SCRANTON, Pa.\u2013Twenty-five years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the University of Scranton is helping students born after 2001 understand the tragedy\u2019s lasting impact, honor the memory of those lost, and carry its lessons into the future.<\/p>\n
On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, now a quarter of a century ago, 2,996 people died as a result of the terrorist attacks on the United States of America. Of that number, 2,977 were victims killed. Thousands were civilians; 343 were firefighters; 60 were police officers; 32 were relatives of Royals; and five were University of Scranton alumni. Those who died were fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, grandparents and grandchildren, spouses, friends, coworkers and more to the family and friends left behind. The pain of their loss didn\u2019t just end with the attacks \u2013 it was just beginning. <\/p>\n
For people born after 9\/11, it can be difficult to see the grieving that continues everyday. Survivor\u2019s guilt, physical injuries, emotional trauma, and cancer are just some of the sufferings the people who lived 9\/11 must endure. These are burdens often carried silently and can exist unbeknownst to the generations born post 9\/11. It is important that the memory of the lost and the struggles of the living are acknowledged and understood by younger generations.<\/p>\n
The University of Scranton is making sure that happens for Michael Costello \u201996, Timothy Finnerty \u201990, Charles Heeran \u201900, Timothy Hughes \u201980, William Kelly \u201993, the 32 relatives of Royals, the rest of the 2,977 victims killed, and the countless people who were and are affected by the tragedy.<\/p>\n
On this 25th anniversary year, the university is offering a few classes surrounding 9\/11 designed to educate young people who did not experience that terrible day. These courses help young people make sense of a catastrophe that often seems senseless.<\/p>\n
The two classes being offered at the university this fall are Making Meaning of 9\/11, a first-year seminar, and September 11, 2001 and Beyond, a political science class. Dr. Mike Allison, Department of Political Science Chair, created the September 11, 2001, and Beyond class in the midst of the War on Terror. <\/p>\n
The class first ran in \u201c2012 (then again in 2014 and2015). The course itself grew out of an honors tutorial I had developed in 2009 and the \u2018Finding Justice after 9\/11\u2019 programming that Dr. [Teresa] Grettano and I organized through Education for Justice (now called The Ellacur\u00eda Initiative) to commemorate the 10-year anniversary,\u201d Dr. Allison said. <\/p>\n
This semester, September 11, 2001, and Beyond is being taught by Dr. Gretchen Van Dyke of the Department of Political Science. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis class is an upper division elective in PoliticalScience that is offered at least once every three years\u2026 [We] agreed that it should be offered again this semester \u2013 to coincide with the 25th\u00a0anniversary of the 9\/11 attacks,\u201d Dr. VanDyke said. Teaching a course on this subject has many challenges, but the university\u2019s wonderful faculty are prepared and experienced. <\/p>\n
\u201cI really enjoy helping current students come to an understanding and appreciation of the incredible breadth and depth of that day and the myriad implications of the September 11 attacks, which continue to impact the United States to this day,\u201d Dr. Van Dyke said.<\/p>\n
Dr. Allison is teaching one section of the Making Meaning of 9\/11 first-year seminar \u2013 a course created by Dr. Grettano, of the Department of English and Theatre. Dr. Grettano teaches another section of the class and explained that she first taught the course in the fall of 2011. This class is unique. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe class changes every time I teach it because the world changes. Some semesters we focused on Afghanistan and the War on Terror \u2013others on refugees, Syria, COVID and first responders,\u201d Dr. Grettano said. When the course first ran, students were around eight years old when 9\/11 happened. Students taking the class now were not even born when 9\/11 happened explained Dr. Grettano. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Additionally, these faculty members lived during 9\/11, providing them with the insight and perspective needed to educate those born after that day. \u201cAs a native New Yorker, New York City and the World Trade Center have a special meaning to me. At different points in time, my parents and brother worked in the Twin Towers, and for a brief time I worked across the street in the World Financial Center,\u201d Dr. Allison explained. \u201cSeveral people from my hometown in Rockaway Beach, New York, were killed in the attacks, but the person I was closest to escaped before the building collapsed,\u201d Dr. Allison did clarify that he was living in Florida at the time of the attacks.<\/p>\n
Dr. Van Dyke also vividly remembers the morning of Sept. 11, 2001 and what followed. \u201cI entered my classroom at 1 p.m. on September 11, 2001, when [it] was unfolding before our eyes just a couple hours away from our campus \u2013 in lower Manhattan, at the Pentagon in the DC Metro area, and in Shanksville, PA.\u201d <\/p>\n
Dr. Van Dyke continued, \u201cThat day\u2014and the days, weeks, months, and several years that followed\u2014were emotionally difficult for all of us here on campus, as we learned that we had so many connections to those who lost their lives that day and\/or were deeply affected by what happened that day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr. Grettano, and her family, bore the burden of 9\/11, and still do. \u201cSeptember 11 is a part of my daily life \u2013 it is still part of every day for my sister and her husband, and by extension their kids and our family.\u201d Dr. Grettano referenced her friends who were\/are New York City first responders, friends who work in construction, and friends in the military explaining how 9\/11 continues to be a part of all of their lives every day.<\/p>\n
\u201cTeaching this course is my contribution, my service, and a way to honor those who were and are making much greater sacrifices than I am,\u201d Dr. Grettano said.<\/p>\n
Dr. Grettano also made note of some 9\/11 related events being hosted in Loyola Science Center room 133 including films \u201cNo Responder Left Behind\u201d on Sept. 23, \u201cRestrepo\u201d on Oct. 8, \u201cInside the Pentagon\u201d on Nov. 4, \u201cUnited 93\u201d on Dec. 8, and visits from FeelGood Foundation representatives on Sept. 28 and from Mark Volk on Nov. 11. These events are open to all students.<\/p>\n
The legacies of Costello \u201996, Finnerty \u201990, Heeran \u201900, Hughes \u201980 and Kelly \u201993 live on at the University of Scranton. <\/p>\n
Their names, along with the names of the relatives of Royals, can be found inscribed on a memorial plaque in the Madonna Della Strada Chapel, and each year a 9\/11 memorial ceremony is held. Additionally, one of the first-year dorms, Giblin-Kelly Hall, was dedicated with the namesake of alumnus William Kelly \u201993. The Michael S. Costello \u201996 Memorial Scholarship and the Timothy J. Finnerty \u201990 Memorial Scholarship were created to continue these alums\u2019 legacy according to the Scranton Journal.<\/p>\n
These alumni once sat in the same seats that current students do, took the same classes, and likely had very similar Scranton experiences. While memorials, scholarships and dorms may now bear their names, it is crucial to remember the Scranton alumni, and every victim of 9\/11 not as a name on a wall \u2013 but rather as a person. In keeping their memories alive as people, one truly has the ability to empathize with the victims of a tragedy before one\u2019s time.<\/p>\n
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