sure citizens from other countries were acknowledged,”Kretzman said.
In a town hall meeting held at 4 p.m. to discuss the impact of Sept.11 on the world and the community, panelists urged students to consider the effects of both the terrorist attacks and subsequent U.S. foreign policy.
Dean of the Law Center Judith Areen stated that countless ordinary Americans rose to the occasion and became heroes in the aftermath of the tragedy.
“It was never about planes and buildings but about people, families and lives,” Areen said.
Dean of the Walsh School of Foreign Service Robert Galucci noted that the events of Sept. 11 were historically unique, due to the vulnerability of the United States and the inability of policy-makers to assign responsibility for the events. “We were not able to stop or deter attacks on the financial center and the capital of this nation. We cannot find the people who attacked us and it is unclear whether retaliation even frightens them,” Galucci said.
John Esposito, director of the Center for Muslim Christian Understanding, praised the behavior of the United States in the first stages of the war, but warned that more careful attention must be paid to diplomacy.
“Public diplomacy has failed to address the causes of extremism. The U.S. must define the mission and scope of its foreign policy more clearly,” Esposito said.
