UD commemorates 9/11 with an interfaith vigil on The Green

1:59 p.m., Sept. 11, 2004--The University of Delaware’s carillon began to toll at 8:46 a.m., marking the moment American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into New York City’s World Trade Center three years ago. The solemn tolling of the chimes could be heard all over campus as students, faculty, staff and administrators walked slowly toward The Green to attend an interfaith vigil honoring the memory of that day. The bell stopped at 10:03 a.m., the moment Flight 93 crashed into the Pennsylvania soil.

Just as it did, Kim Zitzner, Catholic campus chaplain with St. Thomas More Oratory, stepped up to the microphone and opened the ceremony by reminding the 150 people sitting cross-legged on The Green in front of Memorial Hall that the day was much like the morning three years ago that made many look at their families, friends and lives in a different way. “The events of Sept. 11 have forever changed us," she said, "but in many ways, have also drawn us together. We come together today as a community with hope for the future. We come together to remember and to pray for peace.”

The Deltones, a UD a capella group, sang "The Star Spangled Banner" as those attending turned to face the flag at the north end of The Green.

Vanessa Addeo, a graduate student from New York City who lost friends that day, shared her memories.

Addeo said she was getting ready for work when a friend told her to turn on the TV. After getting word that many of her friends and relatives in Manhattan were all right, she said she “sought comfort from our University family. Standing united with students, faculty and staff made us feel comfortable and safe. Eventually, when phone lines cleared and people returned home on buses, ferries and trains, I was able to find out who was lost and who was saved.”

She recalled a friend, Patrick Danahy, who worked with her sister. Danahy and his wife, Mary, were awaiting the birth of their third child. Addeo said, “He was helping others escape from the towers. When he knew it was just too late to get out alive, he called Mary to say, 'I love you.'” Her friend’s brother, Kevin Williams, was to have been married Dec. 1, but “he never got the chance to walk down the aisle.” And, there was Daniel Lewin, her brother’s employer, who on one of the doomed flights and was killed when he tried to stop the hijackers.

“Let us keep the victims of Sept. 11 alive in our hearts by never forgetting,” she said.

From left, Magen McKinney Jenna Vaccariello and Jen Cherchuck

Those attending sat quietly throughout the vigil, some wiping tears from their eyes.

The Rev. Laura Lee Wilson, pastor of the United Methodist Campus Ministry, read from “A Jewish Prayer for Peace.” It said, in part, “Grant us peace your most precious gift, O Eternal Source of peace, and give us the will to proclaim its message to all the peoples of the Earth. Bless our country, that it may always be a stronghold of peace, and its advocate among the nations.” She read the Jewish prayer because Jewish leaders could not be present since the event, which is considered mourning, fell on the Sabbath.

The Rev. Bruce Heggen of the Lutheran Campus Ministry recited a Buddhist teaching by Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk and zen master extolling the healing powers of peace:

Peace is all around us
In the world and in nature
And within us
In our bodies and our spirits.
Once we learn to touch this peace,
We will be healed and transformed.
It is not a matter of faith;
It is a matter of practice.

Aaron Peterson read a Baha’i prayer for humanity pleading for divine intervention to unite all of humankind.

“O Thou kind Lord! Unite all. Let the religions agree and make the nations one, so that they may see each other as one family and the whole Earth as one home. May they all live together in perfect harmony. O God! Raise aloft the banner of the oneness of mankind.”

Members of UD’s Emergency Care Unit, from left, Ross Cohen, Steve Snow, Edward Grove and Abby Eddinger

From Khalil Gibran’s The Prophet, S. Ismat Shah, Muslim Student Association adviser and professor of materials science, read an Islamic poem entitled, "On Joy and Sorrow":
“Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.

"And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears.

"And how else can it be?

"The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.”

The Rev. Jay Angerer read a Christian prayer, and then Addeo read a poem written by a student shortly after 9/11.

“As the soot and dirt and ash rained down,
We became one color.
As we carried each other down the stairs of the
burning building,
We became one class.
As we lit candles of waiting and hope,
We became one generation.
As the firefighters and police officers fought their
way into the inferno,
We became one gender.
As we fell to our knees in prayer for strength,
We became one faith.
As we whispered or shouted words of encouragement,
We spoke one language.
As we gave our blood in lines a mile long,
We became one body.
As we mourned together the great loss,
We became one family.
As we cried tears of grief and loss,
We became one soul.
As we retell with pride of the sacrifice of heroes,
We become one people.”

At the conclusion of the vigil, candles were lit, and the crowd sat quietly on The Green for several minutes, eventually drifting away.

Article by Barbara Garrison

Photos by Duane Perry

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