Campus reacts to national tragedy

Campus
reacts to national tragedy
…………………………………………………………………

BY DANA BENSON
Rice News Staff

Rice students,
staff and faculty participated last Friday in a campuswide
observance of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack against the
United States. They gathered at noon in front of Fondren
Library to remember the victims of the tragedy and to provide
comfort and support to one another, joining Americans across
the country on the day President Bush had declared a National
Day of Prayer and Remembrance.

President Malcolm
Gillis, Bill Martin, the Harry and Hazel Chavanne Professor
of Religion and Public Policy, and leaders of the Student
Association and Graduate Student Association spoke at the
event.

The observance
gave members of the Rice community the opportunity to remember
and honor those killed and wounded in the attack.

“Those
lost we can no longer help,” Gillis said. “But
we can hope that by conveying—silently and aloud—our
innermost thoughts of condolence and support, that their
friends and families may draw solace from our humble gathering.”

Martin brought
out in the audience the emotions caused by the terrorist
attack. He told the audience that it’s human nature
to wonder how the tragedy might alter weekend plans or distract
from the Astros’ pennant race.

“That you
probably had some of these thoughts does not mean you are
a bad or a terribly shallow person,” Martin said. “It
means that you are human with some self-regarding tendencies,
an almost ineradicable characteristic of humans. That it
may have bothered you to have such thoughts is also human.

“Take comfort
in the fact that many people also acted altruistically,
even heroically, and that you would have too had you been
there,” he continued. “You would have pulled someone
from debris if you had been able. You would have given a
ride to someone suffering from burns. You would have stood
in front of your store and handed out sneakers to women
trying to walk or run in high heels. You would have taken
people into your homes. You would have laid flowers or contributed
to memorials to honor firemen whose daily bravery often
goes unnoticed. Had you been trained for it, and perhaps
even if you hadn’t, you would have gone into dangerous
places to rescue trapped people even at the threat and perhaps
the cost of your own life.

“I know
that you would have done that. That’s another part
of being human,” he said.

Loved ones reaching
out to one another on the day of the attack is a primitive
impulse, he said. Parents all over the country called their
children, and the news has been full of stories of victims
of the attack who were able to call their spouses or parents
on their cell phones.

“Over and
over and over we heard people tell the last words they spoke
to each other: ‘Take care of yourself,’ ‘Take
care of our baby’ and, more than any other, ‘I
love you.’ There is probably no other message any of
us would prefer to hear or send if we knew we were about
to die. But you don’t have to wait to send that message,
and it’s really hard to overdo it. Be sure that those
who you know who you love, truly love, know it, and do your
best to display a loving attitude, a sense of fairness and
a measure of mercy to all whose lives you touch.”

Student Association
President Gavin Parks said that on the day of the attack
he and co-president Jamie Lisagor visited college commons,
where students were gathered around watching the television
in disbelief.

“I also
saw students, associates, RAs and masters coming together
and comforting each other in this time that needs much reflection
and thought. This is a part of the healing process. This
is part of the magic of Rice. This is part of why we are
a community,” Parks said.

Lisagor called
on Rice to “create another series of images, just as
powerful and just as memorable as those seen on television
… images of a communty that refuses to turn against
itself, but rather looks deep inside and strengthens its
resolve to work together for a better tomorrow.”

As an international
student, Graduate Student Association President Miles Scotcher
said that he believes non-Americans are equally shocked
by the attack. “The fear and pain caused by the attack
has hurt a multitude of nations, and this is reflected in
the graduate community at Rice, both in the American citizens
and also the in the 500-some international students from
over 50 countries who study here.”

All of the speakers
urged Americans not to retaliate against Arabs or Muslims
living in America. Gillis reminded those in the audience
that “while there are evil people, there are no evil
peoples.”

Many members
of the Rice campus heard about the national events on their
way to work, and most had no way to learn more about the
tragedy once here. Rice officials provided up-to-date information
to its students, faculty and staff. By later that morning,
Rice officials were updating students, faculty and staff
with regular e-mails, online information and campus meetings.

All students,
faculty and staff were invited to an informational session
at noon at Hamman Hall. They were updated on the national
situation as well as the impact locally, including school
and airport closures. Fondren Library’s Kyle Morrow
Room was set up with a television and opened up to anyone
on campus who wanted to watch news coverage of the events.

A Web site was
created, <http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~opa/crisis/index.html>,
where information was posted as it became available. The
site offers information from the Counseling Center, on blood
drive efforts, local closures and cancelled events at Rice.

Other campus
efforts relating to the national tragedy included:

• Counselors
from the Employee Assistance Program were on campus last
week to meet with employees and discuss issues relating
to the events.
• A Web site was created by the Community Involvement
Center that provides information on local blood centers
and donations that are being accepted. The site can be found
at <www.ruf.rice.edu/~service>.
• The Graduate Student Association sponsored a blood
drive Sept. 18.

Remarks made
at the campuswide observance, including Martin’s reflections
on the tragedy, can be found at <http://www.professor.rice.edu/professor/September_14,_2001.asp?SnID=521942121>.