Memorial Service and Candlelight Vigil for the Families and Friends of the September 11th Victims at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and Pennsylvania
September 24, 2001
The tragic and horrifying events of September 11 have had a devastating impact in our country and around the World. These events, and ones following from them in the next weeks and months, will reverberate throughout our lives. We cannot yet understand or foresee all the consequences from them. But we already know the immense suffering and costs imposed on thousands of people, their families, friends, and acquaintances.
Here at Northwestern, we mourn for those we both knew personally, and for those we have not known. We commemorate today the lives of those innocent people who we have lost. And we hold in our hearts their families. We express our great concern for the communities that have lost their neighbors in New York City and its surroundings and in Washington, DC and in Pennsylvania.
We sympathize not only with Americans lost but with hundreds of people murdered who came from many different countries and who were at the World Trade Center or in airplanes during these moments of destruction.
We especially remember today our alumni who have passed away in this tragedy or are still listed as missing:
Edward "Ted" Hennessy (KSM93), 35 of Belmont, Mass. died aboard American Airlines Flight 11 that crashed into the World Trade Center. He is survived by his wife Melanie Salisbury and children Rachel and Matthew. Hennessy was employed by Emergence Consulting.
Steven Lawrence Glick (WCAS82), 42, a managing director at Credit Suisse First Boston in Manhattan. He died in the attack on 1 World Trade Center, where he was attending a technology conference on the 106th floor, his family said. He is survived by his wife, Mari Glick of Greenwich; a son, Colin and daughter, Courtney.
Patrick J. Murphy (KSM97), 38 of Berkeley Heights, New Jersey, a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Naval Reserves was killed in the attack on the Pentagon. His death was confirmed by the Department of Defense on September 21st. He is survived by his wife Masako and two sons.
Melissa Doi (WCAS91), 32, of Bronx, New York is missing and presumed dead in the attack on the World Trade Center. She worked for IQ Financial Systems on the 83rd floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center. She is survived by her mother, Evelyn Alderete, of Manhattan.
David Lee, who is confirmed missing is a 1990 KGSM graduate. He is an employee of Fiduciary Trust. His wife Angela is expecting their first child.
As we think of what has occurred and what may occur in the future, we reflect that a university is a special community, a community of learners and teachers--we all learn from each other and try to increase the store of knowledge and beauty in the world.
It is especially important at Northwestern that we continue to respect each other. To learn from and cherish differences, while we emphasize our Northwestern traditions of civility and free discourse.
At this time, while we support each other and those from wounded communities, we must also support Arab-Americans and Muslim students, faculty, and staff who are among us. We must assure their safety and ease in this community and we must never single any one out on the basis of their religion, traditions, or ethnic origin.
We will also, each of us, have strong views on what the United States' response to terrorism should be. I expressed, along with my colleagues, some of my own views, a few evenings ago, at a panel discussion.
Views on America's response, on the use of military might, on homeland defense, and courts of international justice and police procedures--all these are hardly so-called academic matters. They will literally be matters of life and death for United States citizens and for many people in different parts of the world.
Express your views; inform yourselves through reading and discussions and attending events that will be held on campus. But it is and will be important for us to preserve a willingness to listen to views we may not agree with; we may even disagree with these views intensely. However, we must listen and try to understand.
We will be tested in many ways over the coming months and perhaps years. We will be tested to see how we preserve freedom of expression at this University, as we have been tested before.
I count on all of us to meet these tests.