“The Witness Project”, a series of charcoal drawings that depict the mournful presence and convey the hopeful resurgence of Ground Zero, will be on display in Gallery 360 until Sept. 13. Photo by Christopher Huang.
Members of the Northeastern community will gather at 10 a.m. in the Cabral Center today to observe the tenth anniversary of 9/11 and honor those who lost their lives in the terrorist attacks.
Spiritual life director Shelli Jankowski-Smith will lead the community through the service, which is cosponsored by the Office of the President and the Office for Student Affairs. “This event will allow us to take stock of our lives in a very serious, reflective way,” she said. “It will help us revisit where we have been and then question where we are and where we are going.”
The service will feature a reading of the names of the 12 Northeastern students and alumni who died in the attacks, including students Donald DiTullio, of University College (now the College of Professional Studies), and Candace Lee Williams, of the College of Business Administration; and alumni Anna S. (Williams) Allison, MBA’81, David W. Bernard, BA’68, Jeffrey W. Coombs, UC’92, Peter A. Gay, E’69, Andrew Curry Green, MBA’98, Peter B. Hanson, AS’91, John C. Henwood, BA’89, Herbert W. Homer, LA’76, Mark S. Jardim, BA’85 and Natalie Janis Lasden, UC’84, MBA’97.
A bell will be rung in remembrance of each life lost.
“Reading the names of those directly impacted reminds us that real people died and real people suffered and continue to suffer,” Jankowski-Smith said. “It takes the tragedy out of the theoretical world and puts it into the practical world.”
Faculty, staff and students may also reflect on the ongoing impact of 9/11 by attending a campus art exhibit, or by expressing themselves through the power of the written or spoken word.
“The Witness Project,” a series of charcoal drawings that depict the mournful presence and convey the hopeful resurgence of Ground Zero, will be on display in Gallery 360 until Sept. 13.
Robin Masi, the Massachusetts-based artist who created the exhibit, was moved by the duality of the site at which the Twin Towers once stood. “Each time I go to Ground Zero, I find a real sense of hope and spirituality that counterbalances what one would expect to see,” she said. “I’m not just documenting the tragic aspect.”
Members of the Northeastern community are also encouraged to write about the impact 9/11 has had on their lives by penning a message on a paper scroll.
The scroll, which will be hung on a wall in the Ell Hall concourse near Gallery 360, will be placed in the University Library archives on Tuesday, Sept. 13.
To mark the 10-year anniversary of 9/11, author James Carroll will lead an interfaith dialogue on the aftermath of the attacks on Saturday at 9:30 a.m. in the Curry Student Center Ballroom.
The discussion — cosponsored by the Spiritual Life Center and Sacred Threads, a Boston-based ministry for women — will precede a short ceremony in the Sacred Space, Jankowski-Smith said.
“Some may share their pain in memory of the attacks, or talk about the current political climate as the ripples of 9/11 played out over the past 10 years,” she said. “Ending in the Sacred Space with some kind of ritual is a way to connect after what might be a difficult dialogue.”
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